I was on the Jon Justice Show last Thursday to talk about why I think preemption is a bad idea and why inflation is running ‘hot’ again and why that’s…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced today that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased — the rate of inflation — by 0.4% in March, which matches February’s number for another “hot”…
Last week, PBS reported: President Joe Biden is going all-in on calling out “shrinkflation.” The term applies to a seemingly covert way for companies to raise prices by ever so…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced today that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased — the rate of inflation — by 0.4% in February. This is the fastest rate…
Americans have had their incomes hit hard by inflation over the last three years, as Figure 1 shows, with the annual change in the Consumer Price Index rising from 1.4%…
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its numbers for inflation in November. They showed inflation rising from October’s rate of 0.0% to a 0.1% increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).…
For a few months now, a common theme in the local media is that the inflation rate in the Twin Cities is lower than in comparable metropolitan areas. In October,…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its numbers for inflation in October today and they showed inflation slowing from September’s rate of 0.4% to 0.0%, or no change in the Consumer…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its numbers for inflation in September today: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted…
As inflation has spiked over the last three years, I’ve often quoted the economist Milton Friedman, who argued that: Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon in the sense…
Price floors and ceilings — Minimum wages and rent controls Public policymakers often intervene in economies using “price floors,” such as government-mandated minimum wages, or “price ceilings,” like rent controls.…
Not long ago, policymakers like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were enamored of something called Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). This theory starts with a banal observation — that a government that issues the currency its debts…
Back in May, Reuters ran an article asking: “Why is UK inflation so high and how do other countries compare?” The authors offered various possible explanations for high inflation in…
A recent CNN article said: After two years of surging prices, economists still can’t agree on what has caused the world’s worst inflation crisis in decades. While the usual culprits…
In November, I looked at where inflation might be headed and suggested that “The answer is ‘down,’ and perhaps reasonably sharply.” Looking at it again in January, I saw “a…
Yesterday, the Star Tribune reported that “the 50 largest public companies in the state [ranked] by revenue…saw revenue increase 7% to a total of $750.7 billion” in 2022. But, as…