Tag Archives: inflation

economic news, medical news

POTUSes can’t always control inflation

Presidents never deserve all the credit they take for economic growth, nor do they deserve all the blame for when economic conditions head south. Thus, Joe Biden doesnā€™t deserve to be pilloried for the inflation that is ravaging our economy; for that matter, neither did Donald Trump deserve it when he was in office.

President Bidenā€™s poll numbers continue to sag partly ā€” or perhapsĀ largelyĀ ā€” because of inflationary pressure being felt in millions of American homes. Sure, there are other factors contributing to Bidenā€™s falling poll numbers.

How can a president control some issues, such as the ā€œsupply chainā€ matter that has affected the economy in light of the coronavirus pandemic? I have no answer to that one, but it doesnā€™t seem to matter to Americans who today are blaming Joe Biden for all the fiscal ailments they are feeling.

I want to be clear: I have been highly critical of Donald Trumpā€™s initial response to the pandemic, but my criticism of the former president had nothing to do with the economic pressure that mounted prior to the 2020 presidential election. Therefore, while presidents can takeĀ someĀ credit for economic success and must acceptĀ someĀ blame for economic failure, some matters are beyond even their control.

President Biden promises that inflation will relent by the end of this year. I hope he is right ā€¦ although I do wonder if he has the power to make such a pledge.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

business news

You want inflation? Try this!

Once in a while I get reminded of how I remember life as a youngster and how the cost of doing routine business bears no resemblance to what I used know in the good ol’ days.

I went this morning to McDonald’s to buy some breakfast for my wife and me. I ordered an Egg McMuffin meal and a Sausage McMuffin meal. The cost of my order came to $15.98.

No big deal, right? Right!

Except that as I pulled away and drove back home, I recalled a transaction I made in 1968.

I was working at a McDonald’s in Portland, Ore. It was in late May of ’68. I was at the counter taking orders and a couple of young people with “Robert Kennedy for President” buttons on their shirts walked up to me and ordered 100 hamburgers.

Yep. One hundred hamburgers!

We served them the burgers and they paid $18 for all of ’em.

That order today would cost $109 … plus tax!

Just sayin’, man.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

 

 

economic news

Brickbats go with the bouquets

The Financial Times believes President Biden must understand he needs to take responsibility for the inflation that has plaguing the nation.

The London-based publication wrote this: Biden has promised to ā€œbuild back betterā€ after the coronavirus pandemic. His big spending has already helped to deliver a historic recovery, with US national income back at a level above its pre-pandemic peak. The challenge will now become harder: to demonstrate he can deliver higher living standards without jeopardising his pledge to tackle climate change.

The Financial Times notes as well that President Carter will be marked indelibly by the inflation that consumed his single term in office. Yes, there was that and the Iranian hostage crisis of 1979-81. The Times is correct, though, to project that Biden faces potential defeat in 2024 if he doesn’t sidle up to the issue now before it gets totally out of control.

I am not sure how much of the inflation issue is a direct result of presidential policies. He did inherit that pandemic and the “supply chain” crisis that has developed while the nation seeks to subvert the coronavirus.

It’s happening on President Biden’s watch. He cannot forestall a solution simply by blaming his predecessor.

Let’s get busy, Mr. President.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Shut up, Rep./Dr. Jackson

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ronny Jackson is making me very angry.

By all rights I shouldn’t really give a crap what this former physician and current congressman representing the Texas Panhandle thinks … except that I do. I used to live in the district this bozo now represents.

Jackson has adopted Twitter — in the mold of Donald J. Trump — as his primary bullhorn to spout nonsense. His most recent tweet now contends that because of inflation and rising fuel prices President Biden is marching this nation toward being a “Third World country.”

Good grief, dude.

The inflation is a result of pent up demand being released on shortened supply caused by the COVID pandemic. We are vaccinating more Americans than ever; infection rates are declining; so are death and hospitalization rates. Isn’t that cause for celebration … doc? Hmm?

Get the hell off the partisan clown car, Rep. Jackson and look more realistically at the big picture.

economic news, national news

POTUS punished for good deeds?

3 Comments

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It really must be true that “no good deed goes unpunished.”

Consider the following:

President Biden took office in January as the nation was struggling to cope with the COVID pandemic. He promised tens of millions of vaccines in his first 100 days. He succeeded gloriously in outpacing that projection.

Then came a surge in consumer demand of supplies they couldn’t purchase because of restrictions caused by the pandemic. The worldwide supply chain has been strained as manufacturers struggle to meet the immense demand.

The punishment comes in the form of inflation that now has the White House troubled by the impact of that huge demand and the still-limited supply.

The Hill reports:Ā All of those factors combined to push the consumer price index (CPI)Ā up 0.8 percentĀ in April and 4.2 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest annual rate since 2008, the Labor Department reported this past week. When stripping out the more volatile prices for food and energy, the index registered the biggest monthly increase since 1982.

While the ramped-up consumer spending is a sign of increased optimism, the Biden administration faces political risks as Americans find themselves dealing with inflation levels that the country hasn’t seen in more than a decade.

Inflation fears grow for White House (msn.com)

Joe Biden is a seasoned political hand. He knows he will get pilloried for the inflation. There is no way on God’s good Earth he is going to apologize for the accelerated vaccine distribution and vaccination rates that have contributed to the “crisis” resulting in the inflationary pressure.

economic news

Fed chairman feels POTUS’s wrath

Donald Trump has crumpled up yet another presidential custom and tossed it into the nearest crapper.

There once was a time when presidents didn’t criticize openly the chair of the Federal Reserve Board. Not this guy. Not this president.

Trump says he “maybe” regrets appointing Jerome Powell as Fed chairman. He gripes that “I’ve got a good economy going” and Powell is wrecking it by raising interest rates, causing the stock market to wobble and then crater.

You see, Trump yet again seems upset that his personal reward from serving in the highest office in the land is being diminished because an economic pro is taking measures commensurate with a healthy economy.

As for the president’s criticism of the Fed chairman, it flies directly in the face of a longstanding custom to shield the Fed from political criticism. Trump doesn’t recognize customs that historically lend dignity to the office.

To think, too, that the president is savaging a chairman who he appointed himself.

Weird, man.

business news

Wealth measurement changes with times

Warren Buffett is now the world’s second-richest man.

The title used to belong to Carlos Slim. Both of these guys trail Bill Gates by a good bit. Several billions of dollars,Ā I think.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/savingandinvesting/buffett-unseats-mexicos-slim-as-worlds-second-richest-person/ar-BBgpiKD

I see these surveys measuring people’s wealth. Gates is worth tens of billions. Same with Buffett and Slim — and whoever else comprises the Top 10 list of richest people on the planet.

Inflation has done a lot of things to the way we measure these matters.

It all reminds me of how much the actual dollar has been devalued over the past, oh, 40 years.

Aristotle Onassis died in 1975. He was a shipping tycoon with merchants ships carrying cargo all around the world. At the time of his death, he was considered one of the world’s top two richest men. I seem to recall it was a see-saw contest between him and a rival Greek shipping magnate, a guy named Stavros Niarcos.

What was Onassis’s wealth at the time of his death? The figure I saw was $500 million.

Good heavens. He was a mere multimillionaire. Onassis’s portfolio amounted to mere chump change when compared to Gates, Buffett and Slim.