Wholesale goods up almost 10%

Bwahahaha this clown makes Jimmy Carter look small....hey wait a damn second



Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

(12-14-2021 11:30 AM)maximus Wrote:  Wholesale goods up almost 10%

Bwahahaha this clown makes Jimmy Carter look small....hey wait a damn second



Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

@frah-jee-lay #ChristmasStory #lampsXstdOilRock-a-feller #robberBaronVirus

this applies much mo’ beTTTererererereeeeeeeeeeeee…

(12-13-2021 09:38 PM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  The "Value" of your mortgage? You might wanna have the website you stole that from to explain to you what that means.

(12-13-2021 10:35 PM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  I’ll forgive you for not being around in Carter’s presidency but I won’t forgive you for being a tool and believing that horse chit.

I was around during Carter's presidency. Here's what I remember. My dad yelling at the TV during his state of the union saying he had a clothes hanger in his mouth. And later I learned that's basically when my parents got out of poverty, mainly off the fact they bought their house for like $20k in the early 70's before inflation hit, and sold it 5 years later during Carter's administration for like $40k and inflation had basically paid half their mortgage for them. Remember inflation doesn't raise the amount you owe, it lowers the value of it.

I learned this by looking up the 70's real estate data on houses in Frazier in the Trezevont high school neighborhood where I grew up back when it was still white, believe it or not. Only then did I realize how they were so easily able to turn the corner financially during that time on basic enlisted military pay.

(12-14-2021 07:52 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  It takes time for that catch up - in the mean time you are losing money
Rising interest rates (which must eventually must be done to combat inflation) reduces the real value of your HOUSE not your mortgage

The wage catch-up usually happens quickly, and in the meantime, what are you losing? 5% at most on average? "wow" And yes, sure the real value of your house goes down with increase in interest rates, but that's MORE than made up for with the wild jump in prices before that time. Even today, real estate prices are wildly higher in the last few years.

Quote:3) Has direct impact on real interest payments on long-term fixed loan investments, hurting the rich.
Please explain the direct impact - you are posting this, so you must understand what you are posting? - show your math

It simply means that if you have a mortgage for $100k and pay 3% per year on it, as inflation devalues that $100k, the bank is making less of a return on it's original investment. If inflation is more than 3%, it's taking a loss. Who wins? The person who is paying that mortgage. The bank is effectively paying their mortgage for them when inflation exceeds their interest rate. Same works with government debt with a fixed yield. That's how inflation lowers the real value of national debt.

Quote:4) National debt is directly reduced by the rate of inflation, especially when it's greater than expected.
Are debts forgiven when there is inflation? if you owe 3 Trillion dollars and then there is inflation, do you no longer owe 3 trillion dollars?

After a year of 10% inflation, the real value of 3 trillion goes down 10%. It's simple math. Just because the same top line amount is owed, doesn't mean the real value is the same. Inflation changes real value on loans, not top line amount.

Bottom line is debt holders win when inflation exceeds expectation. Those who lend the debt lose. So why everyone here thinks it's so bad is beyond belief. Sure if we have high inflation for a long period of time, it can wreck the economy, but if you have a large debt and can stay employed, you'll come out the other side a winner.

these scorpuss posts read like some copypasta off some extreme leftists blog (free of course). Was this lifted from dcurbanmom.com?

If it were an honest post, it'd be a first ballot Hall of Famer (see my siggy). But 100% certain someone else penned it.

(12-14-2021 09:41 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  

(12-14-2021 09:38 AM)MonarchManiac Wrote:  

(12-13-2021 06:05 PM)scorpius Wrote:  Inflation facts:

1) Has no impact on wages or government benefits over time since they are always inevitably adjusted for inflation.
2) Directly reduces the REAL value of your mortgage, which mostly benefits the middle class.
3) Has direct impact on real interest payments on long-term fixed loan investments, hurting the rich.
4) National debt is directly reduced by the rate of inflation, especially when it's greater than expected.

So at most, the average consumer will see a slight temporary reduction in the real value of wages, in exchange for a reduction in income inequality and a lowering of the real value of the national debt. So what's not to love about this picture, especially in light of a strong economy that can manage any hiccups from it. This coming from a guy who probably paid more in real inflation cost the past year than what 95% of people on here made in wages. Yet it's still no sweat off my back because it's just a fraction of the return I made in the market. Again, what's not to love about this, unless you're the poor sap thinking they can make anything on fixed income investments like mortgages and government debt?

A good way to look at inflation if you have a mortgage is every time an increase in price of gas pisses you off, just think that almost certainly you're making 10+ times more in savings off the real amount of your mortgage than you are paying extra for that gas or anything else effected by inflation.

A lot of dumb stuff gets said here on the regular, but this is in a league of it's own.

You don't think he came up with all those "facts" on his own. He regurgitated someone else's idiocy.........

Has there been a Krugman sighting around here recently?!?

The asset inflation argument doesn't apply here. Most Americans don't have much in savings, with most banks having near 0 savings interest, it's impossible to save (thanks Fed).

Even if you sell your house and make a nice profit, you need to compete for a new house in a seller's market. Houses are going nearly 100k over in the RDU region of NC. It's basically a wash at best and a loss for most.

You'd be a fool to have anything substantial in a savings account these days, just an interest free loan from you to the bank.

The other idiocy of this discussion is the original author (likely not the poster) hasn't considered non-fixed consumer debt. These interest rates are going to have to go up dramatically at some point as we see inflation booming at 10%.

Remember "transitory"? I member.

Rich people aren't gonna be "punished" by this in any real way, they're rich!

Inflation like this is probably the most insidious and regressive taxes one can imagine. Perhaps home owners may find some benefit a decade from now, but if you're renting, or carrying an adjustable mortgage, have credit card debt like a LOT of lower income folks rely on, can they stand 18-24.99% interest rates on the $2800 they owe?

Pssst: They owe that for a reason, they have monthly car payment for a reason, they're furnishings,, clothing and a lot of other stuff is on a consumer store branded credit card for a reason.

Still gotta drive to work and try to feed the family and both of those have gone through the roof in less than a year, and it's ALLLLL self-inflicted and clearly intentional.

Best Mr. Hand voice for this one: "Inflation is good".


Lunacy

(12-14-2021 04:15 PM)scorpius Wrote:  

(12-13-2021 09:38 PM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  The "Value" of your mortgage? You might wanna have the website you stole that from to explain to you what that means.

(12-13-2021 10:35 PM)Was SoMs Eagle Wrote:  I’ll forgive you for not being around in Carter’s presidency but I won’t forgive you for being a tool and believing that horse chit.

I was around during Carter's presidency. Here's what I remember. My dad yelling at the TV during his state of the union saying he had a clothes hanger in his mouth. And later I learned that's basically when my parents got out of poverty, mainly off the fact they bought their house for like $20k in the early 70's before inflation hit, and sold it 5 years later during Carter's administration for like $40k and inflation had basically paid half their mortgage for them. Remember inflation doesn't raise the amount you owe, it lowers the value of it.

I learned this by looking up the 70's real estate data on houses in Frazier in the Trezevont high school neighborhood where I grew up back when it was still white, believe it or not. Only then did I realize how they were so easily able to turn the corner financially during that time on basic enlisted military pay.

(12-14-2021 07:52 AM)Eldonabe Wrote:  It takes time for that catch up - in the mean time you are losing money
Rising interest rates (which must eventually must be done to combat inflation) reduces the real value of your HOUSE not your mortgage

The wage catch-up usually happens quickly, and in the meantime, what are you losing? 5% at most on average? "wow" And yes, sure the real value of your house goes down with increase in interest rates, but that's MORE than made up for with the wild jump in prices before that time. Even today, real estate prices are wildly higher in the last few years.

Quote:3) Has direct impact on real interest payments on long-term fixed loan investments, hurting the rich.
Please explain the direct impact - you are posting this, so you must understand what you are posting? - show your math

It simply means that if you have a mortgage for $100k and pay 3% per year on it, as inflation devalues that $100k, the bank is making less of a return on it's original investment. If inflation is more than 3%, it's taking a loss. Who wins? The person who is paying that mortgage. The bank is effectively paying their mortgage for them when inflation exceeds their interest rate. Same works with government debt with a fixed yield. That's how inflation lowers the real value of national debt.

Quote:4) National debt is directly reduced by the rate of inflation, especially when it's greater than expected.
Are debts forgiven when there is inflation? if you owe 3 Trillion dollars and then there is inflation, do you no longer owe 3 trillion dollars?

After a year of 10% inflation, the real value of 3 trillion goes down 10%. It's simple math. Just because the same top line amount is owed, doesn't mean the real value is the same. Inflation changes real value on loans, not top line amount.

Bottom line is debt holders win when inflation exceeds expectation. Those who lend the debt lose. So why everyone here thinks it's so bad is beyond belief. Sure if we have high inflation for a long period of time, it can wreck the economy, but if you have a large debt and can stay employed, you'll come out the other side a winner.

Hey Scorp, enlighten us also on double digit runaway inflation, staple shortages, skyrocketing energy prices followed by a recession with double digit unemployment is going to be such a delight for all Americans. Can’t wait until I can only fuel up on days with the even numbered license plate.


You do realize Carter only won because of Watergate. What a waste of 4 years.

(12-14-2021 05:17 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  You'd be a fool to have anything substantial in a savings account these days, just an interest free loan from you to the bank.

The other idiocy of this discussion is the original author (likely not the poster) hasn't considered non-fixed consumer debt. These interest rates are going to have to go up dramatically at some point as we see inflation booming at 10%.

Remember "transitory"? I member.

Rich people aren't gonna be "punished" by this in any real way, they're rich!

Inflation like this is probably the most insidious and regressive taxes one can imagine. Perhaps home owners may find some benefit a decade from now, but if you're renting, or carrying an adjustable mortgage, have credit card debt like a LOT of lower income folks rely on, can they stand 18-24.99% interest rates on the $2800 they owe?

Pssst: They owe that for a reason, they have monthly car payment for a reason, they're furnishings,, clothing and a lot of other stuff is on a consumer store branded credit card for a reason.

Still gotta drive to work and try to feed the family and both of those have gone through the roof in less than a year, and it's ALLLLL self-inflicted and clearly intentional.

Best Mr. Hand voice for this one: "Inflation is good".


Lunacy

(12-14-2021 08:31 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(12-14-2021 05:17 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  You'd be a fool to have anything substantial in a savings account these days, just an interest free loan from you to the bank.

The other idiocy of this discussion is the original author (likely not the poster) hasn't considered non-fixed consumer debt. These interest rates are going to have to go up dramatically at some point as we see inflation booming at 10%.

Remember "transitory"? I member.

Rich people aren't gonna be "punished" by this in any real way, they're rich!

Inflation like this is probably the most insidious and regressive taxes one can imagine. Perhaps home owners may find some benefit a decade from now, but if you're renting, or carrying an adjustable mortgage, have credit card debt like a LOT of lower income folks rely on, can they stand 18-24.99% interest rates on the $2800 they owe?

Pssst: They owe that for a reason, they have monthly car payment for a reason, they're furnishings,, clothing and a lot of other stuff is on a consumer store branded credit card for a reason.

Still gotta drive to work and try to feed the family and both of those have gone through the roof in less than a year, and it's ALLLLL self-inflicted and clearly intentional.

Best Mr. Hand voice for this one: "Inflation is good".


Lunacy

Good catch, I KNEW I shoulda looked that up.

South Park guy, Mr Mackey voice. not that it really matters...

(12-14-2021 04:41 PM)TheOriginalBigApp Wrote:  these scorpuss posts read like some copypasta off some extreme leftists blog (free of course). Was this lifted from dcurbanmom.com?

If it were an honest post, it'd be a first ballot Hall of Famer (see my siggy). But 100% certain someone else penned it.

Why thank you. I take that as a compliment since nothing of it was copy and paste. 100% original. I'm not someone who copies and pastes without putting it in quotation or italics. The only extremist blogs I read or post on are right-wing. Like here for example.

(12-14-2021 04:53 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote:  The asset inflation argument doesn't apply here. Most Americans don't have much in savings, with most banks having near 0 savings interest, it's impossible to save (thanks Fed).

Even if you sell your house and make a nice profit, you need to compete for a new house in a seller's market. Houses are going nearly 100k over in the RDU region of NC. It's basically a wash at best and a loss for most.

(12-14-2021 05:17 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  You'd be a fool to have anything substantial in a savings account these days, just an interest free loan from you to the bank.

The other idiocy of this discussion is the original author (likely not the poster) hasn't considered non-fixed consumer debt. These interest rates are going to have to go up dramatically at some point as we see inflation booming at 10%.

Only 15% of mortgages are ARMs (adjustable rate). In my opinion, anyone would be insane to do an ARM over fixed anyway. It's not just the asset inflation that makes you money during inflation, it's the fact the real value of your fixed rate mortgage declines. So for 85% of mortgage holders, they are winners. No need to sell to realize this profit. Just refinance your mortgage and access the additional equity when the timing is right.

Quote:Rich people aren't gonna be "punished" by this in any real way, they're rich!

Okay, inflation is basically a networth tax for the rich. So according to your logic a networth tax of 6.8% doesn't "punish" the rich. You agree with Elizabeth Warren. In fact you're argument is more leftist than her because she only proposes a 2% tax. Funny how most Republicans actually agree with her but don't realize it due to the brainwashing.

But I 100% agree with you. The rich aren't being meaningfully "punished" or "hurt" with a 6.8% net worth tax when it comes to their lifestyle. So why on earth aren't we implementing this permanently?! Even allow an inflation deduction to be fair.

Quote:Inflation like this is probably the most insidious and regressive taxes one can imagine. Perhaps home owners may find some benefit a decade from now, but if you're renting, or carrying an adjustable mortgage, have credit card debt like a LOT of lower income folks rely on, can they stand 18-24.99% interest rates on the $2800 they owe?

Pssst: They owe that for a reason, they have monthly car payment for a reason, they're furnishings,, clothing and a lot of other stuff is on a consumer store branded credit card for a reason.

Still gotta drive to work and try to feed the family and both of those have gone through the roof in less than a year, and it's ALLLLL self-inflicted and clearly intentional.

Best Mr. Hand voice for this one: "Inflation is good".

A decade from now? You can do it today by refinancing a mortgage for under 4%. Anyone stupid enough to carry a ton of credit card debt deserves to remain a slave in life. I make (and I repeat MAKE) more than 2% on average on all of my credit card purchases by paying them off every month. There's a reason why a car dealer doesn't allow you to put an entire car purchase on a credit card. Believe me, I've tried. I make money off of stupid people. I'd put an entire house purchase on a credit card if I could.

(12-14-2021 07:44 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Hey Scorp, enlighten us also on double digit runaway inflation, staple shortages, skyrocketing energy prices followed by a recession with double digit unemployment is going to be such a delight for all Americans. Can’t wait until I can only fuel up on days with the even numbered license plate.


You do realize Carter only won because of Watergate. What a waste of 4 years.

Sounds like fearmongering. But as far as Nixon goes, he belonged to a Republican party I'd proudly vote for today.

(12-16-2021 02:10 PM)scorpius Wrote:  

(12-14-2021 04:41 PM)TheOriginalBigApp Wrote:  these scorpuss posts read like some copypasta off some extreme leftists blog (free of course). Was this lifted from dcurbanmom.com?

If it were an honest post, it'd be a first ballot Hall of Famer (see my siggy). But 100% certain someone else penned it.

Why thank you. I take that as a compliment since nothing of it was copy and paste. 100% original. I'm not someone who copies and pastes without putting it in quotation or italics. The only extremist blogs I read or post on are right-wing. Like here for example.

(12-14-2021 04:53 PM)WalkThePlank Wrote:  The asset inflation argument doesn't apply here. Most Americans don't have much in savings, with most banks having near 0 savings interest, it's impossible to save (thanks Fed).

Even if you sell your house and make a nice profit, you need to compete for a new house in a seller's market. Houses are going nearly 100k over in the RDU region of NC. It's basically a wash at best and a loss for most.

(12-14-2021 05:17 PM)JMUDunk Wrote:  You'd be a fool to have anything substantial in a savings account these days, just an interest free loan from you to the bank.

The other idiocy of this discussion is the original author (likely not the poster) hasn't considered non-fixed consumer debt. These interest rates are going to have to go up dramatically at some point as we see inflation booming at 10%.

Only 15% of mortgages are ARMs (adjustable rate). In my opinion, anyone would be insane to do an ARM over fixed anyway. It's not just the asset inflation that makes you money during inflation, it's the fact the real value of your fixed rate mortgage declines. So for 85% of mortgage holders, they are winners. No need to sell to realize this profit. Just refinance your mortgage and access the additional equity when the timing is right.

Quote:Rich people aren't gonna be "punished" by this in any real way, they're rich!

Okay, inflation is basically a networth tax for the rich. So according to your logic a networth tax of 6.8% doesn't "punish" the rich. You agree with Elizabeth Warren. In fact you're argument is more leftist than her because she only proposes a 2% tax. Funny how most Republicans actually agree with her but don't realize it due to the brainwashing.

But I 100% agree with you. The rich aren't being meaningfully "punished" or "hurt" with a 6.8% net worth tax when it comes to their lifestyle. So why on earth aren't we implementing this permanently?! Even allow an inflation deduction to be fair.

Quote:Inflation like this is probably the most insidious and regressive taxes one can imagine. Perhaps home owners may find some benefit a decade from now, but if you're renting, or carrying an adjustable mortgage, have credit card debt like a LOT of lower income folks rely on, can they stand 18-24.99% interest rates on the $2800 they owe?

Pssst: They owe that for a reason, they have monthly car payment for a reason, they're furnishings,, clothing and a lot of other stuff is on a consumer store branded credit card for a reason.

Still gotta drive to work and try to feed the family and both of those have gone through the roof in less than a year, and it's ALLLLL self-inflicted and clearly intentional.

Best Mr. Hand voice for this one: "Inflation is good".

A decade from now? You can do it today by refinancing a mortgage for under 4%. Anyone stupid enough to carry a ton of credit card debt deserves to remain a slave in life. I make (and I repeat MAKE) more than 2% on average on all of my credit card purchases by paying them off every month. There's a reason why a car dealer doesn't allow you to put an entire car purchase on a credit card. Believe me, I've tried. I make money off of stupid people. I'd put an entire house purchase on a credit card if I could.

(12-14-2021 07:44 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Hey Scorp, enlighten us also on double digit runaway inflation, staple shortages, skyrocketing energy prices followed by a recession with double digit unemployment is going to be such a delight for all Americans. Can’t wait until I can only fuel up on days with the even numbered license plate.


You do realize Carter only won because of Watergate. What a waste of 4 years.

Sounds like fearmongering. But as far as Nixon goes, he belonged to a Republican party I'd proudly vote for today.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

See if this passage can soak into that granite block of yours. Romans 12

(12-16-2021 11:14 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

See if this passage can soak into that granite block of yours. Romans 12

Let's put things in perspective. The long term inflation average for the US since 1913 is 3.12%. Over the past 5 years, it has averaged 2.86%. Only reason it appears we're above average is because we're looking back only 1 year instead of 5. Otherwise, we're still well below the 108 year average. Using 5 years of data is more logical since it evens out the short term "transitory" spikes while still being relatively short term. I'd be surprised if the 5 year average goes much above the 3.12% long term average in the near future. I'd eat my hat if it ever goes above 4% in my life time.

11/2021 CPI =277.948
11/2016 CPI =241.353
11/1913 CPI =10.1

(277.948/241.353)^(1/5)-1 =0.0286
(277.948/10.1)^(1/108)-1 =0.0312

Historical Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) Data

(12-17-2021 02:16 AM)scorpius Wrote:  

(12-16-2021 11:14 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

See if this passage can soak into that granite block of yours. Romans 12

Let's put things in perspective. The long term inflation average for the US since 1913 is 3.12%. Over the past 5 years, it has averaged 2.86%. Only reason it appears we're above average is because we're looking back only 1 year instead of 5. Otherwise, we're still well below the 108 year average. Using 5 years of data is more logical since it evens out the short term "transitory" spikes while still being relatively short term. I'd be surprised if the 5 year average goes much above the 3.12% long term average in the near future. I'd eat my hat if it ever goes above 4% in my life time.

11/2021 CPI =277.948
11/2016 CPI =241.353
11/1913 CPI =10.1

(277.948/241.353)^(1/5)-1 =0.0286
(277.948/10.1)^(1/108)-1 =0.0312

Historical Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) Data

Are you so blind you can’t see the hardships that those on the lower and bottom end of the spectrum are facing? Upward mobility for those trying to get out of poverty will be set back at least a decade and that’s if things ever get back to where were before the pandemic. All of those numbers are great to try to explain to the family being evicted because rent is now out of their reach. I, unfortunately remember all of this. Thanks Carter and Co.

If you could ever see the big picture besides your own mini world you live in, then you might be able see what others are enduring. And, no this not fear mongering but reality for a lot of Americans. Just not yourself.

Finally, I have to relent that this was all orchestrated by the greed of those that pull the strings behind the scenes of the worst fool to ever hold office. He and cronies are the enemy of any American who seeks upward mobility financially. No, Democrats need subservient poverty stricken government dependent people to stay in power. They will always toss them a penance but will never offer them financial freedom. It’s not in their best interest.

(12-17-2021 09:46 AM)BlueDragon Wrote:  

(12-17-2021 02:16 AM)scorpius Wrote:  

(12-16-2021 11:14 PM)BlueDragon Wrote:  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

See if this passage can soak into that granite block of yours. Romans 12

Let's put things in perspective. The long term inflation average for the US since 1913 is 3.12%. Over the past 5 years, it has averaged 2.86%. Only reason it appears we're above average is because we're looking back only 1 year instead of 5. Otherwise, we're still well below the 108 year average. Using 5 years of data is more logical since it evens out the short term "transitory" spikes while still being relatively short term. I'd be surprised if the 5 year average goes much above the 3.12% long term average in the near future. I'd eat my hat if it ever goes above 4% in my life time.

11/2021 CPI =277.948
11/2016 CPI =241.353
11/1913 CPI =10.1

(277.948/241.353)^(1/5)-1 =0.0286
(277.948/10.1)^(1/108)-1 =0.0312

Historical Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) Data

Are you so blind you can’t see the hardships that those on the lower and bottom end of the spectrum are facing? Upward mobility for those trying to get out of poverty will be set back at least a decade and that’s if things ever get back to where were before the pandemic. All of those numbers are great to try to explain to the family being evicted because rent is now out of their reach. I, unfortunately remember all of this. Thanks Carter and Co.

If you could ever see the big picture besides your own mini world you live in, then you might be able see what others are enduring. And, no this not fear mongering but reality for a lot of Americans. Just not yourself.

Finally, I have to relent that this was all orchestrated by the greed of those that pull the strings behind the scenes of the worst fool to ever hold office. He and cronies are the enemy of any American who seeks upward mobility financially. No, Democrats need subservient poverty stricken government dependent people to stay in power. They will always toss them a penance but will never offer them financial freedom. It’s not in their best interest.

He's a perfect encapsulation of the new liberal. Throws out meaningless data to try and make a point where there is no point.

Same for people on the right who say the stock market and GDP should drive economic decisions. They're important, but it doesn't tell the whole picture. The lockdowns did so much damage to this nation.

The Inflation Grinch Who Stole Christmas

Quote:Inflation, a phenomenon based on dishonesty, unsurprisingly finds its enthusiasts dishonestly obfuscating its origins.

Jen Psaki, the president’s spokeswoman, informed the media this week that “corporate greed is a big driver of inflation right now.” She singled out the “greed of meat conglomerates.”

The greed of the meat conglomerate does not compare to the greed of the money conglomerate.

In September of 2019, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet stood at $3.7 trillion. It now approaches $8.7 trillion. Even a dimwit, grasping the basic laws of supply and demand, knows what such a massive influx — of apples, or automobiles, of axes, of anything — does to value.

An equivalent to the money conglomerate’s greed in reducing last year’s dollar to 93 cents would look like the “meat conglomerates” reducing a pound from 16 to 14 ounces. This, aside from breaking the law, would strike everyone as terribly dishonest (and a true example of greed). Yet, when central banks tinker with money measurements we pretend not to notice or chalk it up to the way it always works.

To the contrary, the dollar lost roughly the same amount of value for the entire history of the republic until the creation of the Federal Reserve as it did since unacknowledged quantitative easing begun in September of 2019. The cause of the reign of the dishonest dollar did not stem from shopkeepers or car dealers or utility companies. It came from central bankers creating excess currency, normally in response to incontinent politicians looking to spend money they neither possess nor can even borrow by normal means. We call such manipulation fraud in any other field, and sic the government after the malefactors.

Meat producers did not “jack up,” as Psaki put it, their prices. Money producers devalued their product.

We know this because everything, not just roast beef, skyrocketed in price over the last year or so. At least it seems that way. What really happened involves the dollars in our pockets decreasing in worth, and sellers of products reacting accordingly.

The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics report on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which gauges the primary symptom (higher prices) of the sickness (inflating the money supply), notes spikes in every category examined. Food, the category singled out by Psaki, rose by a mere 6.1 percent, which trailed the overall 6.8 percent annual CPI. Fuel oil, by way of comparison, skyrocketed 59.3 percent.

Did the shadowy meat conglomerate conspire with the gasoline conglomerate, the used-car conglomerate, and the barber-shop conglomerate to raise prices? Or, alternatively, did the fiscally irresponsible conspire with the monetarily irresponsible to debase our currency as a means of financing unprecedented spending?

The Federal Reserve knows its own role in currency debasement even if tries to muddy shallow waters. We know this because when it recently signaled a 2022 raising of interest rates and a tapering of largescale purchases of government debt it did the opposite of what it did to cause inflation as a means of reining it in.

Across-the-board inflation happens because of supply-and-demand issues involving money. The Federal Reserve, under the pressure of the president and his predecessor, created a supply of money outpacing its demand to such a degree as to cause a dramatic uptick in inflation.

Psaki’s “meat conglomerates” excuse-making, after the administration scapegoating supply chains and a bodily disease for this disease of the printing press, may strike as the latest deflection from the White House. But the latest excuse comes as a recycled excuse, not a new one.

Fifty-five years ago, economist Milton Friedman responded to the Jen Psakis of his day.

“Housewives have a justifiable complaint,” he conceded regarding protests of supermarkets. “But they should complain to Washington where inflation is produced, not to the supermarket where inflation is delivered.”

The Biden Administration wants citizens to blame where they spend money, rather than where the Federal Reserve creates money, for inflation. This erases the culpability of politicians. More importantly, it allows them to continue the profligate fiscal outlays (think: Build Back Better) that nudge the monetary policymakers to create mountains of cash to pay for it all.

The Big Spenders in Washington necessarily make it more expensive for the little spenders in the rest of the country.

The Inflation Grinches who stole Christmas reside on Pennsylvania Ave., on Capitol Hill, and at 12 banks throughout the United States. And like that other Grinch, they always disguise themselves when stealing from us.