Inflation

The lumber for my deck took six weeks to find and cost 5x as much as pre-pandemic. Groceries are up huge; drink prices up 20% at Desires and some of the dancers want $100 tip for a hand job.

This is because employers have to pay lazy employees to sit at home hising from a pandemic which is all but over. This is what the democrat party wants more of. Make those of who want to work carry the water for their base of lazy communists.

^
the $100 hand jobbie is not general inflation. it is a special price for grumpy old men that bore the strippers with their political rants. if u stopped that shit u could get the standard $40 handjobbie

your welcome

There is currently a shortage of Independent Truck Drivers. Many drivers with 30 years experience retired during the Pandemic.

^^^ yeah I know, trucks were even an issue BEFORE the pandemic, it’s just getting worse. Trucking can be a good paying job but it’s a lonely and hard one. God bless the men and women that do it.

2 of my independent operator friends sold their trucks, bought dump trucks and now work local. Better money, benefits and home every night. Sucky side is no more weekday golf.

Living in California, I saw gas ranging from $4.49 for regular to $4.89 for premium. It's a good thing we got all that oil production shut down.

Some of this is transitional. We shut suppliers down last year and now they are going online.

Some of this is the Fed keeping rates too low, and their bond purchases too high, for too long. The outrageously low mortgage rates are a symptom.

Some of this is stupid laws including too generous unemployment, energy restrictions, and helicopter cash drops from the government.

@skibum, Desire is supply and demand, with such a shortage of girls all extras have gone way up in price.

Last night was a shopper's market. Never seen so few customers on a night shift.

Private sector greed. Pandemic price gouging.

So many factors - nobody could argue any reasoning brought up in this thread. Companies can’t get supplies to build or complete their products, companies that had items that sat on shelves and were heavily discounted are now flying off shelves at full price, those dudes aren’t going to be discounting anything for a long time.

I’ve bought so little in the past year it’s seems like a bog deal when I buy something now. I just walked into a WalMart because I needed some crappy tools, entire section is empty. Amazing...

Trucking issues is also gonna put pressure on gas prices - heard someone on TV that there are issues getting the necessary gasoline supplies to gas-stations bc of trucking issues - and as fuel prices increase so do most other things

Inflation across the board will continue as long as the feds continue to give away free money.

Give a stimulus check to damn near everyone? Prices will go up .

Have heard some arguments through the years advocating for socially conscious consuming. Basically, buying fewer goods but what you do buy is higher quality. Better for workers and better for the environment. If that ends up happening, then at least imo there is a silver lining.

But I also agree with others about the money printer out of control.

$40 standard for lap dances is coming to a theater near you

You can't dial up inflation in measured doses. The money spigot has been wide open for some time. Trump's tax cuts weren't necessary and now Biden wants to throw another $6T into the economy.

The left is touting it's "modern monetary theory" insanity, which is just a flimsy justification to spend like a drunken sailor.

It isn't written into natural law that the USD will always be the world's reserve currency.

Tax cuts are great. Tax increases suck, unless you don’t pay taxes anyway and just want the guberment to have more of other people’s money to spend and give any (in exchange for votes)

Tax cuts designed to expire and that you actually have to pay back now are in fact not good and really dumb. Especially when said tax cuts for business was made permanent, but not for individuals. Very dumb idea.

Ammo prices are up. When you can find any.

I could wax poetically how back in the 80s I used to get an 8 course meal with 25 at Crab House or Rascal House for $5. I wonder how much that deal would run nowadays. Alas, my typical meals now of fruit cup and tapioca pudding have stayed steady in pricing- same with adult diapers.

^^^ yes good point but... I think of cars. My brother bought a 1 year old used corvette in the 80s for $14k. What would a year old used corvette be today? $65k?

Yesterday is always better.

You guys are old as dirt. $5 seafood and 5cent wings? Sounds like the great depression era.

Something will have to be done. Price controls are going to be needed or poverty will drastically increase

May 2 I ordered a Hibachi pot through Amazon. After I placed the order they gave me a delivery date of June 1-22. I just checked the tracking by 4PK and got this

May 05 2021 06:29 am

Depart from facility to service provider.
深东凤岗仓

Had I known this was coming from China, I wouldn't have ordered it.

You can still cancel the order.

Detroit strippers are raising their prices. That's the only inflation I care about.

As long as the government is passing trillion dollar relief packages inflation will grow. Small business 101 is budgeting and you have to spend less than you make to be successful. Raising corporate taxes sounds great but businesses simply pass those increases on to the customers through higher prices.

There has been an increase in local Indianapolis strip club prices. Two clubs went from $20 dollar lap dances to $25 lap dances and that seems to be the new standard in town. The dancers in these clubs are feeling the pressure of higher prices on their personal budgets and are wanting higher incomes to offset that.

When the inflation gets out of control, price controls will be put in place at the demand of voters. That will lead to shortages of whatever is subjected to a price control since there will be little incentive for a business to provide a good or service if they are selling at a loss. That will be followed either by rationing or, in many cases, total unavailability of the desired good except on the black market at a much higher price.

And yet, monthly employment just had a downside surprise. Rising inflation. Higher unemployment. Well, that’s a bad combination.

^ Stock market is up. Whatever the downside surprise was, it wasn't as bad as the street thought it would be. I'm happy.

Shadowcat, go to dhgate.com instead of amazon... you can buy direct from China and cut out the middle man

At this point, bad unemployment news is good for the stock market. Bad jobs data means low interest rates, which is good for stocks. As a retiree who lives off investments, that’s good news for me. For people still working, or trying to work, not so good.

Do you want to know what happens when Congress spends money like drunken sailors, and the Fed keeps interest rates too low ? It’s called the 1970s. Here’s a summary of what to expect:

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/ec…

"Prepare to pay more for your favorite chicken sandwich"


"... Zenput works with restaurants and food stores helping them comply with safety regulations at more than 50,000 locations nationwide. Rikhter told Yahoo Finance Live, his clients will soon raise prices ..."

"... Restaurant chains, before the pandemic, were able to purchase chicken at roughly $1.30 a pound, according to Rikhter. "But they're starting to see prices that are two to $2.20 a pound instead," he said ..."

"... Wingstop Chief Financial Officer Michael Skipworth recently told Yahoo Finance the chain saw prices for bone-in wings rise 25.8% last quarter but that was lower than the 50% competing chains were paying ..."

"... Restaurant owners tell Rikhter the increased prices and a shortage of employees are cutting into profit margins. "Not to mention, they've got increased labor costs as well right, a $15 minimum wage, not a lot of folks that are currently in the market looking for new jobs and this is putting immense pressure on these places," ..."

"... "The shortage on the supply, on the labor side and the supply of certain products is causing them a lot of strife," ..."

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/prepare-t…

I don’t think the 15 dollar minimum wage is much of a factor the majority of minimum wage jobs can be sourced to different types of robots and the cost starts to make them efficient
I do believe the enhanced benefits hurt as much as they help,
I think the manufacturing chain will smooth out eventually and the supplies will return to the normal levels once the managers and estimators get used to the new reality
Some things will change permanently as scaled economic growth is normalized for cost savings
We have a bit of digging out to do, but we’ll get to where we want to go.

The 70s. Sex before aids

During the 1970s, a period of high unemployment and high inflation, most traditional investments performed poorly. Bonds were decimated, the stock market dropped in half in real dollar terms, and most residential real estate underperformed.

What worked ? At the top of the list is farm land. Residential real estate also did well in areas seeing population growth ( back then, it was California ). Gold and other precious metals held their value.

Incidentally, Bill Gates is the biggest owner of farmland in the US. Does he know something we don’t ?

the monthly gain in core inflation, which was just announced, was the largest since 1981.

^ the stock market took as ass whooping on that news

Inflation occurs when too much money chases too few goods. Lockdowns plus dumping money into the economy is just that.

Elections have consequences.....

This has been a disaster in the making since 2008. The Fed bowing under political pressure continued down the road of absurdly low interest rates and then whent totally bonkers last year (...and the president at that time was dissapointed more was not spent). Now with limited manufacturing martial and demand being fueled by further fiat printing and populace returning to work conditions it could get wild in the short to medium run.

Higher unemployment, higher crime, and higher inflation

But hey at least they're focusing on people using the "right pronouns"

"... Elections have consequences ..."

Not when you can steal them - otherwise the Dems wouldn't be doing what they're doing - polls, as tilted as some may be by over-sampling Dems, still polls show most people not down with the Dems' agenda yet the Dems are doubling-down and in my mind it's bc they feel "there won't be consequences" bc they can rig elections as needed - all this chaos plays into the hands of the left in their attempt to overthrow and replace the American system of a free Republic and free markets

Papi you realize you sound pretty nutty. This is a thread about inflation and not about altered reality.

It's all connected

I don't see the current administration doing anything to improve the economy if anything they seem to be purposely making it worse

Meh. Both parties have sent us down that path. I don't see voting for either party getting us out of this mess. But I can tell you the old school Republicans were our best hope but they are dwindling fast.

Look at this situation like bad weather. You can bitch about it or you can build a house that can withstand it or even profit from it.

Just call it greed price gouging profiteering during a pandemic. Lets not shy away from reality. In tuscl speak the business sector is the biggest ROB

^ Or call it "keeping the lights on." Amazon and Wal Mart have economies of scale and can sell cheap, mom and pop shops don't.

That's their problem. If they can't stay in business without being ROBs let them fail. Thats capitalism

"... Just call it greed price gouging profiteering during a pandemic ..."

Free markets increase competition and decrease prices - the more government control of the economy the worst results

Only socialists/communists think that the government telling businesses how they should operate is a good idea

"That's their problem. If they can't stay in business without being ROBs let them fail. Thats capitalism"

^ Super, you've just crushed a ton of small businesses and jacked up unemployment. Were you high the day they taught economics at pimp school?

No they ran themselves out of business with their practices. Its not our obligation to make sure some dumbass can make a living off cheap labor and extortive prices

Unfounded, ignorant opinion. Who are you to say what people can and can't charge. Look up the disastrous history of price controls, going back to Rome.

You're touting right wing extremist bs. Its not our obligation to support or feel sorry for business owners who use cheap labor and high prices to extort the workforce and community. Defending such practices is unfounded and ignorant.

A lot of businesses will go under bc of government intervention in the economy not bc of normal market forces

Unless government changes course, which doesn't look like it's gonna happen, this is likely only the beginning w.r.t. inflation and other economic issues

Its too easy to print money my friends. Governments have the easy button in the fed and know I am not a fan

They'll go down for low wages and high prices

A free market can find the equilibrium b/w profit and salaries a lot better than the government can - government intervention is what's gonna lead to fewer jobs and higher prices

A free market is what's best for workers; not shithead politicians that have never ran a business

Soo vote for Ron Paul

Here’s how government has helped so far:
- locked down the economy
- paid unemployment benefits at levels so high it would be foolish to take service job
- printed money at levels guaranteed to cause inflation
- taken hundreds of billions in taxes from well managed states and given it to states which are horribly managed
- crushed the energy industry
- reestablished job killing regulations

Don’t tell me it’s the free market that is causing problems. As always, it’s government that is fucking things up.

Soo vote for Ron Paul

^ Or, Donald Trump.

The problem is capitalist greed

Businesses depress wages and raise prices to increase short term profits

The CPI for April just came out. It was .8 percent. That's the biggest monthly increase since 1981, forty years ago. So far in the first four months of this year there has been 2 percent inflation overall. The Fed target was 2 percent for the whole year. We could easily reach 10 percent or more for this entire year.

“ Businesses depress wages”

Actually, if you ask any businessman to list his biggest challenge, it would be finding and hiring qualified employees. There are 8 million jobs available right now, at good wages, for engineers, nurses, machinists, electricians, plumbers, and hundreds of other categories requiring some technical training or experience. Anyone with an average IQ, discipline, and good work ethic can develop skills that lead to a solid living wage. But, there aren’t any career paths for people who declare themselves victims because they enjoy sitting on a couch all day.

Here are some jobs in high demand that typically require a 2 year degree or 2 years of VoTec.

Radiation Therapist $80,000
Dental Hygienist $74,000
Web Developer $68,000
Medical Sonographer $60,000
MRI Technologist $60,000
Respiratory Therapist $59,000
Telecom Installer $54,000
Paralegal $50,000
HVAC installer $46,000

Housings costs in California vs Texas provide a good comparison of the free market versus government intervention.

For decades, California has tightly controlled where housing can be built, who can build it, how they can build it, who they can sell to, and what can be done with the house once it’s built. Plus, they’ve taxed every step in the process. All in the name of affordability and fairnes. The result is $500,000 shoe box sized homes in crummy school districts with horrible roads.

Texas pretty much let’s anyone build whatever they want. The result is nice family homes for $300,000 with good schools, good roads, and low taxes.

Also, what happened in March when it snowed

Feb rather

^ are you referring to those environmentally sensitive windmills the government required ? More government incompetence, this time in Texas.

Lol right the windmills I remember that shit

^ ICEE has obviously never taken an economics class in his life. Likely he read a little Huffington Post, watched a little YouTube, and fancies himself an economist. Can't back up a single point with data, only his unfounded opinions of what is "right."

California spent $320 Billion and says it can’t disclose, or track, where any of it went. The solution to our problems is not more government.

https://www.realclearpolicy.com/articles…

Here’s another example of how the government uses our money. One where Republicans and Democrats share the blame.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. As The Hill describes it, “A projected cost over $1.7 trillion. A fighter jet that exhibits everything from structural cracks to cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Twenty years in development — and it still can’t shoot straight and is rarely ready to fly when it is needed.” Of course it’s still being funded.

That’s $1.7 Trillion. Not Million. Not even Billion. A Trillion on something that is so dysfunctional that most are grounded for maintenance. That works out to about $10,000 for every adult in America.

That’s our government spending our money.

The topic here is business owners utilizing cheap labor and high prices to maximize their short term profits

^ No , the topic is inflation but, I’ll bite. Do you know what strategy business uses to find cheap labor ? Immigration. That goes a long way to explaining why the Left is now the party of big business while the Trump party is fast becoming the party of the multi-racial working class and middle class.

You forgot high speed rail connecting all of Death Valley.

Cheap labor ......hiring Americans for part time positions at low wages no benefits

^ No, ICEE, the topic is inflation, the cause of which is too much money chasing too few goods. Hence the title of the thread.

Take your Adderall and stop complaining about your minimum wage job at the Kwik-E-Mart.

Here’s how it works. Minimum wage jobs are staffed entirely by
1. Teenagers in their first jobs
2. Illegal immigrants
3. People too lazy or undisciplined to acquire employable skills

If you are in the third category, don’t blame others for your personal failings. Get off your ass, stop whining, and find an internship in the trades or enroll in a community college.

That's not true. Youre saying its okay for businesses to pay unlivable wages because employees are undeserving. We've moved past Calvinism and the protestant work ethic bs.

For 20 years, we’ve had an education system that views its role as indoctrinating students into a certain view of society while assuring them they deserve good grades, high pay, and fame without ever raising a sweat or taking a risk.

Heaven help us.

ICEE, society owes you nothing. Business owners owe you nothing. The only way to make money is if you earn it. Did your parents not explain that to you ?

Our society is based on an exchange of goods or services in a manner that benefits both parties. For workers, they exchange their labor and skills for currency. If they have no skills, and are allergic to labor, life will not go well for them. That’s called bad luck.

There is an implied social contract. Also unsustainable development leads to unsustainability as were seeing

“There is an implied social contract.”

To do what ? Have the rest of us work so you can have free weed and cable ?

“Also unsustainable development leads to unsustainability as were seeing”

What the fuck does this mean ?

The "implied social contract" is "you don't work, you don't eat." No one is forcing you to work a certain job.

The $15 minimum wage should be called the Robot Full Employment Act.

Unemployment insurance is earned based on previous earnings and is not a handout.

You can't have a consumer society without consumers btw

Unemployment benefits are not a life long pension for the lazy. They are specifically designed as a short term bridge between jobs for those able and willing to work.

They're designed to keep people afloat before they find suitable employment not part time minimum wage slavery

"... The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. As The Hill describes it, “A projected cost over $1.7 trillion. A fighter jet that exhibits everything from structural cracks to cybersecurity vulnerabilities. ..."

I think part of the problem w/ the F-35 is trying to design a jack-of-all-trades - these things often result in "a jack of all trades is a master of none"

“ suitable employment”

= my mommy told me I’m a special person who deserves fame and fortune. Until then, you peasants must fund my desired lifestyle.

Our lefty politicians "at work for the economy":


"Thanks To Andrew Cuomo’s Eco-Extremism, New York Is Importing Fuel From Russia"

For eight years, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has capitulated to the eco-left. From preventing the construction of needed pipelines to banning fracking, he has implemented an extreme environmentalist agenda.

Now, the consequences of those decisions are hitting New York residents hard.

Earlier this year, we told you how New York is facing shortages of natural gas, even though it has plentiful shale reserves and shares a border with Pennsylvania, a state that also has shale reserves. As the Wall Street Journal noted, “The reason for the shortage is obvious: The Cuomo administration has repeatedly blocked or delayed new pipeline projects. As a Con Ed spokesman put it, there is a ‘lot of natural gas around the country, but getting it to New York has been the strain.’”

It seems New York has a partial solution – import liquefied natural gas from Russia.

That’s right, instead of permitting pipelines and fracking to get access to domestic natural gas, New York is importing energy from across the world – and from a geopolitical rival to boot.

https://powerthefuture.com/thanks-to-and…

The real problem with large military projects is they are jobs programs, not military programs. The work is divided up into component work that is spread among districts of key congressman and senators. They are told:

“ If you vote approval, we guarantee 500 high paying jobs in your district for as long as you are in congress. Plus, we’ll make sure all our managers contribute the maximum to your campaign.”

That’s why military programs never die.

"Chipotle Raises Minimum Wage To $15 An Hour"

https://www.aol.com/chipotle-raises-mini…


I wonder if they'll be able to maintain their current prices?

Is this 2ICEE character an alias of SJG? They speak with the same tongue, and maybe SJG just reincarnated himself as 2ICEE.

^ SJG, while a raving lunatic who posted every YouTube video he watched at the public library, at least sounded like he had a triple digit IQ (albeit with severe psychoses). ICEE, on the other hand, always sounds stoned off his ass.

Both have climbed high on the Top 40 Members Ignored list by having the moral sophistication of a sheltered 15-year-old, as well as dispensing unsolicited advice on how to club. I'm sure both would break into hives if they ever touched an economics textbook.

Is ICEE actually Alexandria Ocasio Cortez ?

^ I got a feeling @Icee is a card-carrying member of the communist party

From the “ either way we’re screwed” opinion page

“The Federal Reserve continues to pump trillions of dollars of liquidity into the US economy by purchasing US Treasury securities, financing most of the US budget deficit, now running at a peacetime record of 15% of gross domestic product (GDP).

That leaves the Fed painted into a corner. If it raises interest rates to suppress inflation, the cost of financing the deficit will rise drastically. If it does nothing, eventually the market will force interest rates up, with the same effect.

Federal payments now make up 34% of all personal spending in the US, an all-time record. Ultimately the Treasury will have to cut back, leading to a sharp reduction in spending and an economic recession.”