Tag Archives: americaneconomy

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Daily Broadside | Economy Implodes While Old Man Mumbles About How Great It Is

Daily Verse | Job 10:18-19
“Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. If only I had never come into being, or had been carried straight from the womb to the grave!”

Friday’s Reading: Job 11-14
Saturday’s Reading: Job 15-17

It’s Friday and the completion of another trip around the drain here in the Land of Brandon. Things are not looking good, my friends, as we stare a global food shortage in the face and it’s likely millions will die, especially in third-world countries where people are living on less than a dollar a day. We’ll face some shortages and inflated prices here in the U.S, but most of us will be able to navigate the financial tsunami even while the government takes its pound of flesh while doing nothing to alleviate the pain.

Equity and all that, prol.

As many predicted, Q1 GDP is worse than thought, down 1.5 percent.

First-quarter gross domestic product declined at a 1.5% annual pace, according to the second estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. That was worse than the 1.3% Dow Jones estimate and a write-down from the initially reported 1.4%.

Downward revisions for both private inventory and residential investment offset an upward change in consumer spending. A swelling trade deficit also subtracted from the GDP total.

The pullback in GDP represented the worst quarter since the pandemic-scarred Q2 of 2020 in which the U.S. fell into a recession spurred by a government-imposed economic shutdown to battle Covid-19. GDP plummeted 31.2% in that quarter.

I’m old enough to remember when we were assured that inflation was just a passing phase and recession wasn’t a thing to worry about.

One factor helping to propel growth is a resilient consumer fighting through inflation that accelerated 8.3% from a year ago in April.

“Fighting through inflation” by … spending? How long do you think that will last as Americans blow through their paychecks faster on things like, say, gasoline? Not much discretionary cash left over for remodeling the house or buying the new transgender Barbie doll.

Plus, consumer confidence is tanking.

The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US fell to 59.1 in May of 2022, the lowest since August of 2011, from 65.2 in April and below market forecasts of 64, as Americans remained concerned over the inflation. The current economic conditions index fell to 63.6, the lowest in 13 years while the expectations gauge sank to 56.2 from 62.5. The median expected year-ahead inflation rate was 5.4%, remaining near a four-decade high for the last three months. To make things even worst, the index of buying conditions for durable goods, such as household appliances, fell to the lowest level since the survey began in 1978.

The adults are back in charge, baby!

Although Americans aren’t all that impressed with the adults. Sixty percent of Americans disapprove of the current Resident. Okay, really, it’s 59 percent, but what’s a point here or there?

U.S. President Joe Biden’s public approval rating fell this week to 36%, the lowest level of his presidency, as Americans suffered from rising inflation, according to a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Tuesday.

The two-day national poll found that 59% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s job performance. His overall approval was down six percentage points from 42% last week.

Biden’s approval rating has been below 50% since August, raising alarms that his Democratic Party is on track to lose control of at least one chamber of Congress in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

In a sign of weakening enthusiasm among Democrats, Biden’s approval rating within his own party fell to 72% from 76% the prior week. Only 10% of Republicans approve of his job in office.

Behold, 81 kA-ziLLiOn VoTEs!

As low as Biden’s overall approval rating is, it remains higher than the lows of his predecessor, Donald Trump, whose approval rating bottomed out at 33% in December 2017.

At least he’s more popular than Trump! And best of all — NO MoAR MeeN TwEEtS!

And besides, totally not his fault, says the totally not biased fairly unbalanced Reuters staff writers.

This year, Biden has been dogged by a surge in U.S. consumer prices, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine helping drive fuel prices higher and global supply chains still hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

He’s been HOUNDED, I tell you. Hounded by that totally autonomous “surge” in those evil right-wing conspiratorial “consumer prices” and them evil Ruskies whose invasion has increased the cost of gas and … oh, wait. They forgot to mention that Brandon shut down the Keystone Pipeline on Day One and has banned drilling on federal land and killed fracking and is letting drilling permits off the coast of Alaska expire even though we have as much oil as we need literally beneath our feet because … climate change!

But this is a good thing. You guys just don’t understand.

“[When] it comes to the gas prices, we’re going through an incredible transition that is taking place that, God willing, when it’s over, we’ll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels when this is over,” [Brandon] said during a press conference in Japan following his meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“God willing.”

The [R]esident then insisted that his administration’s actions, rather than increasing the price of gas, had actually been able to “keep it from getting worse — and it’s bad.”

He’s a hero, you understand. Like in the Marvel universe.

I just can’t understand why his numbers are down.

I just can’t.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Don’t Look Now But What You Can Plainly See Isn’t There

Daily Verse | Hebrews 2:3b
This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.

Wednesday’s Reading: Hebrews 3-4

Good morning, my friends. Wednesday and everybody but the current Resident and the other squatters in the White House have noticed that the price of everyday goods and services are rising faster than a hot air balloon filled with the vapid musings of Joy Behar and Whoopie Goldberg.

Since I’m no expert on economics, let’s let David Catron give us the details.

This is the largest 12-month increase in the CPI since 1982, and it is hitting Americans where it hurts most — the cost of energy, food, and transportation. This suggests that there is indeed a “huge disconnect,” but that it is between the fiscal fantasies of the Biden administration and the financial realities faced by the voters. Unfortunately for the White House, inflation isn’t as susceptible to spin as are most issues debated inside the Beltway. Americans encounter the truth every time they pay their heating bills, fill up their gas tanks, and buy food. Friday’s report merely confirms what they see in their daily lives. The worst news involves how much more they now spend on energy than they paid last year:

On energy: The energy index rose 33.3 percent over the past 12 months with all major energy component indexes increasing sharply. The gasoline index rose 58.1 percent over the last year, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending April 1980. The index for natural gas rose 25.1 percent over the last 12 months, and the electricity index rose 6.5 percent.

On food: The food at home index rose 6.4 percent over the past 12 months, the largest 12-month increase since the period ending December 2008. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs increased 12.8 percent, with the index for beef rising 20.9 percent. The index for dairy and related products posted the smallest increase, rising 1.6 percent over the last 12 months.

Everything else but food and energy is up 4.9 percent over the past 12 months, its largest 12-month increase since the period ending June 1991.

From Ronna McDaniel at Fox News:

Meanwhile, the latest data from the Labor Department shows consumer prices skyrocketed 6.2% in October – the largest spike in more than 30 years. Rising prices are making everything more expensive: gasoline is up almost 50% since last year and used vehicles have risen by 26%. And if you hosted a holiday dinner last month, you might’ve emptied your wallet: according to the Farm Bureau, Thanksgiving dinner cost families 14% more than last year.  

Despite Biden’s assurances that inflation was temporary, the latest numbers indicate that inflation is here to stay – and will likely get worse. Economists project that high inflation will last well into 2022. 

Yet Biden and company want you to believe that this is all nothing to worry about and, in fact, are lying about it with straight faces.

Rather than actually tackling inflation, officials are more interested in explaining why those prices aren’t the full story. Biden chief of staff Ron Klain decided that the best response was a flip chart explaining that everything was actually great. It is one thing to tout your economic achievements, it is another to deny the existence of any problems. On inflation, the White House too often finds itself telling voters not to believe their lying eyes.

This is standard operating procedure for the Democrats:

But American voters aren’t having it:

The Economist/YouGov poll taken prior to last week’s release of the Consumer Price Index showed that 53 percent of Americans say the economy is getting worse. Just 15 percent say the economy is getting better.

Inflation is a the heart of economic concerns. Fifty-six percent of Americans say inflation is a very serious problem. Another 27 percent say it is somewhat serious, while nine percent say it is only a mild problem and two percent say it is not a problem at all.

All of this portends a disaster for the Democrats in 2022 but, just like their attitude toward inflation, they’re in denial.

President Joe Biden spoke at the Democratic National Committee holiday party on Tuesday night and expressed optimism that his party will prevail in next year’s midterm elections.

“We have to keep making the case,” Biden told a crowd of about 400 in Washington, D.C. “Let me say this again: From the president, we’re going to win in 2022.”

“I want to tell my Republican friends: Get ready, pal. You’re in for a problem,” Biden said, explaining that Republicans are “against everything” and challenging the crowd to name something the GOP is “for.”

OK “pal.”

Don’t forget: these clowns are the ones in charge. It’s up to us to relieve them of that burden in 2022 and 2024.

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Daily Broadside | 6 May 20

It’s the third month of being under CoronaCareᵀᴹ — March, April and May. The American economy is in a nosedive, shrinking by 4.8 percent in the first quarter—mostly based on just the month of March. Some economists predict that the second quarter will be monumentally worse — Goldman Sachs forecasts a decline of 34 percent.

If there’s anything to look forward to, “Arizona State University economists are predicting a recession of three to nine months, followed by a swift recovery” early in 2021 if consumer spending kicks in as they expect. That could be a big “if.”

Consumer spending was down 7.6 percent in the first quarter. In order for consumers to spend, they need to be employed. Just over 30 million people have filed first-time claims for jobless benefits since mid-March — about 18.6 percent of the labor force.

Watch the unemployment numbers against spending over the next few months for a clue on consumer confidence. If I was just coming off of unemployment, I’d be reserved in my spending, especially with a predicted “second wave” of the Asian Contagion once stay-at-home orders are lifted.

CAN WE HAVE A SERIOUS MOMENT ABOUT JOE BIDEN?
As you’ll learn if you follow me for any length of time, I don’t have much use for the Democrats in Washington, D.C. or for their compatriots in the states. I oppose almost everything they stand for. I don’t like their ideology, I don’t like their policies, I don’t like their political tactics and I don’t like their senior leaders. The only reason I care about who they nominate for president is because that person will be the competition.

Joe Biden is a terrible candidate and the Democrats are welcome to him. But there is so much wrong with him as the presumptive nominee that I find his front-runner status mysterious.

By any objective measure, Joe Biden shouldn’t even be in this race. His degraded mental acuity, verbal word salads, strange anecdotes, immature displays of bravado, witless gaffes, patronizing accents, bald nepotism, handsy personal space invasions and now—now!—being credibly accused of sexually assaulting a junior staffer in 1993 while he was a U.S. Senator—all of it should disqualify him from seeking office.

It’s embarrassing. Yet there he is.

I am genuinely puzzled by his presence and I wonder if rank and file Democrats are, too. The DNC arranged for Biden to come out on top because as poor a candidate as he is, Biden is their best shot to win the White House.

Of the other Democrat primary leaders, Bernie Sanders had an enthusiastic base but was a few Bolsheviks short of a revolution; Elizabeth Warren was tacking so sharply to port that Independents fell overboard; and Mayor Pete was too young and inexperienced for most voters.

Yet the Democrats have to know that Biden is probably not mentally or physically fit for the demands of the presidency, and now he’s dogged by the allegations of sexual assault. So why stand by him?

This is what troubles me. I think the Democrats are aware that their “best shot” isn’t all that good. That leaves them with two choices: either replace him, or find a running mate for him who will generate voter enthusiasm and effectively become the Democratic nominee.

It doesn’t take much to imagine that their strategy is to install as Biden’s running mate their true pick for the top job and, once he’s in office, use the twenty-fifth amendment to force him out over his deteriorating mental and physical fitness. Once he vacates the office, his vice-president then assumes the presidency.

In other words, a Trojan Horse. It’s technically legal but morally repugnant, and that possibility is what bothers me most about Joe Biden’s candidacy.