Wage growth has not been a major cause of inflation over the past several years. a bigger cause has been corporate monopoly power to raise prices and keep them high.
That’s what the corporate media refuses to publish!
Neither Biden or Trump have control over this as Robert Reich states, it’s the corporate monopolies! Lower interest rates now! It’s the poor and middle class being hurt! Biden did tell places like Target etc. To lower prices! Food prices are crazy!
Many food items will only become more expensive over time due to Climate Change. You must believe me, as a wine expert and an economist (please look me up) All food must be grown, and as the factory farming techniques (required to keep your grocery prices low) wreck the earth, and as plastic, and our reliance on the Internal Combustion Engine goes on unchecked, there will be less coffee, chocolate, eggs, milk, fruit, -EVERYTHING.
Yes, it’s corporate greed - but it’s also human consumption. Want fewer things. Maybe if you pay more, you will think about how you can use less.
I believe we should hold the plastic producers responsible for the cost of bringing plastic into the consumer cycle. They produced and profited from selling it so they should pay the price for the pollution it causes wreaking havoc in our environment. No accountability. There's only so much I'm allowed to recycle in my recycle container - "wish cycling" costs the city of Chandler money since un-recyclables end up in the landfill. I know I know, I should be more careful what I buy at the store that does not have plastic waste but that narrows the choices down quite a bit when I'm trying to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. There is a program in Arizona called Produce On Wheels Without Waste (P.O.W.W.O.W), and they are in other states as well that does produce rescue. The packaging is almost nonexistent and you can recycle the big cardboard boxes that the rescued produce comes in.
Climate change has already hit the Wine Industry of France. Especially the Champagne region. Champagne grapes are not grown in England of all places, but they can't call it Champagne as that is Internationally Trade Marked.
The Napa valley has a healthy wine industry or did, but it is suffering because of climate change, and now wine growing has moved to Oregon and Western Washington.
Lake Mead is drying up, the Colorado River is drying up. By the time the river reaches the Mexican border it is a dry river bed.
I spent 12 yrs in Napa. It’s wine industry economically began its downward run last year. Tasting rooms were empty on July 4th. Fire destroyed a big chunk of 2017 harvest, 2020 was entirely destroyed by fire/smoke, 2021 irrigation was prohibited by 7/1, same in 2022.
I'm a Napan too. There are too many wineries and they all want exceptions for themselves to serve more, charge more etc. I preferred it when the wineries were family not cooperate owned and there is bound to be a retreat from wine drinking. And Bottle Rock did not bring in the wine drinkers from what I read. And water is a big problem here.
Yes, William, and water shortages result in higher water and electricity rates. Agribusiness exports lots of water in the form of beef, almonds, and other products; yet it is subsidized.
Pisses me off, the agricultural lobby is huge, in California it is Riverside and Orange Counties and the Imperial valley and all Republican, in DC it is agribusiness not the family farm (sorry Willie ), last time I looked into it, admittedly over three decades ago, the major farmer in the country was Prudential Insurance.
When I was stationed in Oklahoma, I met a seasonal worker who was driving a tractor. he said that in Spring he starts plowing fields from Texad to Minnesota, and when they hit Minnesota they just leave the tractors, they are rented, then he returns in time for the harvest when he drives a combine, others sow seeds, after he plows.
Wash, rinse repeat. I don't know if the lands are owned or leased.
Up in the scab lands of western washington, once you cross the Columbia River and pass George, Washington (yept that's the name of the city), you hit the black basaltic sand that stretches to Moses Lake and Ritzville. The soil is sterile grows only sagebrush, but Carnation came in, leased the land from the Bureau of land managements laid out the townships into squarter sections found the middle and drilled into the water table, fertilized the soil with chemicals, then erected those giant sprinklers which revolve around a center, planted potatoes, and then come back to harvest them, transporting them to the processing plant to make french frieds and potato flakes.
About 55 years ago I was driving west to Washington State and miles outside of Pocatello Idaho, I could smell the grease of potatoes being fried. Sickening odor.
@Martha Hoag, quite right, and in addition, Guardian columnist George Monbiot has pointed out that the current system of food production and delivery in the UK is unsustainable, and requires an increase in food banks to feed people. However, his book Regenesis https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645538/regenesis-by-george-monbiot/ is, I think, worth your attention.
Howler monkeys are falling out of trees in eastern Mexico (Democracy Now interviewed environmentalists/researchers in Merida ayer)!
Animals and plants have much to teach us about the climate effects on Mother Earth. I also hear AC “won’t save us” - bldgs will become “human ovens”(they are built w/o proper ventilation - use of AC in warmer climes. TX, for example, where Abbot’s laws prevent rest/water “breaks” for people working outdoors IN THE HOT SUN!ERs and hospitals/healthcare systems will be overwhelmed w/so many dying from 🥵 heat stroke. I must confess - it will be difficult to substitute something for wine, all fruits, chocolate and coffee - 👎🏼no more shade!
We don’t need to substitute, we need to be more thoughtful about consumption.
All of these things were expensive to my late parents. They were born in 1930, and were teens during WW2. They thought about consumption and used everything up before re-acquiring. Our current world is “disposable” and planned obsolescence is the basis of the modern economy.
We were once those Europeans who had only 3 sweaters, of good quality. Now we have 15 cheaply made ones.
Yes I suspect climate change may be having a not insignificant impact already on the CPI. Is home insurance part of the CPI? Repair of hail damage ? Etc
Where? Robert is not an economist - he’s a labor lawyer. He cant even understand basic corporate financial statements. Basically, you have no answer to the question.
NY State’s adult beverage regions are facing the *other side* of Climate Change. In 2020 the Finger Lakes experienced a 1-day 9 inch rainfall. 2023 had a late frost followed by 14 straight weeks of heavy rain. And fruit, apples, or cherries still hanging were literally washed off the trees. It’s not always what you think.
The UK has also experienced heavy rain. Wine grapes (and other fruit) are more drought tolerant - water is the enemy of good wine. The UK will not be an alternative growing area.
Agree with regard to clothing and electronics but I eat a normal amount of food and my grocery bill is one of my biggest expenses. I don’t buy prepared food, so how am I supposed to decrease my grocery expenses and still get the nutrition I need to stay healthy?
Americans are #2 on the world’s highest caloric intake.
We ate less. I was fortunate to have a kitchen garden (despite the cold climate!) and a female family group who cooked, canned, preserved, etc. But really, my Danish parents were thin. As were my husband’s Italian parents. I just think we have a portion control problem here. I am NOT implying that YOU do. I am only telling you of my experience. Go to any restaurant - our portions are insane vs anywhere in the EU - even the UK, where they eat more carbs and drink more alcohol per capita.
Agree America has a major portion problem. I spend a bit of time in Europe and how they eat and live is so much healthier. My comment was a bit of a reactive response because I think why most Americans feel inflation is much worse than reported is because food costs are so out of control right now. It feels like price gauging and not a supply and demand problem currently.
Consumers that don’t buy wine or mortgage loans, don’t spend much. Higher interest means big borrowers pay more for loans, cheaper loans means THOSE benefit the most, can’t get around it. Cheap money just encourages “them.” Yes, yes, their business loans maybe pay employee wages. I’m stuck. I say, Pay the-true-cost for consumption including pollution, i.e., expensive loans.
So true! I am a widow with a college education and a full time job and I cannot afford the payments on a newer car. My car is 15 years old and every day I pray that it starts! Middle class people are hurting too!
Not MAGA, just living in the rich people bubble where their decisions have no negative impacts on their own lives. It's all an academic exercise to them.
Wage growth is the response to inflation, not the cause. However the financial powers behind inflation such as Paul Volker who in the 1970's said, that it is his job to reduce the standard of living of the average American, a voice echoed by the Bank for international Settlements in Basel Switzerland. the BIS is the central bank of central banks, the boss of all central banks, and it said in an Annual Report the same thing.
The underlying cause of the constant rise in the rate of inflation is the interest on the debt, market manipulation like supply chain issues and OPEC shutting down the spigot are temporary, however what is not temporary is the interest on all debt, not only government securities, but corporate debt, and consumer debt like credit cards, mortgages auto loans.
I've explained that in an early comment, you can see below.
You’ve explained it? Can you explain which part of the Steele dossier was accurate? Because the FBI couldn’t find it. If you’re holding out on us Billy that’s super Putin bot trolly of you. I could let it go if you apologize.
Trump's people, for the most part, are a pathetic bunch of uneducated morons. They possess the intuitiveness of a toad stool. They blindly follow a man that had his GPA from college locked away from view and never to be shown to anyone, why is that? I'll tell you why, the kid that earned those questionable grades was so blatantly ignorant the school took a bribe from Pop and kept Donnie Boy in a II-2 deferment. That along with his fictitious bone spur were all contrived in an effort to keep a rich kid out of harm's way. Donald Trump, you deserve the medal of dis-honor, along with all those fools who swallowed all the lies he delivered every time he opened his mouth.
I agree. The high interest rates are the bllionaire's way to fight inflation. Meanwhile a whole list of things become painfully expensive for the average person. There has to be a better more nuanced way to fight inflation.
John, I agree with you. The Fed has become another instrument of capitalism for the benefit of the capitalistic system that is tilted towards the wealthy. They may be politically independent, but they are made up of wealthy people looking out for the interests of the wealthy. Their decision making algorithms do not take into account the social impact of their decisions.
"High interest rates are the bllionaire's way to fight inflation" Actually, they arbitrage -- play off low rates in "allies" like Japan, Switzerland, Scandinavia, where rates are about 1% against the US where Treasury rates are north of 5% and "junk" rates are much higher.
Treasury could do the same to retire high rates....
Extremely rich people borrow from themselves -- avoid tax liabilities.
However, IMHO, the Fed is more interested for political advantage to Trump.
Good question. Here are 3 ways to fight inflation: 1. Eliminate monopolies. Our economy is dominated by corporations that can (and do) set whatever prices they want, due to their monopoly power. Break them up and they will be forced to reduce prices in order to compete.
2. Re-instate the law forbidding stock buybacks. This will remove a strong incentive to keep prices high.
3. Re-instate the post-WWII income tax rates and add a heavy tax on wealth. As it is now, millionaires and billionaires drive prices upwards with their insatiable demands. An added bonus of taxing the rich is that the revenues could be used to transform the United States from a has-been to an actual civilized nation, with free college, childcare, health care, family leave, elder care, etc.
If any of that is true, can the FED do anything about it? The Fed can print money, raise or lower rates, buy securities? The Fed gets to be the bad guy because all the law makers are bought and paid for.
You’ve been hanging out on this disinformation site too long. Stock buybacks allow capital to flow to new investments - often new companies. When there are new companies entering markets, you get increased competitive pressure.
hmm - it's just basic finance. All new companies need equity - and that equity comes from somewhere else. Growing companies need further capital infusions to finance growth. When investors sell stocks (true whether selling back to the company or otherwise) they receive cash - and the cash can be used to invest in other companies. You can check the history of most any major company (especially IT tech, biotech) and you'll see that they received investment from venture funds or other investors.
That's pretty much the same justification given for supply side economics which failed in practice because it doesn't reflect the reality of how wealthy investors behave when they have long term capital gains. They don't suddenly decide to realize most of their gains and invest them in growing startups or risky markets.
While it's true growing companies need captial one of the reasons companies buy back their own stock is because they have more money than they know how to invest in growing their own business. They're not investing in growing their own business or growing other companies.
In contrast when workers have more disposable income they buy goods and services which increases demand. High demand does more to spur investment and attract competition than easy access to capital gains.
Healthy economic growth occurs when supply and demand are in balance. Paying workers a tiny fraction of the value they create leaving companies with huge profits they use to buy back their own stock is unhealthy. Huge profits are an unwarranted tax on consumers and employees. From my perspective that's basic finance.
Another way to fight inflation is to have temporarily higher income and corporate tax on the top income tax brackets. This could work to discourage price gouging. Republicans like to say rate cuts encourage growth, so if that's the case, then these rate hikes would slow down the economy reducing inflation. The top rates could gradually be raised until inflation eases.
This is information that needs to be on more media platforms, People that I talk with have no idea that corporations and billionaires pay little taxes, or how they use culture wars to distract from the deregulations of protections for workers or consumers, or the discrepancy in CEO salaries compared to workers, or how stock buy backs manipulate the market to give CEO’s even greater wealth. They are unaware that the national deficit is in great part due to the rich not paying their fair share. I know I am in this small pocket that gets this information, but many just have time to get whatever their algorithms pop up on their phone, How can this information get to more people?
In addition, I just had a conversation with my broker who had not been aware of how the voucher system is providing public school money to predominantly religious schools in particular Catholic schools. I do not want my tax money going to subsidize religious indoctrination into children, If parents want this for their children then they can pay the tuition. We are seeing more and more religion crossing the boundaries into government,
maybe we need to drop leaflets. If he paid attention to things going on in his state legislature he would know more. Of course, one first has to know enough to know what you don't know can hurt you.
Hundreds of thousands of people are unemployed thanks to rules that reward firing people while the executive class keeps their millions. The 'layoff machine' isn't accounted for in economic measures. Unemployment data is a lagging indicator of economic stability.
breaks down trust as well. Why should you trust or support a "system" when you might lose your job without much warning. Precarity costs: "Incessant worry about money is associated with poorer health, lower levels of happiness, and increased social isolation. Financial precarity also has a corrosive effect on people’s cognitive functioning and their ability to make good decisions." source: somebody not me
I am angry if the Fed keeps interest high. With the price hikes on goods and food mentioned, added to the high interest rates, why would I do any more spending!? The rich are enjoying these high interest rates, and Jerome Powell most likely is, too! I will concentrate on paying my credit cards and go to thrift shops now. I'm already forgoing things like travel and going out for dinner. If something is on sale and it is a good enough deal, I may buy it. But not likely at this point. I feel ripped off!
Interest rates are not high in historical terms - they are just higher than a little above zero. (My interest rate on the student loan four decades ago was 12.25%.)
I can not understand why anti trust laws have not been instituted. Elizabeth Warren has warned about these problems for so long. We have seen how different corporate entities have taken advantage. Now it happens to be basic need industries- food and energy. This should have been stopped when healthcare, pharmaceutical drugs, and many other industries created monopolies. Our government needs to work for people.
Greedflation grows as competition shrinks. Corporate money injected into our political system is buying votes that oppose the common good. Where do we start? Is it realistic to launch a grassroots campaign vs Citizens United?
High interest rates are effectively part of inflation for ordinary people. They don't inhibit economic activity by the very wealthy and large corporations because they can either afford the high rates or simply pay cash and avoid paying any interest at all.
People refuse to see reality,always have,always will.They make up delusions .
The rich pay almost all of the tax.The IRS will give you that breakdown every year so people can make up conspiracy theories.Income is from dividends,IRS form DIV 1099,that will explain how it is taxed,so people can deny it .
Companies have huge debt,current ( payable in 1 year ) and non current, that may have a different name .US companies tend to treat debt differently to GAAP ( generally agreed accounting principles) and IFRS ( international financial reporting standards ).All the pension funds around the world then have a level playing field,and understanding of how annual reports are formed They
borrow through corporate bonds in general 3 and 5 year periods.Part of the fixed interest of your 401K.
Wal mart has debt of $61.23 billion.. Their net profit for the last quarter was 3 .16% .So every $100 you spend there they get to keep $3.16.
Apple is a cult,people queue up to get the new I phone etc .Apple have debt of $104 billion> Their net profit margin is 26%>
I have no interest in religion,the bible may be the first self help book,so
None so blind that those that will not see .
Modern version ,you cannot be what you refuse to see.
You don't need any financial qualifications at all. 5 minutes on google and all that information is there .
They do because they make insane amounts of money, aided by the infrastructure, and arms of government, and—most importantly—the actual work the rest of us “peons” do that create their products and services. And they get tax breaks the rest of us wish we could claim. Let’s compare the ratio of income spent for basic needs of regular people to those wealthy billionaires.
Sorry, many of us had or have student loans, worked jobs that were fulfilling but didn’t pay high salaries (I could have made 3-4x as much as a lawyer if I hadn’t chosen to represent poor people) and then medical bills (try having cancer or another disease in your family), not to mention kids. As for not having basic financial knowledge, thank you for your paternalism, but unless you have disposable income and some kind of generational wealth, it’s not so simple. But it’s clear you live a charmed life. Some of us aren’t so lucky.
People refuse to see reality,always have,always will.They make up delusions . The rich pay almost all of the tax.---- I would hope so, they take an extremely dispropotionate amount of the wealth created. ----The IRS will give you that breakdown every year so people can make up conspiracy theories.---- The IRS will give out some data, I dont think they do it so people can make up conspiracy theories.--- Income is from dividends,---- Mine isnt, I think youre saying that of wealthy people is, and that sounds believable---- IRS form DIV 1099,that will explain how it is taxed,so people can deny it . ---- I am doubtful this form will explain it to me, rather I think you are bitter when you fill it out , seeing money that has been in your account going out, and being a person who deals with it you have developed an understanding of what all the abreviations and subsections represent., and "so that people can deny it" is essentially just more resentment that many people feel it should be even more money. ---- Companies have huge debt, ---- yes, they deal in huge transactions, and that means having huge debts. ---- current ( payable in 1 year ) and non current, that may have a different name .---- So shorter term debts and longer term debts that may not be called debts, I guess? Ok ----US companies tend to treat debt differently to GAAP ( generally agreed accounting principles) and IFRS ( international financial reporting standards ).---- So U S companies tend to do things somewhat different than the international standard. OK. ----All the pension funds around the world then have a level playing field,---- I kind of doubt this is true, but maybe it is. ---- and understanding of how annual reports are formed ---- pension funds should have an understanding of how annual reports are formed. ----They borrow through corporate bonds in general 3 and 5 year periods.---- I think of pension funds as investing rather than borrowing, but for the time being I am accepting this on a hypothetical basis, assuming its going to lead to a point at some point. ----Part of the fixed interest of your 401K. ---- This seems like an incomplete sentance to me. ----Wal mart has debt of $61.23 billion.. Their net profit for the last quarter was 3 .16% .So every $100 you spend there they get to keep $3.16. ---- Ok, Walmart has a profit margin of 3.16% They are known for using their financial enormity to make a surviving business model off a slim profit, largely by putting most competition out of business. ----Apple is a cult,people queue up to get the new I phone etc .Apple have debt of $104 billion> Their net profit margin is 26%>---- Apple has a different business model where they provide high quality products that people pay a premium for. ( I am not a.customer of either of these companies). ---- I have no interest in religion,the bible may be the first self help book,so None so blind that those that will not see . Modern version ,you cannot be what you refuse to see. ---- I really dont know what you are trying to say here. ----You don't need any financial qualifications at all. 5 minutes on google and all that information is there . Enjoy denying it ---- I don't even know what it is you're accusing me of denying. What do Apple and Walmarts debts and profit margins have to do with the taxes of wealthy people? Corporations aren't people.---
G G — thank you for that. I, too am trying to make sense of that post (???)
But one note—Citizens United declared that Corporations are, indeed, people. Getting rid of it would be an enormous help in re-leveling the playing field.
Yes, I'm aware of citizens united, but it's both a bad ruling and nor applicable when I'm being told "the wealthy pay almost all the tax". If the defense was "corporations pay all this tax so biological people should get credit" I would find it an even more ridiculous post.
Another driver of inflation that gets less attention is the ever-widening wealth inequality gap. In our profit-driven capitalist system, producers seek to maximize profit, so of course, they will shift production toward the people and markets who have most of the money. That means fewer goods and services for those at the middle and the bottom — and therefore higher prices for what remains available.
In this regard, it seems a progressive tax on wealth would go a long way toward controlling inflation.
I work for a national distributor as a sales rep, selling art supplies selling fine art supplies into retail stores, up and down the west coast. I have never experienced a quieter week since starting my career in outside sales in 1980.
I have been feeling this slow down since May began.... and now even the restaurants which have been busy, this week suddenly are empty. ......... I am feeling we're about to implode....
Remember the election of 2000 when everyone knew the presidency was going to change - either to Al Gore or George W. Bush?
At that time I sold graphic supplies for a retail store, to professional designers - ad agencies, architects, engineers, newspapers..... anyone using a technical pen basically. And I remember how business advertising slowed as industry leaders waited to see who won the election... wanting to wait and see what programs and focus would come out of Washington, what would be the key items the government would back?
But then the election hit an unexpected pause.... there wasn't that Whew Who here we go...... instead the launch was rocky, undecided.......... and then nothing from Washington....
GW didn't announce any big government focus for investment..... other than a tax cut........ Washington's guidance was pointing no where........
Uncertainty in national focus continued into January and February.......
Advertising by major business had been holding it's breath now since May - and still no air under anyone's wings to lift to launch in any particular direction........ grounded..... waiting........
By March everything imploded.
What finally "saved" the economy was Sept. 11 when "Waring" began our country's new focus - and quickly very compartmentalized with privatization of profits behind the scenes while good souls signed up to fight.
JFK's mission to do big things together as a country..... quickly forgotten...... The Moon.... Good Governance... Lifting All Boats.......from Washington was over and the heist to move all the money from the middle to the top, was on.
Joe Biden remembers when government used to tackle the Big Things for Us... All of Us....
He is literally back to paving the roads for Us to get to work..........
But since none of that has been presented since losing the House, this election season........ we are right back to 1999...........
Only this time instead of business investment dollars pulling back starting in May.......waiting to see who wins.... it's consumer's dollars........ and suddenly consumers are not only holding back, they are frozen in place, waiting for November...... unsure if Anything in our future will be the same....
It’s business investment as well, especially for R&D. Those of us in R&D have been feeling the investment pullout since January. Strung along for months last year only to have the rug pulled completely out in the beginning of the year. Our people have been out beating the bushes investors and there’s interest but no commitments. It’s devastating-- for the future of business and industries, for bringing great new ideas into the world, and of course for the engineers and designers who rely on investors for their jobs/livelihood.
Very scary times we’re living in. What happens in November is monumentally important, and since no one knows what will happen, it’s like everyone is pulling in their horns, too afraid to do anything but try to protect themselves from the worst....
Again, keep giving to the rich. They don’t care what they have to pay. The average working person with credit card debt that has gone from 13% to 29 % or higher have a terrible time paying the monthly payment. Should they pay for a child to get medical help or wait and see how they are feeling. Can they then afford medicine if the child needs it. It goes on and on from food prices to clothes to just daily living.
I'm 68 and still working FT! My supervisor just turned 76! I don't believe we will ever have what our parents had. I am paying half my take home pay on rent like millions of other hard people in the US.
The last time the Feds reduced the interest rates was back in 2020, the general public needs to see a governmental plus when it comes to how we view our economic future. It's time to do it again.
Theory is Donald, that an increase in interest rates reduces the demand for debt, and in a debt money system, such is the fractional reserve system, managed by the Fed, an increase in interest rates leads to a reduction in the money supply., only the demand for debt now a days is inelastic. And the money supply is not what really causes inflation,
Inflation is a factor of two things, short term inflation is market manipulation and money supply, but long term inflation (like the $2,000 1965 Mustang vs the $33,000 2024 Mustang,is a function of the interest on the debt.
The Fed, Jerome Powell, manipulates the interest rates for political purposes, he lowered them under Trump to increase the money supply and create jobs and consumer demand, and he decreased them under Biden to contract the money supply and create consumer frustration.
And why the Dems don't call him out, is beyond me. Maybe they don't understand Modern Money Mechanics, despite the fact that the Fed has explained it in a pamphlet.
99.9% of Americans don't they are kept in the dark and fed manure like a mushroom farm, even at the university level.
They can’t call him out for trying to fix the rigged economy of the past 40 years. Most people would correctly point out that monopolies, deregulation, trade deals, immigration policy, and stimulus of the Covid era all contributed to inflation. All Powell can do is try to slow inflation by raising interest rates. Throw the hopes and dreams of those failing to pull on their boot straps sufficiently on the capitalism pyre.
If he lowers rates now and inflation is exacerbated he will be out on his ass. I understand that typical rube thinks Powell is just a big meanie. Congress can vilify Powell. But they will crap their pants if he actually lowered them. I’m guessing you know that but given the way the Biden administration is falling apart, you’re probably looking for a patsie. And the Steele dossier makes Putin a tough sell for fall guy. You know that the Steele dossier was a lie right?
You know I’m as real as I can be. You’re just uncomfortable with someone having enough tenacity to rub your nose in your stupid. You should apologize. But I don’t think it would make any difference now. I’m enjoying this way too much. Thanks for recommending it and encouraging me to do this in writing. It’s really cathartic.
So you are telling me that an E-4 in the military made more money than a USPS clerk.
My base pay was $233.10,my Basic allowance for Quarters was $105, I received $1 a day for rationing separately
Whereas a full time (I assume entry level) USPS clerk got paid the same as an E-4 minus allowances.
I got married when I was an E-3, in 1960, and my pay was $124 base pay, $51.30 housing allowance and $1 a day for rationing separately.
The Separate Ration allowance of $1 a day was unchanged since he Civil war, and only received if your Commanding Officer authorized you to live off base or post.
The difference between an entry level postal clerk and an E-4 with over 4 years service was the living allowances.. Sounds like motivation to join the service,
It’s way too early to be that drunk billy. No one cares that you’re a vet, or mustang dork. Some people would like you to stop lying about the merit of fighting dirty in politics, the fact that the Steele dossier wasn’t just a lie. The FBI knew it was a lie in 2017. But even more importantly, Jerome Powell and the federal reserve would be insane to lower rates, regardless of your pathetic pining for the day Sargent dork bought a mustang. Also Biden appointed Powell
For the record, Billy is obsessed with mustangs and Russian bots. He is preparing to blame bots, me, and apparently Jerome Powell for the election of a game show host. Watch this space in November. Wear safety glasses. The finger pointing will be a hazard.
Talk to me Chucky boy, not behind my back. You are right I am obsessed with bots but mustangs (wild horses?) I am also obsessed with right wing, RFK an Putin trolls spreading disinfo and discord.
First it’s talk to me, then it might be dangerous? Don’t bore me with how it could be dangerous. You have clearly stated that no one is watching me torture a blowhard bully. Buckle up Sargent nostalgic. There’s incoming.
Inflation was at 9% when he started raising rates. It’s still at 3.5%. Unemployment is at 50 year lows. If you close the border right before the summer starts, unemployment goes down further, inflation spikes, and Powell either raises rates again or inflation punishes everyone. Lowering rates now is rockstar stupid. Which explains why you would endorse such a course of action. But Robert Reich knows better and it really pisses me off. The economy should be his wheel house. Volker raised rates to almost 20% in the early 80s because they fidle fucked around trying to keep rates low when inflation started getting out of hand. If you and Reich ran the fed we would be Venezuela by Christmas
What is this shit? If you close the border before summer starts, inflation goes down.
Another bullshitter please stand up.
Summer is after crops are planted and before they are harvested. Summer has nothing to do with inflation.
And crops have nothing to do with unemployment as lazy, spoiled Americans want nothing to do with harvesting veggies and fruits, it is back breaking, low pay work, and where you can't find South American migrants, you find kids picking strawberries, raspberries, flowers. The summer school break is a leftoevr from our agrarian past, when schools closed so the children could help on the farm, picking produce and fruit before it rotted on the vine., now Americans are too lazy and spoiled, too rich,andkids would rather flip burgrs than work in the fields.
If you tighten the labor market by closing the border inflation goes up. Close your eyes real tight. Even a mouth breather like you can get a handle on this concept. Be that as it may, using Powell as the whipping boy for 40 plus years of shit economic policy is disingenuous. Powell can buy securities, raise or lower interest rates, print money. After that his tool box is pretty much starring at BLS information. It’s up to congress and which ever president is in the White House to deal with monopolies, taxes, budgets, and yes even bank reform like Glass Steagal you pompous blowhard. Wanna tell the class you were wrong about the Steele Dossier? Like a big boy?
I was worried that you were going to need a safe place tough guy. You see how supply and demand and the border closing work ? Everyone reading this sees that you have no credibility. Since you can’t connect the dots between the supply of labor and inflation. I think you do now that I rubbed your nose in it, but it’s easier to call me names than concede your error. Did you read the article that I sent you? Want to apologize?
Did you want to concede that the Steele Dossier was complete crap? And that your condescending dickhead attitude made you look ridiculous? And you were sort of rude while also being totally full of shit? We all make mistakes. Not as frequently as you, obviously. I can post that link in response to everything you post if you’d like . You could call me a bot again. Because clearly, if I am a bot, I’m infinitely smarter than you. And that has to be awkward for someone as arrogant and simple as you. Or did you run away and hide already?
Nope not conceding the SteeleDossier is complete crap.
The only person you are impressing is yourself and other Trumpian trolls.
Trying out for a job on Fox are you?
Don't pat yourself on the back chucky boy., your wasting your time here, you will not find friends or converts, but you aren't looking for either are you, just disrupt and deflect.
But thanks for validating me as a threat. The anxiety and angst you emit are palpable.
If Powell lowers rates now inflation will be elevated. It would be malpractice to lower rates. The real bad guys are every congress, president since Reagan that dismantled the version of capitalism that made this country great. Also Reich and everyone who tries to put 40 years of incompetence on Jerome Powell’s shoulders. It merely makes Reich readers more jingoistic and less intelligent.
“But it would be a mistake for the Fed to postpone reducing interest rates. Five reasons:”
———————
Maybe… just maybe
- The job rate means diddly to underpaid overworked people.
- The job rate means squat to people struggling to put food on the table and clothes on their backs using pennies where they need dollars.
- The job rate means dick to people desperate for a living wage.
- The job rate and interest rate are a noose around the neck of working people.
- The job rate and interest rate keep workers at the bottom of a heap of shit-to-pay for showing up at work on time every time ready to work.
*** Is there any wonder why workers are sick and tired, fed-up-to-the-gills treading water… being talked down to like we’re assholes… and so we say screw it let’s flip it and vote for the really biggest asshole the country has to offer***
Change the ability of large corporations to have access to lower cost interest loans. Make it so the middle class and lower income people and small businesses are the only ones who have access to lower interest loans.
I absolutely agree. I do think it's high time the FED lowered it's interest rates. As you mentioned it's hurting the average hard working and poor Americans the most. This will also be a further impetus for the economy to grow by leaps and bounds, hence also aiding to lower the inflation. President Biden like all other world leaders has to urge the leading major companies especially food and gas companies to lower their prices. They're the culprits for keeping inflation high. They're making huge profits by intentionally keeping prices high and depriving working and poor Americans from lower prices. High time the FED stepped up and lower interest rates ! I'm wondering are they doing this on purpose to help the major Corporations and billionaires. If so it's a disgrace. their duty is to look after the interest of the country and it's people. I'm sick and tired that there is no justice anywhere anymore for the normal citizens of the country. It's all about protecting billionaires, Corporations and big business. It's disgusting when you know it's the average citizens that are helping the economy grow by participating in the work force and actually paying taxes. Our voices has to be heard.
Right you are Professor Reich
Wage growth has not been a major cause of inflation over the past several years. a bigger cause has been corporate monopoly power to raise prices and keep them high.
That’s what the corporate media refuses to publish!
Neither Biden or Trump have control over this as Robert Reich states, it’s the corporate monopolies! Lower interest rates now! It’s the poor and middle class being hurt! Biden did tell places like Target etc. To lower prices! Food prices are crazy!
Many food items will only become more expensive over time due to Climate Change. You must believe me, as a wine expert and an economist (please look me up) All food must be grown, and as the factory farming techniques (required to keep your grocery prices low) wreck the earth, and as plastic, and our reliance on the Internal Combustion Engine goes on unchecked, there will be less coffee, chocolate, eggs, milk, fruit, -EVERYTHING.
Yes, it’s corporate greed - but it’s also human consumption. Want fewer things. Maybe if you pay more, you will think about how you can use less.
I believe we should hold the plastic producers responsible for the cost of bringing plastic into the consumer cycle. They produced and profited from selling it so they should pay the price for the pollution it causes wreaking havoc in our environment. No accountability. There's only so much I'm allowed to recycle in my recycle container - "wish cycling" costs the city of Chandler money since un-recyclables end up in the landfill. I know I know, I should be more careful what I buy at the store that does not have plastic waste but that narrows the choices down quite a bit when I'm trying to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. There is a program in Arizona called Produce On Wheels Without Waste (P.O.W.W.O.W), and they are in other states as well that does produce rescue. The packaging is almost nonexistent and you can recycle the big cardboard boxes that the rescued produce comes in.
www.borderlandsproducerescue.org
Climate change has already hit the Wine Industry of France. Especially the Champagne region. Champagne grapes are not grown in England of all places, but they can't call it Champagne as that is Internationally Trade Marked.
The Napa valley has a healthy wine industry or did, but it is suffering because of climate change, and now wine growing has moved to Oregon and Western Washington.
Lake Mead is drying up, the Colorado River is drying up. By the time the river reaches the Mexican border it is a dry river bed.
As
I spent 12 yrs in Napa. It’s wine industry economically began its downward run last year. Tasting rooms were empty on July 4th. Fire destroyed a big chunk of 2017 harvest, 2020 was entirely destroyed by fire/smoke, 2021 irrigation was prohibited by 7/1, same in 2022.
I'm a Napan too. There are too many wineries and they all want exceptions for themselves to serve more, charge more etc. I preferred it when the wineries were family not cooperate owned and there is bound to be a retreat from wine drinking. And Bottle Rock did not bring in the wine drinkers from what I read. And water is a big problem here.
Yes, William, and water shortages result in higher water and electricity rates. Agribusiness exports lots of water in the form of beef, almonds, and other products; yet it is subsidized.
Pisses me off, the agricultural lobby is huge, in California it is Riverside and Orange Counties and the Imperial valley and all Republican, in DC it is agribusiness not the family farm (sorry Willie ), last time I looked into it, admittedly over three decades ago, the major farmer in the country was Prudential Insurance.
When I was stationed in Oklahoma, I met a seasonal worker who was driving a tractor. he said that in Spring he starts plowing fields from Texad to Minnesota, and when they hit Minnesota they just leave the tractors, they are rented, then he returns in time for the harvest when he drives a combine, others sow seeds, after he plows.
Wash, rinse repeat. I don't know if the lands are owned or leased.
Up in the scab lands of western washington, once you cross the Columbia River and pass George, Washington (yept that's the name of the city), you hit the black basaltic sand that stretches to Moses Lake and Ritzville. The soil is sterile grows only sagebrush, but Carnation came in, leased the land from the Bureau of land managements laid out the townships into squarter sections found the middle and drilled into the water table, fertilized the soil with chemicals, then erected those giant sprinklers which revolve around a center, planted potatoes, and then come back to harvest them, transporting them to the processing plant to make french frieds and potato flakes.
About 55 years ago I was driving west to Washington State and miles outside of Pocatello Idaho, I could smell the grease of potatoes being fried. Sickening odor.
French fries+hamburger=slow motion suicide by CVD, No. 1 killer in USA.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/22/president-biden-nominates-jerome-powell-to-serve-as-chair-of-the-federal-reserve-dr-lael-brainard-to-serve-as-vice-chair/
Does it piss off that Biden nominated Powell? Thereby blowing up your boogeyman.
one of many reasons to buy organic
@Martha Hoag, quite right, and in addition, Guardian columnist George Monbiot has pointed out that the current system of food production and delivery in the UK is unsustainable, and requires an increase in food banks to feed people. However, his book Regenesis https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/645538/regenesis-by-george-monbiot/ is, I think, worth your attention.
Yes! Thank you for speaking out.
Howler monkeys are falling out of trees in eastern Mexico (Democracy Now interviewed environmentalists/researchers in Merida ayer)!
Animals and plants have much to teach us about the climate effects on Mother Earth. I also hear AC “won’t save us” - bldgs will become “human ovens”(they are built w/o proper ventilation - use of AC in warmer climes. TX, for example, where Abbot’s laws prevent rest/water “breaks” for people working outdoors IN THE HOT SUN!ERs and hospitals/healthcare systems will be overwhelmed w/so many dying from 🥵 heat stroke. I must confess - it will be difficult to substitute something for wine, all fruits, chocolate and coffee - 👎🏼no more shade!
We don’t need to substitute, we need to be more thoughtful about consumption.
All of these things were expensive to my late parents. They were born in 1930, and were teens during WW2. They thought about consumption and used everything up before re-acquiring. Our current world is “disposable” and planned obsolescence is the basis of the modern economy.
We were once those Europeans who had only 3 sweaters, of good quality. Now we have 15 cheaply made ones.
Yes I suspect climate change may be having a not insignificant impact already on the CPI. Is home insurance part of the CPI? Repair of hail damage ? Etc
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/06/06/states-beg-insurers-not-to-drop-climate-threatened-homes/ At what point does panic grip a populace? Probably years away. Hard to predict that one.
I guess corporate greed went on a forty year vacation - and only returned with the Biden admin’s insane and counterproductive spending?
You cannot be seriously posing this question. This is a group of economists. Maybe you should sit this one out.
And it says you are a sommelier- shouldn’t you be on Robin Garr’s site instead of here?
Where? Robert is not an economist - he’s a labor lawyer. He cant even understand basic corporate financial statements. Basically, you have no answer to the question.
Joshua, if you are an economist please tell me: do high interest rates encourage hoarding?
NY State’s adult beverage regions are facing the *other side* of Climate Change. In 2020 the Finger Lakes experienced a 1-day 9 inch rainfall. 2023 had a late frost followed by 14 straight weeks of heavy rain. And fruit, apples, or cherries still hanging were literally washed off the trees. It’s not always what you think.
The UK has also experienced heavy rain. Wine grapes (and other fruit) are more drought tolerant - water is the enemy of good wine. The UK will not be an alternative growing area.
hot and dry is also good for olives-Middle East?wine and olives,not oil
Agree with regard to clothing and electronics but I eat a normal amount of food and my grocery bill is one of my biggest expenses. I don’t buy prepared food, so how am I supposed to decrease my grocery expenses and still get the nutrition I need to stay healthy?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_energy_intake
Americans are #2 on the world’s highest caloric intake.
We ate less. I was fortunate to have a kitchen garden (despite the cold climate!) and a female family group who cooked, canned, preserved, etc. But really, my Danish parents were thin. As were my husband’s Italian parents. I just think we have a portion control problem here. I am NOT implying that YOU do. I am only telling you of my experience. Go to any restaurant - our portions are insane vs anywhere in the EU - even the UK, where they eat more carbs and drink more alcohol per capita.
Agree America has a major portion problem. I spend a bit of time in Europe and how they eat and live is so much healthier. My comment was a bit of a reactive response because I think why most Americans feel inflation is much worse than reported is because food costs are so out of control right now. It feels like price gauging and not a supply and demand problem currently.
Consumers that don’t buy wine or mortgage loans, don’t spend much. Higher interest means big borrowers pay more for loans, cheaper loans means THOSE benefit the most, can’t get around it. Cheap money just encourages “them.” Yes, yes, their business loans maybe pay employee wages. I’m stuck. I say, Pay the-true-cost for consumption including pollution, i.e., expensive loans.
Consumers buy beer. That’s an agricultural product. There is no liquor that doesn’t begin with fruit or grain. It’s all subject to Climate Change.
So true! I am a widow with a college education and a full time job and I cannot afford the payments on a newer car. My car is 15 years old and every day I pray that it starts! Middle class people are hurting too!
https://enewspaper.tampabay.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=5cfd4212-86d5-4bff-8539-ba4f67c15d38&share=true
True! I could not pay my 3200 dental I'll without using a credit card
They have been screwing the consumer for years by reducing the amount of product and charging the same price and sometimes even charging more.
Especially coffee. Used a 16ozbag for about $6.00. Now it's close to 10 for 12oz
So true!
The national economy has schizophrenia -- fiscal and monetary policies are at war with each other. How many at the Fed are MAGATs?
Not MAGA, just living in the rich people bubble where their decisions have no negative impacts on their own lives. It's all an academic exercise to them.
Too much right wing politics drive the Fed's decisions, IMHO.
The Fed Reserve ( in San Francisco? )declared corporate profits were not a driver of inflation.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/22/president-biden-nominates-jerome-powell-to-serve-as-chair-of-the-federal-reserve-dr-lael-brainard-to-serve-as-vice-chair/
Speaking of schizophrenia
Wage growth is the response to inflation, not the cause. However the financial powers behind inflation such as Paul Volker who in the 1970's said, that it is his job to reduce the standard of living of the average American, a voice echoed by the Bank for international Settlements in Basel Switzerland. the BIS is the central bank of central banks, the boss of all central banks, and it said in an Annual Report the same thing.
The underlying cause of the constant rise in the rate of inflation is the interest on the debt, market manipulation like supply chain issues and OPEC shutting down the spigot are temporary, however what is not temporary is the interest on all debt, not only government securities, but corporate debt, and consumer debt like credit cards, mortgages auto loans.
I've explained that in an early comment, you can see below.
As I've been sayin', arbitrage -- borrow at low rates to retire debt at high rates.
https://tradingeconomics.com/country-list/interest-rate
You’ve explained it? Can you explain which part of the Steele dossier was accurate? Because the FBI couldn’t find it. If you’re holding out on us Billy that’s super Putin bot trolly of you. I could let it go if you apologize.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/11/politics/steele-dossier-fbi-durham-danchenko/index.html
NY Times ran a story (last Sunday I believe) on how the food corporations have sneakily reduced product size while raising prices.
The tribe--
Donald Hodgins <silencenotbad@gmail.com>
10:28 PM (0 minutes ago)
Trump's people, for the most part, are a pathetic bunch of uneducated morons. They possess the intuitiveness of a toad stool. They blindly follow a man that had his GPA from college locked away from view and never to be shown to anyone, why is that? I'll tell you why, the kid that earned those questionable grades was so blatantly ignorant the school took a bribe from Pop and kept Donnie Boy in a II-2 deferment. That along with his fictitious bone spur were all contrived in an effort to keep a rich kid out of harm's way. Donald Trump, you deserve the medal of dis-honor, along with all those fools who swallowed all the lies he delivered every time he opened his mouth.
So true!!
I agree. The high interest rates are the bllionaire's way to fight inflation. Meanwhile a whole list of things become painfully expensive for the average person. There has to be a better more nuanced way to fight inflation.
John, I agree with you. The Fed has become another instrument of capitalism for the benefit of the capitalistic system that is tilted towards the wealthy. They may be politically independent, but they are made up of wealthy people looking out for the interests of the wealthy. Their decision making algorithms do not take into account the social impact of their decisions.
The people who make the decisions do not suffer the consequences. In all my 68 years I NEVER had to use credit cards to buy groceries until 2023
You didn’t complain when they kept interest rate low - did you?
"High interest rates are the bllionaire's way to fight inflation" Actually, they arbitrage -- play off low rates in "allies" like Japan, Switzerland, Scandinavia, where rates are about 1% against the US where Treasury rates are north of 5% and "junk" rates are much higher.
Treasury could do the same to retire high rates....
Extremely rich people borrow from themselves -- avoid tax liabilities.
However, IMHO, the Fed is more interested for political advantage to Trump.
Biden nominates Powell
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/22/president-biden-nominates-jerome-powell-to-serve-as-chair-of-the-federal-reserve-dr-lael-brainard-to-serve-as-vice-chair/
I guess Biden is a feeble numb nuts. Like you
What is a better way to fight inflation?
Good question. Here are 3 ways to fight inflation: 1. Eliminate monopolies. Our economy is dominated by corporations that can (and do) set whatever prices they want, due to their monopoly power. Break them up and they will be forced to reduce prices in order to compete.
2. Re-instate the law forbidding stock buybacks. This will remove a strong incentive to keep prices high.
3. Re-instate the post-WWII income tax rates and add a heavy tax on wealth. As it is now, millionaires and billionaires drive prices upwards with their insatiable demands. An added bonus of taxing the rich is that the revenues could be used to transform the United States from a has-been to an actual civilized nation, with free college, childcare, health care, family leave, elder care, etc.
That would help alot! The problem is that many MAGA think that they can become rich, too
If any of that is true, can the FED do anything about it? The Fed can print money, raise or lower rates, buy securities? The Fed gets to be the bad guy because all the law makers are bought and paid for.
Agree! Well said, Alan.
You’ve been hanging out on this disinformation site too long. Stock buybacks allow capital to flow to new investments - often new companies. When there are new companies entering markets, you get increased competitive pressure.
Then why they sit on mountains of cash?
How is that claim different from "supply side" or "trickle down economics"?
hmm - it's just basic finance. All new companies need equity - and that equity comes from somewhere else. Growing companies need further capital infusions to finance growth. When investors sell stocks (true whether selling back to the company or otherwise) they receive cash - and the cash can be used to invest in other companies. You can check the history of most any major company (especially IT tech, biotech) and you'll see that they received investment from venture funds or other investors.
That's pretty much the same justification given for supply side economics which failed in practice because it doesn't reflect the reality of how wealthy investors behave when they have long term capital gains. They don't suddenly decide to realize most of their gains and invest them in growing startups or risky markets.
While it's true growing companies need captial one of the reasons companies buy back their own stock is because they have more money than they know how to invest in growing their own business. They're not investing in growing their own business or growing other companies.
In contrast when workers have more disposable income they buy goods and services which increases demand. High demand does more to spur investment and attract competition than easy access to capital gains.
Healthy economic growth occurs when supply and demand are in balance. Paying workers a tiny fraction of the value they create leaving companies with huge profits they use to buy back their own stock is unhealthy. Huge profits are an unwarranted tax on consumers and employees. From my perspective that's basic finance.
Another way to fight inflation is to have temporarily higher income and corporate tax on the top income tax brackets. This could work to discourage price gouging. Republicans like to say rate cuts encourage growth, so if that's the case, then these rate hikes would slow down the economy reducing inflation. The top rates could gradually be raised until inflation eases.
Tax brackets apply to individuals - not companies. Yikes - I guess it's just another day at Robert Reich Kindergarten for economic concepts.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/17/business/productivity-boom-inflation-economy-strong-soft-landing/index.html
This is information that needs to be on more media platforms, People that I talk with have no idea that corporations and billionaires pay little taxes, or how they use culture wars to distract from the deregulations of protections for workers or consumers, or the discrepancy in CEO salaries compared to workers, or how stock buy backs manipulate the market to give CEO’s even greater wealth. They are unaware that the national deficit is in great part due to the rich not paying their fair share. I know I am in this small pocket that gets this information, but many just have time to get whatever their algorithms pop up on their phone, How can this information get to more people?
In addition, I just had a conversation with my broker who had not been aware of how the voucher system is providing public school money to predominantly religious schools in particular Catholic schools. I do not want my tax money going to subsidize religious indoctrination into children, If parents want this for their children then they can pay the tuition. We are seeing more and more religion crossing the boundaries into government,
Vouchers are a tool to eliminate public education and teachers' unions.
maybe we need to drop leaflets. If he paid attention to things going on in his state legislature he would know more. Of course, one first has to know enough to know what you don't know can hurt you.
https://statesnewsroom.com/
Are you serious? That propanganda is widely spread. Think of a large field covered with cow dropping.
Hundreds of thousands of people are unemployed thanks to rules that reward firing people while the executive class keeps their millions. The 'layoff machine' isn't accounted for in economic measures. Unemployment data is a lagging indicator of economic stability.
and then the mental health toll that comes with such insecurity and anxiety among working class people makes our society dangerous.
breaks down trust as well. Why should you trust or support a "system" when you might lose your job without much warning. Precarity costs: "Incessant worry about money is associated with poorer health, lower levels of happiness, and increased social isolation. Financial precarity also has a corrosive effect on people’s cognitive functioning and their ability to make good decisions." source: somebody not me
Huge numbers of CEOs exited their positions last Q4. Please do a little digging.
Joshua—yes, please name some of these CEOs and include the terms of their exits—-???
I doubt it. Name some. Where is info to back up your statement? Why did they exit-for some crime they committed or what?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianhayesii/2024/02/26/the-great-ceo-resignation-of-2023-3-keys-to-improving-ceo-well-being/
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-10-19/ceo-resignations-hit-record-high-as-c-suite-executives-leave-firms
those were interesting articles. Thanks for sharing them. Lots of reasons why some left & lots of different job types.
And, Larissa, it doesn't count workers who run out of unemployment benefits or give up trying to find work.
I'm well aware...
I am angry if the Fed keeps interest high. With the price hikes on goods and food mentioned, added to the high interest rates, why would I do any more spending!? The rich are enjoying these high interest rates, and Jerome Powell most likely is, too! I will concentrate on paying my credit cards and go to thrift shops now. I'm already forgoing things like travel and going out for dinner. If something is on sale and it is a good enough deal, I may buy it. But not likely at this point. I feel ripped off!
Interest rates are not high in historical terms - they are just higher than a little above zero. (My interest rate on the student loan four decades ago was 12.25%.)
That’s what everyone seems to forget. My interest rate was around 7% in 2000 on a 30 year home mortgage. I thought I had won the lottery
Joshua Albert ; everyone has a different situation.
Some interest rates are over 25%! It is important that young people especially get educated to protect themselves from being robbed blind.
I can not understand why anti trust laws have not been instituted. Elizabeth Warren has warned about these problems for so long. We have seen how different corporate entities have taken advantage. Now it happens to be basic need industries- food and energy. This should have been stopped when healthcare, pharmaceutical drugs, and many other industries created monopolies. Our government needs to work for people.
The revolving door from congress to private industry, that's why.
Good point.
Greedflation grows as competition shrinks. Corporate money injected into our political system is buying votes that oppose the common good. Where do we start? Is it realistic to launch a grassroots campaign vs Citizens United?
High interest rates are effectively part of inflation for ordinary people. They don't inhibit economic activity by the very wealthy and large corporations because they can either afford the high rates or simply pay cash and avoid paying any interest at all.
The wealthy are also the ones collecting the interest.
People refuse to see reality,always have,always will.They make up delusions .
The rich pay almost all of the tax.The IRS will give you that breakdown every year so people can make up conspiracy theories.Income is from dividends,IRS form DIV 1099,that will explain how it is taxed,so people can deny it .
Companies have huge debt,current ( payable in 1 year ) and non current, that may have a different name .US companies tend to treat debt differently to GAAP ( generally agreed accounting principles) and IFRS ( international financial reporting standards ).All the pension funds around the world then have a level playing field,and understanding of how annual reports are formed They
borrow through corporate bonds in general 3 and 5 year periods.Part of the fixed interest of your 401K.
Wal mart has debt of $61.23 billion.. Their net profit for the last quarter was 3 .16% .So every $100 you spend there they get to keep $3.16.
Apple is a cult,people queue up to get the new I phone etc .Apple have debt of $104 billion> Their net profit margin is 26%>
I have no interest in religion,the bible may be the first self help book,so
None so blind that those that will not see .
Modern version ,you cannot be what you refuse to see.
You don't need any financial qualifications at all. 5 minutes on google and all that information is there .
Enjoy denying it
They do because they make insane amounts of money, aided by the infrastructure, and arms of government, and—most importantly—the actual work the rest of us “peons” do that create their products and services. And they get tax breaks the rest of us wish we could claim. Let’s compare the ratio of income spent for basic needs of regular people to those wealthy billionaires.
30 seconds on google and Wal mart 5 year bond 931142CH2 maturity is 5 April 2027 coupon ( interest rate) 5.875%
Strike price ( how much you pay) is usually $100 Interest rate goes up,bond price goes goes down.Interest rase goes down,bond price goes up .
Enjoy denying it
If you want to get ahead you need basic financial knowledge,otherwise you will never get ahead You cannot be what you refuse to see
That information is useless to workers that are barely earning enough for food, shelter, and transportation, Aussie.
Apple 30 year bond, May 2014 to May 2044 coupon 4.45% now Couldn't be bothered to find strike and coupon when it was released in 2014
Sorry, many of us had or have student loans, worked jobs that were fulfilling but didn’t pay high salaries (I could have made 3-4x as much as a lawyer if I hadn’t chosen to represent poor people) and then medical bills (try having cancer or another disease in your family), not to mention kids. As for not having basic financial knowledge, thank you for your paternalism, but unless you have disposable income and some kind of generational wealth, it’s not so simple. But it’s clear you live a charmed life. Some of us aren’t so lucky.
Do you think you could be more cryptic? ----
People refuse to see reality,always have,always will.They make up delusions . The rich pay almost all of the tax.---- I would hope so, they take an extremely dispropotionate amount of the wealth created. ----The IRS will give you that breakdown every year so people can make up conspiracy theories.---- The IRS will give out some data, I dont think they do it so people can make up conspiracy theories.--- Income is from dividends,---- Mine isnt, I think youre saying that of wealthy people is, and that sounds believable---- IRS form DIV 1099,that will explain how it is taxed,so people can deny it . ---- I am doubtful this form will explain it to me, rather I think you are bitter when you fill it out , seeing money that has been in your account going out, and being a person who deals with it you have developed an understanding of what all the abreviations and subsections represent., and "so that people can deny it" is essentially just more resentment that many people feel it should be even more money. ---- Companies have huge debt, ---- yes, they deal in huge transactions, and that means having huge debts. ---- current ( payable in 1 year ) and non current, that may have a different name .---- So shorter term debts and longer term debts that may not be called debts, I guess? Ok ----US companies tend to treat debt differently to GAAP ( generally agreed accounting principles) and IFRS ( international financial reporting standards ).---- So U S companies tend to do things somewhat different than the international standard. OK. ----All the pension funds around the world then have a level playing field,---- I kind of doubt this is true, but maybe it is. ---- and understanding of how annual reports are formed ---- pension funds should have an understanding of how annual reports are formed. ----They borrow through corporate bonds in general 3 and 5 year periods.---- I think of pension funds as investing rather than borrowing, but for the time being I am accepting this on a hypothetical basis, assuming its going to lead to a point at some point. ----Part of the fixed interest of your 401K. ---- This seems like an incomplete sentance to me. ----Wal mart has debt of $61.23 billion.. Their net profit for the last quarter was 3 .16% .So every $100 you spend there they get to keep $3.16. ---- Ok, Walmart has a profit margin of 3.16% They are known for using their financial enormity to make a surviving business model off a slim profit, largely by putting most competition out of business. ----Apple is a cult,people queue up to get the new I phone etc .Apple have debt of $104 billion> Their net profit margin is 26%>---- Apple has a different business model where they provide high quality products that people pay a premium for. ( I am not a.customer of either of these companies). ---- I have no interest in religion,the bible may be the first self help book,so None so blind that those that will not see . Modern version ,you cannot be what you refuse to see. ---- I really dont know what you are trying to say here. ----You don't need any financial qualifications at all. 5 minutes on google and all that information is there . Enjoy denying it ---- I don't even know what it is you're accusing me of denying. What do Apple and Walmarts debts and profit margins have to do with the taxes of wealthy people? Corporations aren't people.---
G G — thank you for that. I, too am trying to make sense of that post (???)
But one note—Citizens United declared that Corporations are, indeed, people. Getting rid of it would be an enormous help in re-leveling the playing field.
Yes, I'm aware of citizens united, but it's both a bad ruling and nor applicable when I'm being told "the wealthy pay almost all the tax". If the defense was "corporations pay all this tax so biological people should get credit" I would find it an even more ridiculous post.
Another driver of inflation that gets less attention is the ever-widening wealth inequality gap. In our profit-driven capitalist system, producers seek to maximize profit, so of course, they will shift production toward the people and markets who have most of the money. That means fewer goods and services for those at the middle and the bottom — and therefore higher prices for what remains available.
In this regard, it seems a progressive tax on wealth would go a long way toward controlling inflation.
Good morning,
I can't agree more.
I work for a national distributor as a sales rep, selling art supplies selling fine art supplies into retail stores, up and down the west coast. I have never experienced a quieter week since starting my career in outside sales in 1980.
I have been feeling this slow down since May began.... and now even the restaurants which have been busy, this week suddenly are empty. ......... I am feeling we're about to implode....
Remember the election of 2000 when everyone knew the presidency was going to change - either to Al Gore or George W. Bush?
At that time I sold graphic supplies for a retail store, to professional designers - ad agencies, architects, engineers, newspapers..... anyone using a technical pen basically. And I remember how business advertising slowed as industry leaders waited to see who won the election... wanting to wait and see what programs and focus would come out of Washington, what would be the key items the government would back?
But then the election hit an unexpected pause.... there wasn't that Whew Who here we go...... instead the launch was rocky, undecided.......... and then nothing from Washington....
GW didn't announce any big government focus for investment..... other than a tax cut........ Washington's guidance was pointing no where........
Uncertainty in national focus continued into January and February.......
Advertising by major business had been holding it's breath now since May - and still no air under anyone's wings to lift to launch in any particular direction........ grounded..... waiting........
By March everything imploded.
What finally "saved" the economy was Sept. 11 when "Waring" began our country's new focus - and quickly very compartmentalized with privatization of profits behind the scenes while good souls signed up to fight.
JFK's mission to do big things together as a country..... quickly forgotten...... The Moon.... Good Governance... Lifting All Boats.......from Washington was over and the heist to move all the money from the middle to the top, was on.
Joe Biden remembers when government used to tackle the Big Things for Us... All of Us....
He is literally back to paving the roads for Us to get to work..........
But since none of that has been presented since losing the House, this election season........ we are right back to 1999...........
Only this time instead of business investment dollars pulling back starting in May.......waiting to see who wins.... it's consumer's dollars........ and suddenly consumers are not only holding back, they are frozen in place, waiting for November...... unsure if Anything in our future will be the same....
When will we run out of air?
It’s business investment as well, especially for R&D. Those of us in R&D have been feeling the investment pullout since January. Strung along for months last year only to have the rug pulled completely out in the beginning of the year. Our people have been out beating the bushes investors and there’s interest but no commitments. It’s devastating-- for the future of business and industries, for bringing great new ideas into the world, and of course for the engineers and designers who rely on investors for their jobs/livelihood.
I hear you...
yup........
life is about to freeze up.........
Very scary times we’re living in. What happens in November is monumentally important, and since no one knows what will happen, it’s like everyone is pulling in their horns, too afraid to do anything but try to protect themselves from the worst....
Oh, how I wish you were in charge, Robert Sir. Just fairness and its dignity that's all most of us want.
Again, keep giving to the rich. They don’t care what they have to pay. The average working person with credit card debt that has gone from 13% to 29 % or higher have a terrible time paying the monthly payment. Should they pay for a child to get medical help or wait and see how they are feeling. Can they then afford medicine if the child needs it. It goes on and on from food prices to clothes to just daily living.
I'm 68 and still working FT! My supervisor just turned 76! I don't believe we will ever have what our parents had. I am paying half my take home pay on rent like millions of other hard people in the US.
I agree Edie.
The last time the Feds reduced the interest rates was back in 2020, the general public needs to see a governmental plus when it comes to how we view our economic future. It's time to do it again.
Theory is Donald, that an increase in interest rates reduces the demand for debt, and in a debt money system, such is the fractional reserve system, managed by the Fed, an increase in interest rates leads to a reduction in the money supply., only the demand for debt now a days is inelastic. And the money supply is not what really causes inflation,
Inflation is a factor of two things, short term inflation is market manipulation and money supply, but long term inflation (like the $2,000 1965 Mustang vs the $33,000 2024 Mustang,is a function of the interest on the debt.
The Fed, Jerome Powell, manipulates the interest rates for political purposes, he lowered them under Trump to increase the money supply and create jobs and consumer demand, and he decreased them under Biden to contract the money supply and create consumer frustration.
And why the Dems don't call him out, is beyond me. Maybe they don't understand Modern Money Mechanics, despite the fact that the Fed has explained it in a pamphlet.
99.9% of Americans don't they are kept in the dark and fed manure like a mushroom farm, even at the university level.
Billy.
They can’t call him out for trying to fix the rigged economy of the past 40 years. Most people would correctly point out that monopolies, deregulation, trade deals, immigration policy, and stimulus of the Covid era all contributed to inflation. All Powell can do is try to slow inflation by raising interest rates. Throw the hopes and dreams of those failing to pull on their boot straps sufficiently on the capitalism pyre.
If he lowers rates now and inflation is exacerbated he will be out on his ass. I understand that typical rube thinks Powell is just a big meanie. Congress can vilify Powell. But they will crap their pants if he actually lowered them. I’m guessing you know that but given the way the Biden administration is falling apart, you’re probably looking for a patsie. And the Steele dossier makes Putin a tough sell for fall guy. You know that the Steele dossier was a lie right?
You are most definitely on a roll Chucky boy. or are you human? .-- . .-.. .-.. ..--..
Here I am arguing with an AI bot.
You know I’m as real as I can be. You’re just uncomfortable with someone having enough tenacity to rub your nose in your stupid. You should apologize. But I don’t think it would make any difference now. I’m enjoying this way too much. Thanks for recommending it and encouraging me to do this in writing. It’s really cathartic.
For the record, in 1965 a full time USPS clerk annual salary was $2800, that Mustang was a major purchase and out of reach of many..
So you are telling me that an E-4 in the military made more money than a USPS clerk.
My base pay was $233.10,my Basic allowance for Quarters was $105, I received $1 a day for rationing separately
Whereas a full time (I assume entry level) USPS clerk got paid the same as an E-4 minus allowances.
I got married when I was an E-3, in 1960, and my pay was $124 base pay, $51.30 housing allowance and $1 a day for rationing separately.
The Separate Ration allowance of $1 a day was unchanged since he Civil war, and only received if your Commanding Officer authorized you to live off base or post.
The difference between an entry level postal clerk and an E-4 with over 4 years service was the living allowances.. Sounds like motivation to join the service,
It’s way too early to be that drunk billy. No one cares that you’re a vet, or mustang dork. Some people would like you to stop lying about the merit of fighting dirty in politics, the fact that the Steele dossier wasn’t just a lie. The FBI knew it was a lie in 2017. But even more importantly, Jerome Powell and the federal reserve would be insane to lower rates, regardless of your pathetic pining for the day Sargent dork bought a mustang. Also Biden appointed Powell
Ron,
For the record, Billy is obsessed with mustangs and Russian bots. He is preparing to blame bots, me, and apparently Jerome Powell for the election of a game show host. Watch this space in November. Wear safety glasses. The finger pointing will be a hazard.
Talk to me Chucky boy, not behind my back. You are right I am obsessed with bots but mustangs (wild horses?) I am also obsessed with right wing, RFK an Putin trolls spreading disinfo and discord.
First it’s talk to me, then it might be dangerous? Don’t bore me with how it could be dangerous. You have clearly stated that no one is watching me torture a blowhard bully. Buckle up Sargent nostalgic. There’s incoming.
Inflation was at 9% when he started raising rates. It’s still at 3.5%. Unemployment is at 50 year lows. If you close the border right before the summer starts, unemployment goes down further, inflation spikes, and Powell either raises rates again or inflation punishes everyone. Lowering rates now is rockstar stupid. Which explains why you would endorse such a course of action. But Robert Reich knows better and it really pisses me off. The economy should be his wheel house. Volker raised rates to almost 20% in the early 80s because they fidle fucked around trying to keep rates low when inflation started getting out of hand. If you and Reich ran the fed we would be Venezuela by Christmas
Good news boomers. CD rates are smokin.
What is this shit? If you close the border before summer starts, inflation goes down.
Another bullshitter please stand up.
Summer is after crops are planted and before they are harvested. Summer has nothing to do with inflation.
And crops have nothing to do with unemployment as lazy, spoiled Americans want nothing to do with harvesting veggies and fruits, it is back breaking, low pay work, and where you can't find South American migrants, you find kids picking strawberries, raspberries, flowers. The summer school break is a leftoevr from our agrarian past, when schools closed so the children could help on the farm, picking produce and fruit before it rotted on the vine., now Americans are too lazy and spoiled, too rich,andkids would rather flip burgrs than work in the fields.
Billy!
If you tighten the labor market by closing the border inflation goes up. Close your eyes real tight. Even a mouth breather like you can get a handle on this concept. Be that as it may, using Powell as the whipping boy for 40 plus years of shit economic policy is disingenuous. Powell can buy securities, raise or lower interest rates, print money. After that his tool box is pretty much starring at BLS information. It’s up to congress and which ever president is in the White House to deal with monopolies, taxes, budgets, and yes even bank reform like Glass Steagal you pompous blowhard. Wanna tell the class you were wrong about the Steele Dossier? Like a big boy?
Chucky boy. The only mouth breathers around these parts are phuckwits like you.
It is a waste to discuss econ and finance with an ignoramus such as you
I was worried that you were going to need a safe place tough guy. You see how supply and demand and the border closing work ? Everyone reading this sees that you have no credibility. Since you can’t connect the dots between the supply of labor and inflation. I think you do now that I rubbed your nose in it, but it’s easier to call me names than concede your error. Did you read the article that I sent you? Want to apologize?
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/11/politics/steele-dossier-fbi-durham-danchenko/index.html
Billy!
Did you want to concede that the Steele Dossier was complete crap? And that your condescending dickhead attitude made you look ridiculous? And you were sort of rude while also being totally full of shit? We all make mistakes. Not as frequently as you, obviously. I can post that link in response to everything you post if you’d like . You could call me a bot again. Because clearly, if I am a bot, I’m infinitely smarter than you. And that has to be awkward for someone as arrogant and simple as you. Or did you run away and hide already?
Nope not conceding the SteeleDossier is complete crap.
The only person you are impressing is yourself and other Trumpian trolls.
Trying out for a job on Fox are you?
Don't pat yourself on the back chucky boy., your wasting your time here, you will not find friends or converts, but you aren't looking for either are you, just disrupt and deflect.
But thanks for validating me as a threat. The anxiety and angst you emit are palpable.
You are indeed insecure.
That’s probably it.😘
Didn’t you mean to say “Jerome Powell…INCREASED them (interest rates) under Biden to contract the money supply and create consumer frustration”?
Yeh, I get tongue tied at times. Thanks for the correction. Not just consumer frustration but increase unemployment.
Don,
Billy isn’t too bright. You see he forgot to mention that our hero Joe Biden appointed Jerome Powell.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/11/22/president-biden-nominates-jerome-powell-to-serve-as-chair-of-the-federal-reserve-dr-lael-brainard-to-serve-as-vice-chair/
If Powell lowers rates now inflation will be elevated. It would be malpractice to lower rates. The real bad guys are every congress, president since Reagan that dismantled the version of capitalism that made this country great. Also Reich and everyone who tries to put 40 years of incompetence on Jerome Powell’s shoulders. It merely makes Reich readers more jingoistic and less intelligent.
“But it would be a mistake for the Fed to postpone reducing interest rates. Five reasons:”
———————
Maybe… just maybe
- The job rate means diddly to underpaid overworked people.
- The job rate means squat to people struggling to put food on the table and clothes on their backs using pennies where they need dollars.
- The job rate means dick to people desperate for a living wage.
- The job rate and interest rate are a noose around the neck of working people.
- The job rate and interest rate keep workers at the bottom of a heap of shit-to-pay for showing up at work on time every time ready to work.
*** Is there any wonder why workers are sick and tired, fed-up-to-the-gills treading water… being talked down to like we’re assholes… and so we say screw it let’s flip it and vote for the really biggest asshole the country has to offer***
Change the ability of large corporations to have access to lower cost interest loans. Make it so the middle class and lower income people and small businesses are the only ones who have access to lower interest loans.
How, Susan, can anything be changed without the consent of the wealthy oligarchs?
I absolutely agree. I do think it's high time the FED lowered it's interest rates. As you mentioned it's hurting the average hard working and poor Americans the most. This will also be a further impetus for the economy to grow by leaps and bounds, hence also aiding to lower the inflation. President Biden like all other world leaders has to urge the leading major companies especially food and gas companies to lower their prices. They're the culprits for keeping inflation high. They're making huge profits by intentionally keeping prices high and depriving working and poor Americans from lower prices. High time the FED stepped up and lower interest rates ! I'm wondering are they doing this on purpose to help the major Corporations and billionaires. If so it's a disgrace. their duty is to look after the interest of the country and it's people. I'm sick and tired that there is no justice anywhere anymore for the normal citizens of the country. It's all about protecting billionaires, Corporations and big business. It's disgusting when you know it's the average citizens that are helping the economy grow by participating in the work force and actually paying taxes. Our voices has to be heard.