Ah yes, our run away hyperinflation that we hear so much of on these threads --straight out of 'shadowstats':
It's a crock. There is no inflation -hyper or non-hyper- and that's the point of the article. We've got a very serious threat of deflation --far worse than inflaion-- something brutally clear with the collapse of comodity prices.
The official numbers are a crock, of course, excluding food and energy as they do [not to mention equities]. The Shadowstats figures of around 7% or 8% are probably pretty good.
That isn't "run away hyperinflation" to be sure, but 7% or 8% price inflation is very damaging. Tell me, why do you defend pumping money into the country that no one had to work for or produce something tangible for?
Citizens and businesses must work to earn money [unless, of course, they're on welfare and someone else works in their place]. When the Fed prints more money and gives it to the banks to spend, it is expecting that these dollars created out of nothing compete for goods and services with the same money we had to get up in the morning and work for.
The money we had to mortgage our houses to start a new business with.
The money we had socked away for retirement or maybe a house.
The money we buy groceries with.
The new money now competes with ours and drives prices higher. How can you possibly defend that?
“We’ve got a very serious threat of deflation —far worse than inflaion— something brutally clear with the collapse of comodity prices. “
That is true for now, however, should interest rates rise, watch out. It could swing wild in either direction. My take is there is already less demand and so as supply continues to try to stay afloat, or else businesses would fold, prices will have to continue to come down. Once interest rates cross the chart where business have failed and supply dwindles, prices will skyrocket. Just my take, nothing concrete.
Some things I have noticed have come down in price in significant portions and others have gone up considerably. It seems hit and miss even within markets like food stuffs and consumer products.