The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Andy Puzder former chief executive officer of CKE Restaurants has compared real wage gains under Trump versus Biden so far. Under Trump, real median income hit an all-time high since 1999, and fell, slightly in 2020 due to Covid shutdowns. Under Biden, wages are rising, but inflation is outpacing the paycheck gains. Maybe that’s another reason workers aren’t working.
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.3 percent in August on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.5 percent in July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 5.3 percent before seasonal adjustment.
Continue reading Consumer Price Index Posts Less than Expected Increase in July
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the economic whizz kids at the White House and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell keep saying inflation is “transitory.” But Friday morning’s Producer Price Index report show an 8.3% rise for the 12 months. DOL Says that’s “the largest annual increase since the US Department of Labor started measuring this price indicator in 2011.”
Continue reading The 1970’s 2.0 : Producer Price Index Jumps 8.3%
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, according to the Bureau of labor Statistics the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.5 percent in July on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.9 percent in June. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 5.4 percent before seasonal adjustment. The indexes for shelter, food, energy, and new vehicles all increased in July and contributed to the monthly all items seasonally adjusted increase.
Continue reading The Consumer Price Index Rose at a 5.4% Annual Rate
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.9 percent in June on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.6 percent in May, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This was the largest 1-month change since June 2008 when the index rose 1.0 percent.
Continue reading The Consumer Price Index Posts largest 1-month change since June 2008
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, the Bureau of Labor Statistics posted a CPI number of 5% over the last 12-months, the highest rate since 2008. Gas prices rose 56.2% in 12 months, the highest since Jimmy Carter’s last year in office.
Continue reading Back to the 70’s: Inflation, Oil and Commodities Prices Surge
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Washington DC, the Producer Price Index for final demand increased 0.6 percent in April, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Final demand prices rose 1.0 percent in March and 0.5 percent in February. (See table A.) On an unadjusted basis, the final demand index moved up 6.2 percent for the 12 months ended in April, the largest advance since 12- month data were first calculated in November 2010.
Continue reading The Producer Price Index Posts the Largest Advance Since November 2010
president Jimmy Carter
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, fanning the fear of inflation ,the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.8 percent in April on a seasonally adjusted basis after rising 0.6 percent in March, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 4.2 percent before seasonal adjustment.
Continue reading Consumer Price Index Posts Largest 12-month Increase Since September 2008
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, the markets are giving many mixed signals on inflation (the 10 year Treasury is stable between 1.55% and 1.7% and the TIPS spread is signaling a 10-year inflation rate of about 2.4%.) .
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, since the November election the CRB commodities index has been surging. This index of nearly 20 major commodities – from silver, to copper, to corn, to coal – hit it’s three-year high on Monday at 205. That’s a 35% commodity price spike from election day when it stood at 154. Energy prices have led the ascent. The index had been rising throughout 2020 from its collapse in March and April when the virus hit.
photo of Janet Yellen
By Charles Stampul
Americans are about to get a long overdue lesson about inflation. It may come as a shock to many CNBC viewers and those working in finance or holding advanced degrees in economics might attempt to refute it, but the word actually means what any child who has used a pump to put air in a ball or tire, might guess. Take out an old dictionary and you will see it’s true. Inflation is not an increase in Consumer Price Index (CPI) or Producer Price Index (PPI), or the Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), even if those indexes accurately measured rising prices, which they doubtfully do. Inflation, instead, is the act of increasing the supply of currency. Rising prices is the effect of inflation, not inflation itself. The distinction matters.
#DOITFIRDAKIDZ
The REA just wants more money taken from the students and extracurricular’s to pay for their average annual above inflation (and above 2% property tax cap) wage increases and “platinum” health plan benefits covering 96% of all medical benefits with $10 co-pays. Why are Ridgewood residents paying above average property taxes in Bergen County for schools to only cut spending on students to pay even more for teachers who already earn the highest average salaries in Bergen? Does this make any sense? Won’t our property values decline if our schools keep declining like they have?
Reuters
The Labor Department said on Friday its producer price index for final demand increased 0.5 percent last month, the largest gain since September 2012. That followed a 0.4 percent decline in April.
In the year to May, the PPI fell 1.1 percent, marking the fourth straight 12-month decrease. Prices dropped 1.3 percent in the 12 months through April, the biggest fall since 2010.
Economists had forecast the PPI rising 0.4 percent last month and falling 1.1 percent from a year ago.
A sharp decline in crude oil prices since last year and a strong dollar have weighed on producer prices. While rising oil prices are easing some of the downward pressure on inflation, the upward trend in producer prices will be gradual because of the dollar’s strength.
The greenback has gained about 13.2 percent against the currencies of the United States’ main trading partners since June 2014.
The stabilization in producer prices should support views that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates this year.
Last month, gasoline prices surged 17 percent, the largest increase since August 2009. Food prices rose 0.8 percent in May, the biggest gain in just over a year, snapping five straight months of declines.
Higher food prices were driven by a shortage of eggs after an outbreak of bird flu led to the culling of millions of chickens. Wholesale egg prices soared a record 56.4 percent last month.
Why A Six-Figure Salary No Longer Means You’re Rich
in Investing by Holly Johnson
I was born in 1980, and I still remember the days when “bringing in six figures” was a sign of extreme wealth and success. It was more than enough to buy the perfect house with a white picket fence, after all, and achieving that sort of income implied a certain level of status that nearly everyone aspired to. You could even say that a six-figure salary was seen as the real “American dream,” simply because earning that much money meant that you had “made it,” at least in financial terms. As a child, I distinctly remember dreaming of a six-figure income myself, and fantasizing about all of the amazing things I could do with so much money.
Times have changed since then, but the public’s perception of a six-figure salary hasn’t necessarily changed with it. With the median household income stuck at around $53,093 in 2014, an annual salary of nearly twice that still seems like more than enough money to succeed and thrive in any economy, no matter the circumstances. However, a convergence of factors have fundamentally changed what it means to rake in a “six-figure salary” in America, and many families who look rich on paper are merely struggling to get ahead along with everyone else.
Why Six Figures Isn’t What it Used to Be
Earning a six-figure salary is still a sign of status and success, but it no longer guarantees a lifetime of wealth like it once did, especially in certain parts of the country. A recent analysis by USA Today goes even further to say that the average price of living the American dream has now risen to $130,000 per year due the rising costs of nearly everything. The authors of the study claim that the American dream is about “finding and pursuing a rewarding career, leading a healthy and personally fulfilling life, and being able to retire in comfort,” adding that only 1 in 8 households in the U.S. currently earn enough to achieve those goals. But, what exactly has changed?
https://blog.personalcapital.com/investing/six-figure-salary/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Twitter-blogpost&utm_content=WhyASixFigureSalaryNoLongerMeansYoureRich
The inflation panic : The spontaneous combustion theory of inflation
Jun 26th 2014, 15:42 by G.I. | WASHINGTON, D.C.
In the last few weeks, ominous warnings of inflation’s imminent resurgence have multiplied, prompted by recent upside surprises on core inflation and the cavalier dismissal by Janet Yellen, the Fed chair, of those reports as “noise. ”
On factual, theoretical and strategic grounds, I find the panic over inflation perplexing.
First, factual. Yes, core CPI inflation has rebounded to 2% from 1.6% in February and today we learned that core PCE inflation has risen to 1.5% from 1.1%. What should we infer from this? Nothing. In the short run inflation oscillates because of idiosyncratic movements in various components, such as rent, health care and imported commodities, but over longer periods, it is remarkably inertial: the best forecast of inflation over the next five years is inflation over the past five years. The nearby chart illustrates this;
https://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/06/inflation-panic?fsrc=rss
