Everyone knows how expensive eggs have gotten. How about lawn mowers?
I had to buy a push mower the other day because I pushed the one I had over a stump I didn’t realize was there and the sudden stoppage of the blade locked up the engine. The ruined mower was only three years old and so I remember I paid $150 for it at Wal-Mart. Yesterday, I bought the same mower again for just shy of $300.
Thanks, Joe.
Also, Donald. Because let’s not forget who flooded the economy with “stimulus” money during the engineered mass-panic event of 2020 styled “the pandemic.” Remember when everyone got about $1,000 (some more than that) in the mail as compensation for the thousands – if not tens or hundreds of thousands – lost as a result of being declared not “essential” or forced to shutter their small businesses?
It wasn’t much money – on a per-individual basis. But it added up to a lot of money that flooded the economy. This increase in the supply of money is what is meant by “inflation.”
More finely, it is what results.
The joke – in the Joker from Batman sense – is that this sudden infusion of more money resulted in money buying less. Many people do not see this, of course – even as they grumble about the rising prices. They see that stimmy check – and think they got something for nothing.
It is apparently about to happen again. There are stories percolating upward from the bottom of the cesspool/cauldron in Washington that President Trump rebooted is considering sending out another round of “stimmy” checks much larger than the last time, to the tune of $5,000 – or even more – per individual. This of course sounds great – as who among us who works for a living (as opposed to government “workers”) could not use $5,000? It would pay the unrealized capital gains – whoops, “property taxes” – on my home this year, which would be great.
But how much will I – how much will you – be paying for eggs (and push mowers) next year?
These stimmy checks are not unlike steroids – or crystal meth. Those who take them feel stronger all of a sudden. But they aren’t, really. At least, the strength won’t last unless they keep taking the ‘roids or the meth.
Or getting those checks.
That isn’t sustainable, of course – because the government does not create money, except in the funny money sense. It can – and does – redistribute money. But that is an altogether different thing, entailing winners and – as Trump likes to say – losers. The government deciding who wins and loses. Which means your fate and future are beholden to the government rather than your merit and gumption. See as a case in point the Tesla grift – which is just that. The government redistributed money to Tesla – in the form of what are styled “carbon credits” – and thereby created a winner out of a loser. And created losers – us – in the process. If you doubt that assertion, have a look at your most recent car insurance premium “adjustment.” You are paying 25 percent more (or even more than that) to pay for the cost of repairing/replacing devices such as those sold by Tesla, even if you do not own a device.
What will happen to the cost of everything if Trump floods the economy with $5,000 stimmy checks? Initially, there will be a surge in economic activity – in spending – as people buy things they suddenly feel they can afford again. This will result in the prices of those things rising to meet the artificially summoned – and very temporary – demand. We’ll probably be paying $10 for a dozen eggs – and $400 for a push mower that used to cost $150 by 2026 or 2027.
But we’ll feel wealthier for awhile.
Then we’ll feel something else – when the ‘roids (to speak) wear off and we haven’t got another syringe-full to shoot into ourselves. Prices will remain high but we won’t be able to pay them because of all that funny money in circulation.
If you doubt it, have a look at what it costs to buy eggs – and push mowers – right now. The “pandemic” stimmy checks are long ago spent. The prices are the cost of all of that.
Trump’s proposal for another round of stimmy checks may be well-meant and it may be (temporarily) a political boon for him in that people will be orgiastically grateful – for awhile. But that won’t last because the wealth isn’t real, just inflated – and redistributed. And that could have calamitous costs – politically, for Trump – and far more so for the rest of us. If – a year or three from now – eggs do cost $10 a dozen and a push mower that cost $150 costs $400 – Trump will be as popular as Biden was last year and the consequences of that could be far, far worse than four years of Biden.
Rather than send out more stimmy checks, Trump could achieve his ends by the simple expedient of letting people keep what they earn. Or at least, more of it. A national ban on unrealized capital gains – that is to say, property taxes based on “assessments” that exceed the purchase price of the homes we’re never allowed to truly own – would actually stimulate things, without need of ‘roids. Homeowners would have capital – as opposed to paying endless rent, per the tenets of the Communist Manifesto.
And that would make America great again – on a more permanent basis.
. . .
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Here in the Democratic People’s Republic of New York (“DPRNY” for short), we always seem to get stimmy checks from our Aunt Kathy (Hochul) in Albany in October of, oddly enough, election years. Eric, your assessment of the correlation between money giveaways and inflation is spot on.
Thanks, Doug!
I am hoping (against hope) that Trump will do something to get costs under control rather than send people money to pay for them.
[…] Guest Post by Eric Peters […]
I had a dog, chased down a chicken and killed it dead.
Best dog I ever had, had a propensity to kill chickens.
Would have killed more, I defended the chickens. Stopped the potential slaughter.
A fox would have cleaned out the chicken coop.
I paid the farm lady 90 dollars for 200 pounds of potatoes plus five dollars more for the chicken she had for supper.
You gotta eat.
Egg prices were caused by fake bird flu – no meat chickens were killed. Chicken in the grocery stores is still the same price. Think, people, think. It was more fakery like Covid, criminal government goons are attacking our food supply – that is an ACT OF WAR against us.
Here is the chart of egg prices, anything above a buck a dozen is too damn high:
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/APU0000708111
A good inflation measure for the value of gold, is the gold/oil ratio. Both have to be mined. Both take so much energy to get out of the ground.
https://i.imgur.com/nr2VMU7.png
gold is currently overvalued from inflationary fears, once deflation takes hold, gold prices will plunge back to the trend line
Gold looks expensive. Buy platinum and palladium instead.
Howdy Folks,
There is a great series on how fucked up the whole Covid hoax was at Brownstone Institute (https://brownstone.org/articles/covid-response-at-five-years-introduction/). The intro takes you back to exactly the crap that started in March of 2020……it’s pretty easy to forget just how fucked up those times were and that Thomas Massie was excoriated for voting against the CARES Act that added $6.2 trillion to the debt kitty. Just insane…..this was by the way, Trump and Fauci and Birx et al doing this shit….it still infuriates me. That said, we were right in the end and there was no plea for forgiveness so none offered. Never forget what these tyrants did. And now for my favorite Thomas Sowell quote of the day for this situation.
“People will forgive you for being wrong, but they will never forgive you for being right—especially if events prove you right while proving them wrong.”
― Thomas Sowell
It’s all part of the “agenda” and as we know they are all in it together, that includes Agent Orange zionist man and genocide Joe.
Which brings me to the subject not totally related to this post, although it involves again the criminals behind the covid scam:
They “test” people for measles with the fraudulent PCR “test” . Remember the false positive maker used by the plandemic manufacturers to create and increase “cases”.
They have now launched a new ops to try to remove RFK Jr. from the HHS:
They Created A Measles Emergency Through The Media To Trap RFK Jr. And Hopefully Force Him To Resign
celiafarber.substack.com/p/they-created-a-measles-emergency
Hawaii, Religious Exemptions and Measles: Will the Playbook Work Again?
childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/measles-hawaii-religious-exemptions-playbook/
The same media that fabricated the covid lies are now pushing the same playbook to derail RFK and possibly add to the “bird flu” manufactured panic (which also explains inflation in eggs and chicken since they cull them).
The same techniques are used than during the covid hoax.
If people keep not fighting back we will end up again with mandatory face diapers and jabs…
Ps; The “bird flu” hoax is to attack our food, they also want to inject poultry with mRNA shit they couldn’t put in all arms.
RFK should stick to what he was saying back in 2020 and not yield under the pressure.
Eric, that $150 mower was a trash piece of chinese machinery that was sold at a loss through walmart to put pressure on American manufacturers (and Japanese, and European). As a car guy, I don’t understand why you would put yourself in such a situation. All my garden tools, from the lawnmowers and brush cutters up to the tractor and excavator are made by reputable companies, sold through specialty dealers, with well made and replaceable parts that are willingly serviced by dealers and independent mechanics alike.
I’ve shared a laugh or two with the mechanics over the years while I was servicing my motors and some guy showed up with a $150 walmart lawnmower asking if they could fix the crankshaft… Like an EV owner asking for a battery swap!
All that to say, this article lost me at hello. Say what you want about inflation, but your cheap lawnmower, even at today’s $300, ain’t gonna last long and next time you’ll probably spend more for the same updated junk. That was never a sustainable market price in the first place, but at least you got a “good deal.”
Adding: sold by walmart to put pressure on American retailers and repair service providers.
Finishing my beer: Would bet the farm that the walton family put capital into the Chinese manufacturers with the intention to make products they could sell at a loss until the competition was sufficiently weakened. Double down on my excavator that the waltons (and other “american” families) actually founded and built those manufacturing centers, probably creating the modern Chinese government through capital and force to make it happen.
Don’t forget Bernie Marcus and Home Depot.
Real Hunter fans haven’t been made in 25 years thanks to Bernie and his minions.
Hopefully, Bernie is getting his eternal just reward in the fiery pits down below.
I learned from my Dad to pick up lawnmowers when I see them getting put out with the trash. Often times some fresh gas or a new spark plug and they fire right up. I ended up with a couple and he had 4 at one time which he would give away to relatives.
Got one for $25 at a yard sale because it needed a new air filter.
I will eat a little crow here and concede that according to FRED data the prime rate could have been abound 3.5% in early 60’s to 1965.
However a mortgage would still typically be some 50-200 basis points higher depending on bank, credit worthiness, down payment, etc.
Ugh – misplaced comment in response to me being to snarky / harsh in response to RK.
The NYSE is down 1300 points in two days. Everybody is selling, making for the exits. Deflation time for share prices.
More mayhem than chaos. Pain city.
In the doldrums, it don’t look too good.
At 20 to 1, silver should be close to 150 dollars per Troy ounce.
Do a Jim Morrison and break on through to the other side.
Get the silver! Probably best to make it actually useful, like In silverware, serving plates, and punch bowls!!! Or have boating accidents as many of us have!
And realize that Facebook marketplace is the new Craigslist, so used is your friend, as it has been for my whole life…used mowers, if you can turn a wrench are almost free there…but YMMV..
SW,
Love the silver stash boating accident angle!….
Holy Shit , I was just wondering??? What body of water did you lose your ….
Silver stash in???
I’m into SCUBA diving and was just wondering if you could provide the proximate location on a map??
I would be happy to patrol the location for you…(discreetly below “sea level”)..
for a nominal monthly security charge….FIRST MONTH FREE!…..DON’T WAIT…
CALL WITHIN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES!
AND RECEIVE A BONUS LIFE RING….ACT NOW….:)
Honest Abe
Managing a nation’s economy is not that difficult; we have the benefit of centuries of trial and error from the ancient Egyptians to Romans to early Europeans and down thru all the nonesense of the 1600 thru the present day. Its alot like American football: really no mystery anymore, if you want a sound economy that benefits the population at large and supports longterm economic, social and political stability.
But that is not what our owner want. And never have. Stimulus checks, forsooth!
Obviously, the only stimulus needed is cutting spending and cutting taxation. Done.
Expands freedom, expands market economy, expands purchasing power…oh, and abolish central reserve banking.
But again, our owners do not want this. Would you, were you an owner? Just like the monarchies of old, the changing of the guard at the top echelons of our political hierarchy does not change anything for the base of the pyramid. Just window dressing.
Whats the point of having power if you can’t abuse it?
The traditional defense: move to a less rigid jurisdiction. Thats it. No system of power has ever been reformed to the benefit of the little people by itself. Change cannot be voted on. The system has two objectives; expand its power and keep its power. Law doesnt matter.
So…enjoy the spectacle of Musk and Trump being the china bowl breakers, the front men for the Big Show…but do not look for any permanent shift in trajectory. Not happening. Never has in history. Only systemic collapse forces change to an entrenched political hierarchy.
The only factors in a collapse are: fast or slow, widespread or confined, and how badly the little ones get burnt.
History shows we usually get burnt pretty bad.
Enjoy the show.
Ford’s single-digit share price is at a four-year low. Chart:
https://tinyurl.com/3u576sah
My kingdom for a
pony carhorse!Perhaps we healthy humans can spend that $5k cremating worthless offspring ? Watching em fk themselves got boring anyway.
Next act please.
Here are some quick facts I grabbed one day from a quote:
“In January 2020 the US Monetary Base was $3.4 trillion. In May 2024 it was $5.7 trillion, a $2.3 trillion increase. The Monetary Base is the so-called “foundation” of the money supply, upon which the banks pyramid bank credit money. In January 2020 M2–checking, savings, and short-term CDs held in the banking system–was $15.4 trillion. In November 2023 it was $21.0 trillion, a $5.6 trillion increase. In the first quarter of 2020 GDP was $21.7 trillion. In the first quarter of 2024 it was $28.3 trillion, a $6.6 trillion increase. It is clear that America’s so-called boom is nothing more than money printing by the Fed and credit expansion by the banks. Expect worst numbers this year, since the federal budget deficit, which will be funded primarily out of money printed out of thin air, will exceed three trillion dollars.”
The US economy slipped into a coma in 2008 and will never recover, but the corpse continues to live by constant infusions of resources better spent on the needs of the living.
I want my stimmy check in Gold or Silver. As in real money.
If I do get a stimmy—doubtful, I’m single, white, male, with an income–it will be cashed, and turned into gold
That’s wise, Andy –
I’ll use mine to pay this year’s unrealized capital gains taxes…i.e., the “property tax.”
So at five grand, you can buy two double-eagles if the price of gold drops to 2500 USD per Troy ounce.
In 1999 I was in a LCS considering buying a numismatic double-eagle for 289 USD, 1/10th of today’s gold price.
Nine double-eagles back then for 5,000 dollars. 27,000 dollars in fiat currency right now.
I want 27,000 dollars of stimulus funding, not a measly 5,000 clownbux.
Nothing like hyperinflation to cause more misery.
Chump and Eloon are such cheapskates, it is embarrassing.
I flunked my moldy math once again.
It would be about 17 double-eagles, or 51,000 dollars.
I want 51,000 dollars from Uncle Sugar, not 5000 dollars.
17×300=5100 dollars in 1999. 2025, 51 grand.
Party time!
In 1999, Greenspan was Fed boss. Gold was $189/Oz (it was approx $800/oz in 1979), oil was $10/barrel, gas was $0.98/gallon. Tight money popped the tech bubble and much was lost so inflation became the order of the day. Obama’s zero rate policy kept real rates negative and hid the cost of his idiotic fiscal policies. Quantitative Easing, i.e., printing money became normalized in America and we Americans never questioned what that meant exactly. Now we do! The Roman empire began to die when they shaved silver off their coins without reducing face value: quantitative easing, Roman style. One tight-money adminstration will destroy all who bought gold at $2500. Invest in ammo and toilet paper instead.
“ Remember when everyone got about $1,000?”
No, because it didn’t happen.
The COVID stimulus was yet another welfare wealth transfer. The corporations got stimulus. The poor got stimulus. The middle class got screwed.
If you happened to make more than a certain income threshold – you got nothing, except the privilege of having wealth stolen from you to give to others.
Business as usual in the USSA.
Oh, Eric, where to start? That “put-putt” mower (surprised that the libtard kooks from NoVA didn’t mandate that you had to buy a battery-op electric mower, which is adequate for the small putting greens that pass for lawns these days, never mind also the “low-water” landscapes mandated by many locales, especially out West) cost was as much driven by S-A-A-F-T-E-E-E-E mandates and “smog” regs as inflating our Fed (re: J-O-O) Bank “funny money” (at the rate it’s going, “Monopoly” money may have a higher purchasing power!).
My #1 son likewise faced this problem, as a cheap corded electric mower finally gave up the ghost. He lucked out and found a private party, a landscape guy that’s the proverbial “friend of a friend”, who parted with a used gasoline mower for…get this…the measly amount of TWO HUNDRED BUCKS. Yeah, 2 C-notes for a used mower, albeit this one’s in practically new condition. Reason? There are places around Sac town where the landscape guy would get cited and FINED for use of anything but electric, I shite you not. So his regulatory misfortune was my son’s opportunity, as $200 for a used mower with the tried-and-true Briggs and Stratton engine was still a lot cheaper than a “Pluton” battery operated device (starting at $450).
Me, looking forward to retirement in Tejas soon, where the only “mower” I’ll need will “baa…baaah”!
The price of good mowers has been going up for years, while the manufacturing and quality goes down. For example, people don’t want to spend more than $4-6000 on a new riding mower, but if you inflation adjust one from the 70s, they were the same as an economy car being about $12-15000. Of course the quality was much better then and it could do a bunch of other stuff like plowing dirt every day.
Every stimulus check that comes out, I’m always for getting hard assets before the price jumps. The $5k one I would use for the majority of a new roof on my place. If I didn’t have to do that, I would be in the market for some nice night vision or thermals.
If Trump and Musk want to rob the Treasury, they can begin by emptying their pockets first.
What makes them think the money is theirs to hand out?
They’re like Easter eggs, not a leg to stand on.
There’s roosters layin’ chickens
And chickens layin’ eggs
Farm machinery eating people’s arms and legs
I ain’t hurtin’ nobody
I ain’t hurtin’ no one – John Prine, Ain’t Hurtin’ Nobody
The more fiat gets handed out the faster $40T debt disappears.
What a bogus premise. The suggestion is to return a small percentage of money that would have otherwise been spent such that, say, a million dollars would have flowed into the economy, but only a few thousand will according to the plan. It’s conceivable this could increase the cost of eggs if everything remains the same, but if it does, it’s not about the cost of eggs, it’s about the ongoing loss of chickens.
The question is who dies the money really belong to, it is OUR money! If it is not sent to the people it will just end up at JP Morgan, Raytheon or Check Shumers offshore bank.
Myself I’d settle for the end of the IRS and 16th Amendment and bury the Fed with it.
From what we are seeing most of our tax dollars are being skimmed with the rest pissed away on total BS expenses.
Reducing the Pentagram by 50% is a great start but we could reduce it by 90% and probably improve national security.
I am going to take a very different approach than the consensus on this forum. I see an opportunity for growth, expansion, and wealth this year and next. I relayed this to my father this morning who told me I was out of my mind. By the end of our conversation I got a “we’ll see.” In my world, that is called progress. 🙂
I live near the Land of the Swamp so what I see here cannot be construed as equivalent for the rest of the country, but this call back to work may bring the kick in growth that this country needed. Hell, even Newsome is doing it. Is traffic horrible? Yeah, but the restaurants are full at lunch time and the commuter parking lots are saturated with workers catching buses, railways, and ride sharing. What does this mean? That many are no longer sitting in their sweats on a Zoom meeting eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
People going back to work means new work clothes, more fuel, and new supplies. I know we are waiting for the big bust, but didn’t everyone just feel like we have had a continuous one for the last five years? We know the labor numbers coming from BLS and the growth and inflationary readings were garbage.
I expect to see a chaotic first quarter reading due to the current Administration’s house cleaning, but I believe we will stabilize (and actually grow) during the second quarter. With the lack of enforcement toward BOI and the public and private sectors forcing Americans back to the office, spending (in the private sector) is going to happen. New businesses will be created, manufacturing will restart, and wealth will be pushed back toward the Middle Class.
I usually have a feeling of dread when something feels off. I felt it in May 2007, in December 2019, and during the entire Biden Administration. I don’t feel it now. Maybe, my new Pilates routine is clouding my judgement, but I feel hopeful on what is coming down the pike.
Your comment is far more sensible than that of the writer of this article. The proposed return of money to taxpayers is a small percentage of money that would have otherwise been spent, and if the remainder of that found money isn’t spent, but rather it goes to pay down the debt. it amounts to a small contraction in the economy.
Regarding what you said about federal workers returning to the office, it’s a boon for everyone else, but not for them. They had theirs for all these years.
‘People going back to work means new work clothes, more fuel, and new supplies.’ — Raider Girl
Sounds a bit like Bastiat’s story of the broken window. 😉
Honestly, no one knows what GDP is going to do in the 2nd quarter. But I’ll cordially take the other side of your wager.
Today the S&P 500 dropped below 5,800 as Donnie Fubar’s harebrained tariffs take their dismal toll. He goes out of office as Hoover II, with a 20 percent approval rating and three more impeachments under his belt.
The future’s uncertain and the end is always near. — The Doors, Roadhouse Blues
Are you insinuating that I am overlooking the opportunity costs, Jim? That Harry sitting home all day would be spending his money elsewhere, like porn and video games, but now that he has to go to work and he needs a new suit?
I will take your bet. What is the prize? Bragging rights? 🙂
“Sounds a bit like Bastiat’s story of the broken window. 😉”
Yup.
Constantly amazes me how many people are inherently biased against remote work but have no issue wasting time at work.
Time wasted commuting and the associated “pollution” getting to/from. Gossip around the water cooler. Wasted time to go out for lunch. Smoke breaks that require a trip outside the building to a designated area. Constant interruptions throughout the day as people walk by and start up idle chat.
Ugh!
Honestly there is probably very little productivity difference between remote work and office work. The socializing in the office is both a bug and a feature, as is the time wasting at home. I suspect the home work may be slightly more efficient as there is less clock watching.
The whole thing was a scam.
I desperately wanted to work in the office during the Rona. No can do they (major auto OEM) said.
Eventually they actually took away our assigned desks. Now to work in the office meant a hobo lifestyle complete with backpack to carry the laptop, lunch,
Random stuff like scratch paper, pens, etc. Up to you to find a place to sit or to find a conference room to use.
Had to be in the “office” two or three days per week. Of course during those two or three days, the rest of the “team” was working from home. So exactly what is the purpose of being in the office?
Fuck that! Went Gault!
Hi BID,
I am not against remote work, but very few people have the will power to be productive in it. A few do. I have experienced more than my fair share of phone calls dealing with government agents telecommuting. I hear babies crying in the background, dogs yelping, people chewing as they are speaking to me, etc. In the meantime, my correspondence goes unanswered as it sits on someone’s desk or in the mail room of said government agency.
I, myself, worked at home for years before I moved into my office. Where am I most productive? My office. Not only that, but when I get home I am home. I am not responding to emails at 3 in the morning or working on a tax return at midnight. There is a benefit of having a separation of space/duties and focusing on that particular one whether that is work, home, or family. I am not intermingling them.
“Where am I most productive? My office.”
So you’re projecting.
That may be fine for you, if that works best for you that’s great.
But to imply that people don’t eat at their desks and talk on the phone in the office is absurd.
Likewise, when I would be on the phone in the office I would often hear some other ruckus in the background of a conference room or someone’s desk. It’s why Zoom, Teams, or WebEx has a mute feature that the meeting leader can control.
Whether or not people respond to email has nothing to do with remote work.
It’s a shame that so many people are caught within their own paradigm.
First it was to kick people out of the office . . . Cause invisible cooties. Now it’s to force them back into the office cause we need to sell more business suits?
When does the insanity stop. I want off the ride!!!
The only reason they’re forcing people back to the office is to keep commercial RE from going parabolic in the wrong direction. Cant have the BlackRock owners losing even one thin dime. All gains are theirs, all loses are ours
Bingo!!!
I am not projecting. I am saying what works for me. In my previous post I am not against remote work, but do you truly believe government workers are more productive at home? I am not talking industries as a whole, but government.
Five years of absolute hell as my clients (who are US taxpayers) can’t get responses as the IRS keeps imprudently sending out computer generated tax bills as we send response after response after response that they don’t. They then are threatened with liens, judgements, and garnishments.
Sorry I don’t buy that they are productive, because absolutely nothing has been accomplished since the cootie fiasco went into overdrive.
Also, if I recall aren’t you already off the ride?
Not trying to be argumentative. If you want me to agree that government is lazy and inefficient. I’m on board.
I’m sure there are some exceptions – even in government. But to put all that judgement on the private sector is a bridge too far for me.
I’m sure dealing with the IRS is beyond frustrating. You are a saint that you can bear working with them at all. 😉
Unfortunately I had to get off the ride, wouldn’t Vax, couldn’t deal with the crazy office policies, and the DEI culture was becoming unbearable. I actually have a picture of some retard millennial type in the office sitting on a common space couch . . . Barefoot. Ya know, cause it would be judgmental for someone to insist that we wear footwear in office settings.
Just couldn’t take it any longer – LOL!
Yep, projecting. That’s all you’re doing here.
No more work from home….
This will reduce the parasite’s gross income…
Lots of these government workers….were doing their government job from home….doing the same thing as they did in the office…nothing….
But ….returning to the office will make it harder to do their other two remote work jobs….which they did on tax payer’s time…time theft….which means a huge income drop….that is why they are so angry …….
Let me get this straight . . . They are lazy . . . But motivated enough to hold down two other remote jobs?
ROTFL
Hi Anon,
No one ought to have an issue with work from home – if the work can be done from home and (key thing) the work is honest. Meaning, no one is being forced to pay for it. Government “workers” are parasites and thieves who like to pretend they’re neither. Which makes them liars and cowards.
The end is near, grab a beer…
https://youtu.be/exlMw5vOefw?si=HTq-kf4LviRi51b3
Fine tunes, Ernie!
Meanwhile the Nasdaq 100 — home of the Magnificent Seven glamour stocks — has dropped below its level on the eve of the election:
https://tinyurl.com/yvazb367
Trump is a train wreck for investors.
Jim, you and I both know Wall Street has never been an indicator for Main Street.
I own three stocks…one I have lost my ass on over the last three years I have owned it, the other two are still sitting at the same price. Only ten stocks control the market. It is a measure of nothing except Apple and Microsoft investors are unhappy about tariffs.
The only market investments I have are gold and silver and miner ETFs. And they keep creeping higher, though not at the rate of inflation. The only growth I have is in my small town real estate which I can buy cheap and add real value to myself.
The Pilates dopamine effect. Lol.
I think there’s going to be short-term economic pain, but I’m hopeful in the long run.
From a hospice perspective dying people tend to flash a bit of life just before checking out. In 2029 the cull begins. Recalibrate your situational awareness and prepare accordingly.
Well said and reasoned!
Hey Raider,
I’m always late to the party, except when I’m insomniacal.
At-home work was one of the few good facets of the pandemic era. It showed how needless the “convenience” economy could be. So great an industry had arisen from the lack of time caused by the rush to and from the office. This includes convenience stores and their exorbitant mark-up on products such as junk food that starving people would buy as they fueled their vehicles for their unnecessary and hectic commutes.
Oh, you could say that convenience store owners made a killing, and perhaps even that they employed so many people, but much of it was shown to be unnecessary and detrimental to the lives of so many, as was fast-food, for that matter.
I believe much of the opposition to at-home work comes from one place: jealousy. Some idea of “fairness”, because “Well, I have to get my ass up and come to work, so why don’t they!?”. Secondly, employers don’t like it at times, I believe due to some idea of “owning” their employees. Employers like Elon Musk, Jamie Dimon, etc. “You’ll come to work because I’m paying ya!”. Doesn’t matter if the job is done as well or better at home.
Now, we’ll find out, as if we didn’t know, that many government workers are doing “make-work” (as Eric calls it), or perhaps nothing at all. I have little sympathy or tolerance for that, as they’re being paid with stolen money.
I will say that there is something psychologically useful about having the office space separate from the “home”. I will be ecstatic when I can put flooring and insulation in the lab I’ve recently erected. Then, I can enjoy this separation, even if it’s a matter of 80 feet or so.
I agree. I physically worked on aerospace electronics in a noisy toxic hangar before retirement. My biggest wish was for the “admin staff” to plant their puters at home and leave us alone so we could slave in peace. I hated the worthless dingleberries stealing from me in person.
The spike in egg prices is primarily due to the killing of hens because of the made up “bird flu.” It’s “Covid” all over again, but this time with birds. Big Pharma is trying to use it as a pretext for “bird flu” vaccines.
Wash, rinse, repeat.
Dear Bird Flu Alarmists,
Ask yourself one question…if bird flu is so deadly why do we see no other dead birds? Why are the flamingos at the zoo not gasping for air? Why are bluebirds and cardinals not covering our back yard in droves? Why must we kill an entire flock of chickens within a mile radius instead of quarantining the sick ones and letting nature take its course? Follow the money.
Strangely enough, RG, I just found a dead bird in my yard. Possibly my dog got lucky, however. 😉
Anecdotal sample:
I live next to a marsh. Hundreds, maybe thousands of ducks & geese make it a stop-over on the way North. Many stay year round. Swans & cranes & all kinds of birds like Cardinals & Blue Jays, etc.
Only dead birds I’ve seen in 5 yrs is a few Sparrows. None at all yet this year.
Out of 25 chickens, Nary a dead one yet, neither.
Well, let us know if anything changes, Helot.
Personally, I think the way chickens are farmed commercially, they’re made vulnerable to any number of ailments.
I can’t wait to get back and make another attempt at keeping our own chickens. Last time they all were killed, not by a flu, but a predator. Probably an owl’s carnivorous nocturnal activities.
I found The most & best tips on building a varmint-proof coop were on https://www.backyardchickens.com/
Cool site, Helot. Thanks!
This is one of the best chicken sites out there, helot. I have used it many times over the last few years.
We have lost a few hens. One to a hawk, two to old age, and three others to passing of the unknown. The saddest loss was our Silkie hen because she was the one that raised the flock. Apparently, none of the other hens have any maternal instincts. 🙁 In all of these years we have never lost a rooster. Go figure.
Most of the time, from what I’ve seen: Roosters run first. Roosters run fastest. And, if a hen gets in the way, a rooster runs over her on the way to safety.
Is it that whole, “I don’t have to outrun a polar bear, I just have to outrun you” thing? Idk.
Just another case of chivalry dying….
Ha! …
In defense of masculinity, I do have one mean Rooster who gets an anxiety attack if I so much as touch one of his hens. And if I catch the hen, I better watch out or he will spur me good.
The only dead birds I find are the ones my cats drag into the house. It’s that time of year where I expect to see a whole lot of them. Birds in the spring, lizards in the summer and mice in the fall-winter. Fearless hunters they are!
lol!!
In years past, I’ve seen numerous sensational news bits about whole flocks of wild birds dropping dead out of the sky for unknown reasons.
Haven’t read a story like that in a looonngg time.
Nothing at all in the news about dead wild birds. Just you cat owners talking about lone kills by the cat.
& of course, .gov toxic foam rub outs.
…Odd, all that.
Good point RG. Just like there were no mass graves or rancid bodies piled to the heavens during covid, the lack of dead birds is absolute proof positive of another big Pharma, fake flu, psi-op. You must be pretty disappointed in Orange Don over this.
A guy lives down the street from our BOL whose ten chickens were culled by the county for testing positive for the ‘bird flu.’ I haven’t talked to him in a few years. He is a good ole boy, Vietnam vet. Why he let the health department onto his property to test his birds, I have no idea.
He loves Orange Don, fly’s his flag proudly over his acreage. Even letting the county on his property is not the guy I remember. Can only think if this had happened under President Harris, we’d still be hearing about a bunch of dead county health workers all over TeeVee.
Hi Norman,
Trump added Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms in a USDA advisor to the Secretary role. My guess is there will be (if there isn’t already) a lot less PCR tests on egg laying hens nationwide. My daughter is part of 4H and all of last year all we heard about was “biosecurity” and the “avian flu”. The last two months…nada. It is going to take time to replenish 100 million hens. Many don’t start laying until six months. I believe we should start seeing an easing of egg prices around May-June of this year and prices should return to more normal levels.
I am a firm believer in a more localized approach to farming. The one thing I do agree with Europe about is the amount of local markets that they have and their bans on certain lab created ingredients. Anyone that buys mass produced eggs knows that these chickens live in horrible conditions with no sunlight and they are pumped up with antibiotics. We have to be choosier on the foods that we put in our body and I believe it is important to know where they come from and how they are raised.
That second paragraph emphatically, RG.
Decentralized production of anything possible. That’s the ticket to independence, resilience and ultimately, greater freedom.
Hi Raider Girl,
Joel Salatin is an impressive guy. Still, even one PCR test is too many. I would have thought President Trump learned that. This bird flu nonsense needs to end now, so fake and gay it makes Trump look gay for going along with it.
He spends way to much time talking smack. I know its part of his schtick involved in the deal process. Its time now for action over words. I’m beginning to believe the ‘Trump fog’ thing is real. The guy I mentioned above flies an American flag, Marine flag, POW flag, and TRUMP flag.
No way in any universe should Orange Don be on par with those other three. Like I said, if the other selection had been installed, this guy would’ve of gone into berserker mode over the cull of his chickens.
Why don’t we see dead for-meat chickens for that matter?
Hey Horst,
There have been articles here-and-there attempting to answer that question, and the basic premise is this: Meat chickens, called “broilers” are ready for market in about 6 weeks, whereas egg-laying hens take about 20 weeks to begin producing.
Thus, it is said, meat chickens are simply replaced more quickly and the impact of culling them is less.
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/egg-prices-shortage-chicken-question-everything/
Take that for what it’s worth. Some articles also cite that there is a frozen chicken stockpile blunting the effect of the bird-flu on the market.
I think the bird flu story is being ginned up to distract from the raging inflation, which has been allowed to run hot now that OM is in office. My theory is that egg prices really reflect that inflation because they can’t be shrinkflated or adulterated with water or otherwise. Plus, you have a standard unit comparison unit, the dozen. Eggs are also a component of so many foods, especially baked goods and prepared that they can also be blamed for high prices in those items.
You raise some interesting points.
10 packs coming in 5,4,3…
>standard unit comparison unit, the dozen
Look for the “marketing geniuses” to start selling eggs in packages of ten.
Keep the price the same, but give you two less eggs, to conform to the decimal system. Call it a “French dozen,” since the French invented SI units.
You mean you can’t divide a French dozen into thirds or quarters without breaking some eggs?? Too bad for you, citizen.
ML: Personally, I blame the whole damned mess on Rachel Carson.
Had to look that one up. This Rachel Carson?
“Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose sea trilogy (1941–1955) and book Silent Spring (1962) are credited with advancing marine conservation and the global environmental movement.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachel_Carson
And bringing back malaria. Silent Spring is responsible for more death than Mein Kampf.
This advise won’t help a lot but there’s a lot of small engines thrown away due to just ethanol gas that’s either gone bad or corroded the carburetor. I’ve picked up plenty that ran fine after dealing with those issues. My Craftsman snowblower was scrapped in the end due to a bad carburetor, a little TLC and a new carb and now it blows snow fine for less than $50 and that included repainting half of it.
The odds of anyone making enough money in the same line of work even with a raise to counteract inflation is low at best. On the other hand learning how to fix what you own with the aid of YouTube channels like James Condon (small engines/ generators) and affordable tools from Harbor Freight or Craigslist is a better solution. If you get good enough maybe turn it into a side hustle or your own channel.
As for higher food costs; the more of the processing and cooking you do the lower the dollar cost to you is. Sure Five Guys might be great but is there more than 2 or 3 dollars of actual ingredients in that meal? I doubt it.
Don’t forget what Grand Ma always said: “Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make Do, Or Do Without.”
I have been doing the same. Mowers, blowers and one rototiller. I have picked up a dozen or so in the last few years. Repair is usually clean the carburetor. Though one needed a small part, basically a belt to keep the power wheels turning. Easy repair.
That is sooooo true! I love yard sales because I can find so many of these small engine devices that “won’t run anymore” and all it takes is a simple repair and/or cleaning. I haven’t paid full price for any small engine device or power tool for years now.
I always look for yard sales where women are selling off their deceased father’s tools and power equipment. Always ensure a win/win for both during the sale, and both of us walk away happy.
Remove the air filter, then spray Brakleen into the carburetor and try to start the engine, if it starts, the carburetor works providing there is spark. If not, strip a bread tie and use the wire to clean the junk from the port.
Brakleen does the trick.
I purchased a John Deere 180 riding lawnmower for 500 dollars, 250 dollars in new parts and lubricants, works like new.
Yes, the deathanol mandate ruined small engines. After replacing the carburetor on my snowblower I started using “pure” gas, which around here unfortunately you can only find in hardware stores for $20/gallon. Makes me crazy every four years when the presidential candidates all go to Iowa to fellate the corn farmers and Archer Daniels Midland.
I personally would use the $5000 to pay off a $5000 credit card debt.
I feel many others would do the same.
How does that figure into the inflation model?
Hi Don,
It doesn’t. But the problem is many – probably most – would just spend the money. We live at a time in which all-too-many-people are fine with living with debt and would rather indulge (and make payments) than save.
You would just spend it later plus interest if you carry a balance,,, after the pricing catches up with the increase in Money supply. Better off spending it asap.
RE: “Better off spending it asap”.
Or, save it in some manner which preserves the purchasing power of those Dollars.
‘Cause, sooner or later, whatever consumable non-durable thing you bought will be worth less in the future.
Eric’s old mower, if he never used it, kept it perfect, could probably not be sold today for the same price as Wally-world is selling a new one for. That’s loss of purchasing power.
Wealth = savings.
Yep, spend it. Preferably on something that retains value like precious metals. I missed the boat myself with the whole COVID thing. I was deemed essential so I was fortunate to work full time, at high risk of getting COVID, for six dollars an hour less than those who were deemed non-essential and were allowed to sit at home gaming and watching TV. I would not mind getting the tax money back that I paid during those years.
It does factor into the inflationary model, because paying off debt reduces the money supply, which causes deflation. Something that is needed right about now.
RE: “It does factor into the inflationary model, because paying off debt reduces the money supply”.
The credit card company turns around & loans out that $5,000 to someone else. The money is not destroyed. In fact, the money supply increased!
This can be seen in that a credit card holder can now borrow that $5,000 & spend it to help drive up prices – AND – dondonsurplage has the money he was sending to the credit card company to go out & buy things & increase prices even Moar.
Unless, the credit card holders refrain from putting things on their credit cards AND dondonsurplage saves his old monthly payment amount.
…Do ya think that’s gonna happen?
Hi helot,
How does that drive up prices if $5K is paid off and another $5K is lent out? It sounds like equilibrium to me.
Are you telling me if the Trump Administration paid down $3 trillion in debt this year that would drive up costs? How is different when consumers do it?
If another $5K is lent out, that’s equilibrium?
No, that’s a bunch more eggs & mowers being bought.
IF the Trump Administration paid down $3 trillion in debt this year – yes – that would drive up costs – IF – they increased their spending.
Are they planning on increasing their spending?
Sortof: pay off one credit card balance, then turn around & rack up the debt on another credit card?
You are theorizing.
Who said anything about increasing spending if the US paid off debt?
inflation occurs when government prints money. Agree? If the money is already printed then how does new inflation occur? A credit card being repaid and then the institution lending money to someone else does not cause inflation. The continuous churning of the Federal Reserve printers do.
The only way to cause deflation is for the Fed to sell off assets and to destroy the money it receives in the transaction. This would be the opposite process of how the money was created by the Fed in the first place. Inflation is literally only an increase in money supply. Deflation is literally only a decrease in the money supply. Assuming all other things remain constant, it this inflation or deflation that causes prices to rise or fall, respectively. Rising prices is not inflation, it is a result of inflation.
With that said, the gubmint spends far in excess of its tax receipts (I think by about $1.8 trillion). I’m skeptical that DOGE is going to cause cuts sufficient to result in an annual surplus anytime soon.
When in your lifetime have we ever not taken any opportunity to increase spending? Its a given, the only question is on what? A new crusade? A Trans-huminist Martian development scheme? A trillion plus $$$ boondoggle in the Gaza Strip building some big beautiful beach side condos? Aliens perhaps?
They will spend. Its what they have always done and what they will always do. They wont stop until our currency is on par with Toilet paper.
Seems you’re mixing up price increases with the term inflation.
Perhaps try not to use either the words inflation or deflation & see what you come up with?
“… cumulative spending has come in at $1.253 trillion versus receipts of just $629 billion. The resulting $624 billion of red ink amounted to $10 billion of new borrowing each and every day” …
https://internationalman.com/articles/david-stockman-on-the-brewing-us-debt-ceiling-crisis/
RE: “I personally would use the $5000 to pay off a $5000 credit card debt.”
Suddenly, the Dollars you were sending to the credit card company as a monthly payment are now yours to buy things!
Unless, you save that amount every month. Are you going to save that money? If so, you will not contribute to the general rise in prices.
If, otoh, you spend those Dollars, you are increasing the demand of what you bought.
An increase in demand usually, eventually, results in rising prices for that thing or service you bought.
You are – bidding UP – the cost of things & services. Now, multiply that by how ever many checks get mailed out. Viola! You have a big crowd standing around a table waving their fist full of Dollars in the air saying, “I want more! More! More!”
The guy behind the table only has ONE dozen eggs & a lawnmower & a crowd all waving money at him demanding the eggs & mower. …Whatever shall he do?
Smartest move, IF we lived within an actual free market economy. The trouble with the Fed (J-O-O) being able to inflate the current at will, thumbing its nose at the Clowngress (yeah, the Elephants in charge really makes a difference, right?) is that inflation punishes savings and investment, while rewarding debt. Debt is what they want Americans, both personally, corporately, and all levels of Government, to be heavily burdened with, because that how they facilitate the “Steal” of our productivity and wealth. Trust me, in time, you’ll feel like a CHUMP for actually practicing THRIFT!
Well, not exactly a chump but when you wake up at 60 years old with minimal cash flow and 4 million bucks in assets, and realize the pay as you go crowd never denied themselves anything and lived in decadent luxury for 30 years, it does make one think.
The inflationary increase in the money supply has been a real problem for me for a couple of reasons. First, I never had a lot of money so I always fixed up used stuff, including a lot of old cars and mowers. That’s getting a LOT harder to do now. People used to throw stuff out and you could fix it. I have NEVER bought a new lawn mower, ever. The one I am using now I got in almost-new condition for $60 maybe 8 or ten years ago. Try doing that now. Try buying a $500 or $1000 car to fix up, LOL. People today think that $30,000 for a USED car is a “deal.”
Secondly, the money that I have saved by doing this is being debased and eroded by inflation. Sure, it is earning interest, but inflation is greater than the current interest rates of roughly $4.35 per cent. The claim that inflation is “only” 2-3% is a complete lie. I WOULD have been OK for retirement if inflation and money-printing hadn’t reduced the purchasing power of my savings by HALF.
That’s a criminal ripoff by the government. They might as well have embezzled half my money from the bank, it’s basically the same thing.
And as far as putting my money in the stock Ponzi… does anyone even look at the P/E ratio any more, LOL?
Indeed, X –
I’m in the same boat. I’ve always lived frugally but now even that isn’t enough to lose rather than gain ground. And now the bastards are going to double my “assessment” – i.e., the unrealized capital gains tax. Good thing I already have camping equipment, I guess!
Make sure your camping gear includes plenty of ammo, unfortunately that’s nearly tripled in price from about 5 years ago.
Trump’s diarrhea of the mouth seems to be about floating an idea, any idea to gauge the public. In this he’s the ultimate politician, sticking his finger in the wind to see which way it’s blowing. Will there be more stimulus checks? What’s the crisis? Eggs prices?
I imagine some of the cost of that new lawn mower is for various safety devices you didn’t ask for, emissions compliance devices that aren’t necessary and “styling” that you probably won’t notice (or will fall off after the second season of use). It certainly won’t be for the high quality Chinesium engine or ease of maintenance.
Push mowers are not only more expensive, but the engines are weaker and, in an increasing number of cases, sealed — no oil changes.
The elite want you on a battery mower like those available from EGo, a subsidiary of Chevron.
I’m religious about oil changes with my 6.75 HP Craftsman I bought new 15 years ago. I’m not getting another one of those. Ever.
Which reminds me — lawn mowers also also used to be a big Sears item, but Sears is no more.
Hi Roscoe.
If I recall correctly I’ve seen that Breaks & Scrap’em lawn mower engines might say permanent oil but if it has a dipstick to check the level you can always put a little gas in the tank and run it till it’s hot and the tanks dry, flip over and pour the oil out through the dipstick hole (if there’s no drain plug) and put in fresh synthetic oil (which is probably what there using) and extend its life that way.
Funny thing, I abuse the heck out of my small engines, I pick them up from auctions cheap or roadside trash piles free, and while I always check the oil, I never change it, and the only problems I have are with ethanol gas or idiots having tampered with the governor springs.
Obviously, my approach isnt for everyone. But I will note that my 87 year old dad has built a thriving all cash mower repair and sales business since he retired. He has coffee cans full of cash, which I’ve gotten him to buy silver and gold with.
Donnie Fubar gives prices another fillip higher:
‘President Donald Trump said Monday that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday. In February, Trump put a 10% tariff on imports from China. He reemphasized Monday that the rate would be doubling to 20% on Tuesday.’ — APe News
What does Uncle Warren think?
‘The billionaire chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway says tariffs are “an act of war, to some degree.”
“Over time, they are a tax on goods. I mean, the Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em!” he said in an interview with “CBS News Sunday Morning” when asked how tariffs would impact inflation. “And then what? You always have to ask that question in economics. You always say, ‘And then what?'”
‘When asked about the current economy, Buffett said: “Well, I think that’s the most interesting subject in the world, but I won’t talk, I can’t talk about it, though. I really can’t.”
https://archive.is/Gsgyy#selection-2851.0-2867.183
If you understand why he can’t talk about it — because he heads a publicly-traded
company with a $1.1 trillion market cap — then you’ve got an inkling of the chaos that lies dead ahead.
The first rule of Fight Club is “you do not talk about Fight Club.”
So, is there any link to Trump wanting to audit the US’ gold reserves? Personally, I doubt it but it’s a good start.
ROFLMAO
Don’t hold your breath, I’m still waiting for the JFK and Epstein files; CIA/FBI have probably burned out a few shredders by now.
I believe they released the epstein data. but the released data looks more like a barcode on a super market product. 🙂
Lara Logan published names of visitors to Epstein’s island retreat.
Today’s music choice is So Cal Drunks by Mix Mob.
Interesting list, drumphish. I find it amazing that they all proudly (and vocally) vote the Democrat ticket. I see no Tucker Carlson, Keanu Reeves, or any of the Hemsworth brothers, so my world is still good. 😉
2008 “crisis” was never resolved.
Bank bailouts, “too big to fail” non-prosecutions, Jon “The money disappeared” Corzine, zero percent interest rates, pre and post Covid money printing, stimmies….all continue cover for a dying currency.
Organic price discovery has been dead in order to keep the economy alive.
Everything becomes asset based with no bearing to the real world.
Tesla has a market cap of almost a billion? Aside from the (relatively small amount) buyers of their 4 wheel devices, who is using Tesla products on a daily basis?
Anyone here take a robotaxi to work through a tunnel?
What about buying a flamethrower to install your solar shingles at your home on Mars?
Meanwhile Ford is worth a measly $38 billion and I see F150s everywhere.
The bogus stock market now IS the economy…just to keep the dollar from collapsing.
Just to prove the dollar isn’t a joke, Orange Man will save it by using it to establish a national crypto reserve with such brilliant technologies as CumRocket, Smoking Chicken Fish and Fartcoin.
Aside from an executive decree to end PCR testing of chickens (and hence eggflation), I’d like to see Trump do his part to end the TSA. But alas, this isn’t even up for discussion. Incidentally, both Trump and Elon warned us that his tariffs would bring “some pain” (Trump’s words) and, more ominously, “temporary hardship” (Elon’s words). It would appear we’re about to see these prophecies come true.
‘If – a year or three from now – eggs do cost $10 a dozen and a push mower that cost $150 costs $400 – Trump will be as popular as Biden was last year.’ — eric
Whether due to more inflation or to a grinding recession, Trump is set up to be a fall guy. He is Hoover II, waiting for the ax to fall.
Hoover translated a book from Latin — De Re Metallica, by Georgius Agricola. Trump read one: Bill Clinton’s immortal How To Become a Gigolo.
Biden — and every predecessor of Biden’s back to Peckerwood Wilson — destroyed sound money. Now here we are, $36 trillion in debt and paying over one trillion Biden bucks in annual debt service.
Inflate … or implode? Death … or oogaboogah?
Some clown in Sacramento was dragged into court
He shot his lawnmower, it disobeyed; it wouldn’t start
Might makes right, it’s the American way
They fined him sixty dollars and sent him on his way
You know, some people don’t take no shit
Maybe if they did, they’d have half a brain left
— Dead Kennedys, A Child and His Lawnmower
>some people don’t take no shit
Well, if you don’t take shit, how are you going to top up your brain, genius?
Every substance has a vapor pressure, you know…
Everything will go up ‘Bigtime’. They are printing 1 trillion every 90-100 days. $10 per dozen might end up being a decent price. Eggs were $0.21 cents per dozen in 1900 according to this link.
Not considered by many is the prevailing wage which at the time was around $2 per day.
https://www.reference.com/history-geography/much-did-things-cost-1900-9e40559daa251473
That $2 per day was 8 silver quarters, so on that measure about $240 per day. About $31.58 per hour, though in 1900 the work day was at least 10 hours. Call it $65k/year.
Likewise at $0.21/dozen those eggs were about 26.50.
Unfortunately, all the gains get sucked up by income, property, gas, etc taxes to the tune of about 75% when all is said and done.
8 silver quarters is only ~$50 today.
Whoops you’re right, a silver quarter is about .24 oz of silver so about 7.50, 8 quarters is about $60. And the dozen eggs would have been about $6 based on that.
Guy down the road puts free range eggs in the cooler at a couple of gas stations, just raised his price: $5.00 per doz.
The going rate has been $3 per doz. for quite some time.
Small town rural areas, not big city.
Hey Jim,
I almost referenced that song myself. 🙂
But will “Social Security” keep up with the real rate of inflation?
Unlikely.
When eggs double in price, from $5/doz to $10/doz, da gummint will say that is 2% inflation, and adjust SS benefitz accordingly. Hey, 2%, times 2, what’s the diff, eh?
And that, boyz and gutlz, is how da gummint plans to “fix” Social Security.
>boyz and gutlz
boyz and gurls.
Sorry.
Eggs are already ten bucks in the store by me, with a limit of two. The nice egg lady down the street sells them for seven, limit four. I do think your idea about a French dozen is on the way. European butter already exists. I think its twelve ounces
A ban on property taxes would indeed be quite “capital”, but does the federal government have such power? Doubtful, as property taxes are a local matter.
Suppose prices double. And, in the same timeframe, suppose everyone’s paycheck also doubles.
If it actually worked like that, there would be nothing to complain about. No one wins, no one loses, life goes on.
But if it actually worked like that, there would be no point in inflating anything. Lots of effort to get nowhere.
It only works if someone gets all of the new money before everyone else does, so that they get to spend it before prices can catch up to the fact that all of a sudden there’s more money chasing the same amount of goods and services. Let’s say Bob gets all of it. First Bob pockets a bunch, which he will put into the stock market, to hedge against the inflation Bob knows is coming down the pike. Stock prices rise. Then Bob buys a bunch of real estate, another hedge. Home prices go up, now everyone starts to feel a little pinch. Then he buys a bunch of luxury cars to fill up his new garage, car prices go up. Then medicines, energy, groceries, all the necessaries. Waaaay down the chain, a couple years later some of that money hits your paycheck, disguised as a “promotion.” Surprise! You’re doing more work, for less money. Rinse, lather, repeat for about 50 years. Bob won big time, you are just barely hanging on.
That’s what we’ve done to this country. We fucked over everyone, for the sake of a handful of people who basically did nothing but stand there waiting for handouts.
Inflation makes debt easier to pay off. That $1200/month mortgage payment that took a serious chunk of your $4K/month income is quite a bit less of your $8K/month “COLA” raise. Since most borrowers don’t have variable interest loans inflation helps them. Of course if you have no debt inflation doesn’t help you at all.
My parents took out a 30 year $10,000 mortgage at something like 3.5% in 1968. That worked out to something like $200/month. In the 1970s and 80s inflation and COLA raises in the union contracts meant dad got automagic raises just for showing up. By the end of the 1980s that mortgage payment was probably less then he spent on gasoline or food.
My parents took out a 30 year $10,000 mortgage at something like 3.5% in 1968.
BS
Mortgage rates weren’t anywhere near 3.5% in 1968
And what is the COLA you speak of. No one has gotten a COLA raise from $4k/month to $8k/month.
Real wages have declined since the 60’s.
Sheesh!
Most people don’t even get a COLA raise, unless there’s a union contract involved.
You get a measly 2-3% “merit raise,” and that’s a good year.
If you want a raise that almost keeps pace with inflation you have to either net a promotion, or jump ship every 2-3 years.
1970s steel workers got COLAs
I will eat a little crow here and concede that according to FRED data the prime rate could have been abound 3.5% in early 60’s to 1965.
However a mortgage would still typically be some 50-200 basis points higher depending on bank, credit worthiness, down payment, etc.
What sorta human gets a raise because prices go up?
But if you use the money to pay off debt it is a different beast. Inflation makes your debt cheaper and you get to pay it off with current dollars.