Thursday, June 10, 2021

There's No Inflation

We know the inflation talk is just from the anti-Biden insurgents.  This data from Heather Long on Twitter means nothing.  


On a more serious note, I have two issues with this.  First is that there's no source quoted.  No references.  Is it 100% Pulled From the Air?  On the other hand, it is Twitter.  They don't allow a lot of characters in a tweet.  Maybe there wasn't room for references.  The second thing is that by May, 2020 was pretty economically dead.  A comparison to 2019 might be more meaningful.   Or is that too nit-picky? 

Offered simply as is.  



9 comments:

  1. I expect salary/wage compression to kick in this time next year: people will be looking to swap jobs because new hires are making as much as 5 year people.

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    1. My wife has exactly this problem. She started turning in her resume and started looking for a new job. The new hires were starting at her level after 6 years. She was, let's just say unhappy.
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    2. Something I've been saying since they first started talking about the "fight for $15" is that there is wide spectrum of people making between the current min wage and $15. All of those people are going to get compressed to the same $15 - or very close to it. Many of us have lived through that at some point in our lives. The inflation is going to be monstrous.

      Then you have to consider that someone making close to $15 with a much lower min wage may well have gone to school or special training to get that higher wage. Or as you say, Anon, they've gotten years of experience. That is now not just disincentivized, it's actively penalized.

      The amount of suffering this is going to cause is incalculable.

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  2. I have looked at my grocery store expenditures from the past 6 months compared to the first 6 months of last year. Last year I spent just over $80 for the two of us every 10 days. This year it is $114.

    If you want a very good example go try to buy a new 3/4 or 1-ton pickup.

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    1. That's 42% and around what I'm seeing.

      When I first started noticing, the two of us were in the Big Box Store (BJ's Wholesale Club) and I was shocked to see a "treat" we buy ourselves, our weekly steak had gone up 31% since last fall.

      I think it's common for people that once something catches your eye, you start to look around and see how everything is more expensive.

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    2. Costco has downsized their products to keep the prices about the same. The 5-lb frozen ground beef for $18.95 last year is now a 4-lb pack for about the same price. The two 1 gallon olive oil containers are now two 3/4 gallon containers. The 2 lb bag of coffee is now 1 & 2/3 lb. And it goes on and on.

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    3. Yep shrinkflation I have noticed smaller but a little cheaper packages then bigger more expensive. It occurs about every 5 - 7 years on things I pay attention to specifically for that.

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  3. While the actual numbers may be debateable ANYONE who isn't unconscious....or obscenely rich....KNOWS that inflation is raging and the dollar is losing value
    literally on an hourly basis. I lived through the Carter recession.....and the current economy is starting to look a LOT like those years. The difference being there is nobody waiting in the wings to rescue us or the economy.

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  4. Confirmed. I just checked my 2019 truck's value on Blue Book, and I could trade it in for the sticker price. I paid significantly less than sticker price.

    I understand the ~5% inflation hitting consumer goods, but I don't understand the one-year 30% jump in used-car prices or the 10-20% in housing.

    What else won't make sense in the coming months?

    I've prepped for this for years so, fingers crossed, I'll likely just be watching the show.

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