This one is a classic. But it is also a demonstration of why I rail about media bias almost every day.
The latest Bureau of Labor Statistics data are out, and inflation rate jumped to 3.7%.
When Joe Biden took office inflation was at 1.4%, and had averaged about 2% for Donald Trump’s entire four years as President. Under Biden it immediately flew upward, reaching a peak of 9.1% last June. Then it dropped back to where, two months ago it was at 3.2%; the “drop” putting us at over double where it was when Biden took office. Now, at 3.7%, it is over 2 1/2 times as high as where Trump left it.
Add to that the fact that, in order to keep it from staying far higher, The Fed increased interest rates from 0.9% (that’s not a typo) in January, the month Donald Trump left office/Joe Biden became President, to 5.33% as of August. The highest it has been in 22 years.
In summary, our inflation rate is almost three times what it was when Trump was president, and interest rates are about 6 times as high.
Is this good news? Is this anything but cataclysmic, disastrous news for most families trying to make ends meet? The question answers itself.
Now let me show you NBC News’ headline and sub-head for it’s article about inflation:
Inflation ticks upward to 3.7% as the Fed’s fight to tame high consumer prices rolls on
Annual inflation has risen two months in a row after 12 straight months of decline.
In other words, inflation is slowly rising (just ticking upward, you see) for a couple of months, after dropping for 12 months (gee, 10 drops versus 2 rises, that’s really good for us), and The Fed is fighting those high consumer prices (what a great thing for them to do).
And if you read the article you will find that every piece of bad news about the economy is written with either a disclaimer of one sort or another or a claim that the news, while bad, is actually encouraging.
Here’s one example:
Economists had expected the data to show a 3.6% overall increase in inflation compared to a year ago. Annual inflation has now ticked up two months in a row after 12 consecutive months of decline.
Core inflation, a measurement of cost increases that removes energy and food prices because of their volatility, rose 4.3%. That, too, matched estimates from experts.
The Federal Reserve has been focusing on core inflation recently as it tries to crimp inflation.
Broadly speaking, the central bank’s effort seems to be working. Overall inflation as measured by the government’s Consumer Price Index, or CPI, was 3.2% in July compared to July 2022. Core inflation was 4.7% that month.
“If you look at what’s going on underneath the surface, core inflation continues to gradually cool,” said David Kelly, chief global strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management. “I don’t think people should look at it as some kind of revival of inflation pressure.”
Got that? Inflation was even worse last year, so this isn’t so bad, is it?
Another example:
The Fed’s moves were intended to stem inflation by slowing the economy. Still, the job market has stayed tight and wages have continued to increase, and there have been few signs that a recession is on the way.
“The economy does seem to be resilient in the face of higher interest rates,” Kelly said. “Working families are gradually doing a little bit better this year.”
He said that consumers are feeling a “squeeze” from the surge in gas prices, even if it’s temporary, as well as the end of the three-year pause in federal student loan repayments. But Kelly said economic conditions are pretty good right now: Inflation is coming down, and the job market is tight, which keeps wages steady.
“That’s about as good as we can expect,” he said. “The best we can hope for is a soft landing, and there’s nothing in this report that tells me we can’t achieve it.”
Working families are gradually doing a little bit better this year???? Because inflation has “dropped” to being almost three times as high as it was under the last president, while interest rates are 6 times as high?
That’s like telling a guy who broke both his legs and both his arms last year, then breaks one leg and sprains his arms this year, that he should be happy about how much better he’s doing.
The truth is Biden – actually the leftist puppeteers who are controlling him and really running our country – have given us an economic horror show.
And the “hey, it’s really not so bad” media attempts at convincing us otherwise will not change a thing.
All this, and Kamala Harris (who gives flyweights a bad name) or Gavin Newsom (the destructor of San Francisco, then the entire state of California) waiting in the wings.
God help us.
