economics – MatthewMaynard.net

Everything’s under control, situation normal

Matt Maynard — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:11:29 +0000

Everything’s under control, situation normal: It’s Been 30 Years Since Food Ate Up This Much of Your Income.

And things are going to only get worse: In next decade, 84% of federal spending growth comes from health, Social Security, interest: CRFB

We’re all fine, here, now. How are you?

Matt Maynard — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 04:51:31 +0000

We’re all fine, here, now. How are you? Germany slashes 2024 growth forecast to just 0.2% as economy in ‘tricky waters,’ minister says

And closer to home: First-time buyers ‘rate-locked’ out of housing market: NAHB CEO.

LUKE, WE’RE GONNA HAVE A RECESSION!

Depression is when you lose our job, recession is when your neighbor loses his

Matt Maynard — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 17:21:29 +0000

Depression is when you lose our job, recession is when your neighbor loses his: Nike to cut about 2% jobs to lower costs as demand weakens. And recovery begins when Biden loses his.

“Complicates” here is a weasel word

Matt Maynard — Fri, 16 Feb 2024 16:11:17 +0000

“Complicates” here is a weasel word. Those who have been paying attention understand there’s nothing complicated about prices rising because of excess dollars flowing through the system: January’s Surprising PPI Hike Complicates Inflation Outlook.

Stripping out food and energy costs, the core PPI surged 0.5%, defying the anticipated 0.1% gain. Moreover, the PPI excluding food, energy, and trade services climbed 0.6%, marking the largest one-month rise since January 2023.

So be sure to buy food, energy, and trade services with only your non-core dollars. Save the core dollars for everything else.

Everything’s under control, situation normal.

Everything’s under control, situation normal

Matt Maynard — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 15:22:57 +0000

Everything’s under control, situation normal: US retail sales fall sharply in January; weekly jobless claims decline
First comments from the Biden (mal)administration on the situation:

Damnit, he did the thing that’s entirely predictable given our tax policy!

Matt Maynard — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 03:17:25 +0000

Damnit, he did the thing that’s entirely predictable given our tax policy! Jeff Bezos’ move to Miami shows just how hard it is to tax the rich.
That is the physique of a man who sells whatever the fsck he wants on the Internet, next to the physique of a woman who knows she’s a trophy and wants to extend her time such for as long as possible.

Economics Shot, Chaser, Hangover, Hair of the Dog

Matt Maynard — Wed, 14 Feb 2024 17:15:29 +0000

Shot: Fed’s Goolsbee: Don’t get amped up over a single hot inflation print
Since Goolsbee isn’t an Austrian schooler, it should come as no surprise that he doesn’t understand the relation between interest rates and inflation in a fiat-based system such as ours.
Chaser: Heineken Warns Sticky Inflation Will Hit Beer Demand This Year
Though I don’t consider Heineken worth drinking, so their inflation problems are not my concern.
Hangover: First look: White House cuts gag rule on economic data to 30 minutes Money quote (pun not intended):

Flashback: Since the Nixon era, officials have waited an hour before weighing in on the data. Back then there were fears the public would not be able to distinguish between apolitical descriptions of economic data and the White House’s partisan interpretations.

The press certainly can’t, at any rate.
Hair of the Dog: Why Biden Should Talk Up Economic Success
This last article is an example of begging the question: such talking-up presumes the existence of economic success to begin with.

Surprising exactly zero Austrian-school economists

Matt Maynard — Tue, 13 Feb 2024 14:44:18 +0000

Surprising exactly zero Austrian-school economists: Inflation: Consumer prices rise 3.1% in January, defying forecasts for a faster slowdown.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.3% over last month and 3.1% over the prior year in January, slightly higher than December’s 0.2% month-over-month increase but a deceleration from December’s 3.4% annual gain.

Both measures were higher compared to economist forecasts of a 0.2% month-over-month increase and a 2.9% annual increase, according to data from Bloomberg.

Save for the future, then save some more. I use Acorns, among other tools. It’s returned 22% for me, which means its probably keeping pace with inflation, perhaps beating it by a few percentage points. It beats putting it on the credit card:

Americans now owe a collective $1.13 trillion on their credit cards, an all time high: pic.twitter.com/Zxdi38uvXv

— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) February 11, 2024

Hmm, I wonder what happened at the start of 2021 that made this graph abruptly change slope?

Trending badly: Interest on national debt to become second largest government expenditure in ’24: Watchdog says

Matt Maynard — Sun, 11 Feb 2024 18:16:37 +0000

Only a fool would think our political class has the self-control to reverse this trend.