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”…
Back in December, I wrote: To some extent, then, I see the American economy going into the new year as a race between two factors: one is the squeeze on…
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).…
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…
Yesterday, I wrote about how “supply shocks” can generate inflation independently of whatever the central bank might be doing to the money supply. A classic example is the “oil shock”…
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…
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…
On Sunday, I wrote about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), “the largest U.S. banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis and the second-largest ever.” Depositors with up to…
On Friday regulators shuttered Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and seized its deposits in the largest U.S. banking failure since the 2008 financial crisis and the second-largest ever. We shouldn’t be…
The last three years or so have seen the death of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). This is a theory that starts with a banal observation — that a government that…
Recognizing important economic relationships allowed us to see inflation coming back in 2021. Today, they strongly suggest a sharp slowing of inflation ahead.
Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released data showing that the United States economy added 263,000 jobs in November. Some, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, saw this as unequivocally good news:…
“What I shall argue”, writes Lorenzo Forni in The Magic Money Tree, “is that the main principles of economics remain unchanged; it is only the circumstances in which they operate…
If you cleared $1,661 in your semi-monthly paycheck on November 1, 2021 (the take home for the average salary in Minnesota), then, thanks to inflation, you would need to clear…
While writing a recent post about how Minnesota’s economic growth is below average, I was struck by the diverging post-COVID-19 growth rates of our neighbors. As Figure 1 shows, from…