The consumer price index was expected to come in hot yet again in October. It came in sizzling.
The actual CPI numbers for last month were even hotter than expected as “transitory” inflation remained well above 5% on an annual basis for the sixth straight month.
Despite government officials and central bankers continuing to peddle the “transitory” inflation narrative, the average American isn’t buying it. They feel the squeeze of rising prices in their wallets. And it’s the average American who is hurt particularly hard by the skyrocketing cost of living. Peter Schiff appeared on the Megyn Kelly show to talk about how inflation really hurts working and middle-class Americans.
American consumers aren’t buying the transitory inflation narrative.
Even after five straight months of annual CPI increases over 5%, Jerome Powell continues to insist inflation is “transitory” and the result of a “supply chain problem.” But according to the New York Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Expectations, people aren’t buying this story. They expect inflation to be running at 5.7% a year from now. And in three years, they still expect the inflation rate to be at 4.2%.
After all the drama, Congress finally did what everyone knew it would do. It raised the debt ceiling by $480 billion in October. The Treasury wasted no time and quickly added $480 billion to the national debt in the second half of the month.
With this new debt tagged on, if the Fed has to raise rates to 6% to fight inflation, it would increase interest costs by $250 billion within 6 months and nearly $1 trillion within a few years. This is why the Fed must tell everyone that inflation is transitory.
American consumers piled on more debt in September as higher prices squeezed wallets.
Consumer credit grew by $29.9 billion in September, bringing the total to $4.37 trillion, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve. The increase in consumer debt nearly doubled the consensus estimate of a $15.5 billion increase.
The Federal Reserve wrapped up its FOMC meeting on Wednesday and finally announced the much-anticipated QE taper. The Fed will cut its bond-buying program by about $15 billion a month. But so what? In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey digs into the Fed announcement and raises some very important questions.
When we talk about “inflation,” most people immediately think about rising prices. That is indeed one of the effects of inflation. But that isn’t inflation itself. Properly defined, inflation is an increase in the money supply. In fact, that used to be the standard definition of inflation. Over time, the government has changed the definition. Today, pretty much everybody defines inflation as rising prices.
The Federal Reserve wrapped up its November FOMC meeting on Wednesday and finally did something other than talk. The central bank announced it will begin to taper its massive quantitative easing program.
The mainstream blames inflation on “supply chain bottlenecks.” But they have it completely backward. In reality, Federal Reserve-created inflation is causing the supply chain mess.
Gold has been rangebound of late, bouncing between $1,750 and $1,800 an ounce for several months. Given the inflationary environment, one would expect gold to be soaring. So, what’s going on with the yellow metal? And when will the price of gold go up? Peter Schiff tackled this question during a recent Q&A session on YouTube.
