This is inflation. The air was already there and then someone turned on a blowtorch and heated it, the balloon went up scaring the passengers who are all of us.
Inflation is when prices go up for bad reasons. And it
scares the daylights out of us, even though many are making more money now,
especially compared with the height of the pandemic when jobs fell like
hailstones.
Six percent-plus since a year ago. It’s scary, also
for bad reasons. The rate is astonishing compared with any 12 consecutive months
since 1990. But what’s scarier is the reaction.
Deficit hawks have been cawing for years that this would
happen. Then they stopped, pausing for the four years of the most recent
previous presidency, when the government spent jillions on idiot projects like
wall-building. Yes, the hawks forgot to caw for four years. Now they’re
at it again.
But the really scary part is not the wage price balance or
even the six percent figure. The really scary part is what people
masquerading as experts are saying about it.
Around the clock on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Bloomberg TV, the
un-masked masked men and women are saying “we told you so.” Yes, you did. But
you were either lying or just trying to scare us. THIS inflation has
little to do with government spending.
It has to do with the pandemic and its effects on the supply
chain. It has to do with our crazed need to not make anything much within
our own borders.
The ships are backed up like a crowd of rap fans at a
Houston stadium, poised to crush one another in a rush to the front. Your
new car, your new iPad and your new spring outfits are languishing aboard ships
thisclose to the port and going nowhere.
When those few ships finally manage to unload, there are no
trucks on which to load the stuff and no drivers to bring it to a store near
you. The gasoline cartel has the vapors. That means more price increases.
All this will shake itself out, eventually. Sane people will
lower prices. Sane employers will continue to raise wages, and everything will
normalize though possibly at a higher cost for everything to every one.
Meantime, talking heads perched atop empty suits will
continue to do their best to scare you. We’ve been here before. Just not
for a long time. We’ve seen everything go up. We’ve seen it come down or
at least normalize and balance.
Yes, it’s tough out there, wherever your “there” is. Yes,
interest rates rise along with everything else. But once the boats
unload, the trucks arrive along with their drivers, it’ll all work out.
Meantime, avoid the talking heads. Deprive them of their pleasure to drive you
nuts.
And ignore the politicians. Whatever they say, their
goal is to keep you frightened and themselves on your payroll.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my own but you’re welcome
to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WR 2021
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