inflation Archives

Inflation at Lowest Point Since 2021

August 14, 2024 Buck Banks

2.9%

New York Times: “Overall inflation was 2.9 percent in July on a yearly basis, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported, easing slightly from 3 percent in June and a bit milder than economists had expected. … While inflation still exceeds the 2 percent that was normal before the coronavirus pandemic, it is much slower than the 9.1 percent peak in 2022.”

Plurality of Economists Say Inflation Would Be Worse Under Trump

July 12, 2024 Buck Banks

56%

“The Wall Street Journal’s survey, conducted July 5-9, received responses from 68 professional forecasters from business, Wall Street and academia. Of the 50 who answered questions about Trump and Biden, 56% said inflation would be higher under another Trump term than a Biden term, versus 16% who said the opposite. The remainder saw no material difference.”

Consumer Price Index Falling Slowly Over three Months

May 15, 2024 Buck Banks

3.6%

New York Times: The Consumer Price Index climbed 3.4 percent in April, down from 3.5 percent in March, the Labor Department said Wednesday. The “core” index — which strips out volatile food and fuel prices in order to give a sense of the underlying trend — rose 3.6 percent last month, down from 3.8 percent a month earlier. It was the lowest annual increase in core inflation since early 2021.

U.S. Economic Growth Accelerates

July 30, 2023 Buck Banks

2.4%

“The U.S. economy grew solidly last quarter and remained well clear of a recession despite the Federal Reserve pushing interest rates higher,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “Gross domestic product grew at a seasonally and inflation adjusted annual rate of 2.4% in the second quarter, picking up slightly from 2% growth in the first three months of the year.”

Consumer Inflation Drops to 3% in June

July 12, 2023 Buck Banks

3%

U.S. consumer prices rose 3 percent in the year through June, a considerable cool-down from the peak of around 9 percent last summer, reports the New York Times.

Halloween the Latest Victim of Inflation

October 26, 2022 Buck Banks

13%

Wall Street Journal: “Candy prices are up more than 13% from a year ago, according to the Labor Department, the largest-ever yearly jump for candy. Surging labor costs and skyrocketing flour and sugar prices have helped fuel the increase, candy makers say.”

Turkey Sees 48% Inflation

February 22, 2022 Buck Banks

48%

“It began with a few outraged customers posting photographs of their electricity bills to social media, showing how charges had almost doubled at the end of January. But such complaints have quickly snowballed into a full-blown political crisis for the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey,” the New York Times reports. “Turks have been hit with runaway inflation — now officially more than 48 percent — for several months, and criticism is growing even from Mr. Erdogan’s own allies as he struggles to lift the country out of an economic crisis.“

U.S. Inflation Hits 40-Year High

February 10, 2022 Buck Banks

7.5%

U.S. inflation accelerated to a 7.5% annual rate in January, rising to a new four-decade high, the Wall Street Journal reports. CNBC: “That marked the biggest gain since February 1982 and was even higher than the Wall Street estimate.”

And You Thought 7% Was Bad …

February 3, 2022 Buck Banks

48.7%

“Turkey’s official inflation rate reached the highest level since Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party came to power almost two decades ago, as global inflationary pressures combine with the president’s unorthodox economic management to fuel a surge in prices,”The Financial Times reports.

2.9%

56%

3.6%

2.4%

3%

U.S. consumer prices rose 3 percent in the year through June, a considerable cool-down from the peak of around 9 percent last summer, reports the New York Times.

13%

Wall Street Journal: “Candy prices are up more than 13% from a year ago, according to the Labor Department, the largest-ever yearly jump for candy. Surging labor costs and skyrocketing flour and sugar prices have helped fuel the increase, candy makers say.”

48%

7.5%

U.S. inflation accelerated to a 7.5% annual rate in January, rising to a new four-decade high, the Wall Street Journal reports. CNBC: “That marked the biggest gain since February 1982 and was even higher than the Wall Street estimate.”

48.7%

“Turkey’s official inflation rate reached the highest level since Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party came to power almost two decades ago, as global inflationary pressures combine with the president’s unorthodox economic management to fuel a surge in prices,”The Financial Times reports.

Poetic Justice

Verbatim

“He is the most dangerous person ever. I had suspicions when I talked to you about his mental decline and so forth, but now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is now the most dangerous person to this country. A fascist to the core.”

– Gen. Mark Milley, former Joint Chief of Staff under both Trump and Pres. Biden, quoted in veteran investigative reporter Bob Woodward’s book, War.

“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), accusing Democrats of creating Hurricane Helene for political purposes.

“Liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

— Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney finding that Georgia’s six-week abortion law violates Georgia’s Constitution, reports the AP.

“Maybe we’ll pay off the $35 trillion US debt in crypto. I’ll write on a little piece of paper ‘$35 trillion crypto we have no debt.’ That’s what I like.”

— Donald Trump, floating a plan to address the federal budget deficit and demonstrating his deep understanding of the crypto marketplace.

“To my friends in Nebraska, that one electoral vote could be the difference between Harris being president and not, and she’s a disaster for Nebraska and the world.”

— Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), quoted by Politico, on his trip to Nebraska to push for the state’s Republican leadership to change how it awards its electoral votes.

Numerati

49% to 46%

Latest results from the New York Times-Siena College poll giving Vice Pres. Kamala Harris a 3-point lead over Donald Trump. This is a noteworthy change in the NYT poll results that have generally favored Trump while other reputable pollsters have favored Harris.

254,000

“The pace of hiring picked up strongly in September and the unemployment rate ticked down to 4.1%, signs the economy had continued momentum in a month the Federal Reserve delivered its first interest-rate cut in four years,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

49% to 44%

A new Susquehanna poll finds Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump nationally among likely voters, 49% to 44%.

40 trillion

$55 million

Kamala Harris raised about $55 million in high-dollar events in California this weekend, a haul that pads her financial advantage over Donald Trump, Bloomberg reports.