Clipmarks | Inflation Clips

Slow Income Growth For Middle America

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:47:50 GMT

clipped by: jklugman
clipper's remarks: Essentially, family incomes are not keeping pace with the productivity of the United States.

Via Mark Thoma

Clip Source: lanekenworthy.net

The following chart tells the story. It shows inflation-adjusted GDP per capita and median family income from 1947 (the earliest year for which the income data are available) to 2007. To facilitate comparison of the over-time trends, each is indexed to its 1973 level. Since the mid-to-late 1970s, growth of income at the median has been slow — very slow — relative to growth of the economy. The current decade, with no improvement at all in median income, is especially striking.

Various excuses and rationalizations have been offered: It’s okay because Americans now get more in employer benefits instead of in their paycheck. Family size has shrunk, so slow income growth isn’t a big deal. A lot of those in the bottom half are immigrants, and even with slow income growth they’re better off than they would have been in their native country. None of these is compelling (see here or here).

Tags: lane kenworthy, income, inequality, gdp

inflation

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:46:05 GMT

clipped by: rmboone

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

WASHINGTON - Americans’ productivity soared in the spring while labor costs declined, two welcome outcomes that should relieve concerns that inflation is getting out of hand.

The Commerce Department reported Thursday that productivity, the amount of output for every hour of work, jumped 4.3 percent at an annual rate in the April-June quarter, a full percentage point higher than economists expected.

At the same time, labor costs fell at an annual rate of 0.5 percent, slightly better than expected.

Why cheaper oil signals trouble

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:24:44 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie
clipper's remarks: Deflation will win over inflation.

But the "good news" will go on until just after the USA election. Then reality will begin to intrude its ugly head, again.

Clip Source: money.cnn.com

Food and energy prices are coming down in part because of a global growth slowdown that could also cool the red hot U.S. export sector - the major bright spot in an economy still struggling with a massive housing bust.

If prices keep sliding, year-over-year inflation numbers - after hitting a 17-year high last month - could soon look much healthier, reducing fears that the Federal Reserve may have to raise interest rates to stamp out rising inflation expectations.

If the growth party is over around the world, the U.S. export boom will quickly fizzle.

A pullback by some of its overseas customers offers the latest bit of unhappy news for the U.S. economy, which this year has continued to grow - if only tepidly - in large measure thanks to slowing imports and rising exports.

The halo effect from exports could already be wearing off.

second-quarter GDP data showed U.S. corporate profits from foreign sources dropped 15% from first-quarter levels, due to softer worldwide economic conditions.

Tags: economy, commodities, i-prices, i-decrease, i-consequences, i-deflation

On Misery and Presidential Elections

Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:58:18 GMT

clipped by: Victoria Barret
clipper's remarks: Inflation and unemployment are two great metrics for understanding how we feel about our economy, and who we'll elect President...

Clip Source: online.wsj.com

As for the political challenge that Mr. McCain faces, look no further than the "misery" spike of 2008. At 5.7% in July, the U.S. jobless rate isn't much worse than it was (5.4%) when Mr. Clinton ran for re-election in 1996. The difference is the rolling 12-month inflation rate, which at 5.6% puts the misery mark at 11.3 -- back to heights not seen since the early 1990s.

Tags: inflation, unemployment, economy, elections

Getting coffee free for long!

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:01:11 GMT

clipped by: fitnessG
clipper's remarks: We love coffee at my house (drink it morning, noon and night). I'm going to find out more, because I'm certain I spend too much on coffee.

Clip Source: www.oncoffeemakers.com

Are you always looking for free coffee samples? So am I! Call it inflation or some "stingy trait" passed on by my old folks, the fact is, everyone loves a good deal! This is no different from cutting coupons to get save a few pennies or waiting for that sale to get that Bialetti coffee maker.

Then, we are not talking about some "not so gourmet" instant coffee, follow the instruction and do it right, you would potentially be able to get free coffee from machines like Keurig and even Saeco.

Hey, this is an ebook about getting free coffee , so if I do not get a free cuppa from you for all those writings, then I probably ain't that good at getting coffee free right?

Tags: free coffee, coffee

The Return of the Robber Barons

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:17:16 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: Another deceit is the measure called “core inflation.” This measure of inflation excludes food and energy, two large components of the average family’s budget. Wall Street and corporations and, therefore, the media emphasize core inflation, because it holds down cost of living increases and interest rates. In the second quarter of this year, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a more complete measure of inflation, increased at an annual rate of 5.2 per cent compared to 2.3 per cent for core inflation.

An examination of how inflation is measured quickly reveals the games played to deceive the American people. Housing prices are not in the index. Instead, the rental rate of housing is used as a proxy for housing prices. More games are played with the goods and services whose prices comprise the weighted market basket used to estimate inflation. If beef prices rise, for example, the index shifts toward lower priced chicken.

Clip Source: www.counterpunch.org

The Return of the Robber Barons

The US economy continues its 21st century decline, even as the Bush Regime outfits B-2 stealth bombers with 30,000 pound monster “bunker buster” bombs for its coming attack on Iran. While profits soar for the armaments industry, the American people continue to take it on the chin

The latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that the real wages and salaries of US civilian workers are below those of 5 years ago. It could not be otherwise with US corporations offshoring good jobs in order to reduce labor costs and, thereby, to convert wages once paid to Americans into multi-million dollar bonuses paid to CEOs and other top management

Who are the Richistanians? They are CEOs who have moved their companies abroad and converted the wages they formerly paid Americans into $100 million compensation packages for themselves

During the Clinton administration, the Boskin Commission rigged the inflation measures

PHNOM PENH PAYING DEARLY FOR RATATOUILLE !

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:46:58 GMT

clipped by: jt3600
clipper's remarks: cows have to take back seat to the new filet mignon on the block , RAT cause when your thing fine dining your thinking filet of rat as your first choice and that would best served with a red wine ! a whole box of wine !

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Rat meat in demand as inflation bites

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.

With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel ($1.28) from 1,200 riel last year.

Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg.

Beaking News

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 17:45:33 GMT

clipped by: Pollock13
clipper's remarks: Lesson plans that include breaking news

Clip Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com

www. Breaking News English .com
EFL / ESL Lesson Plans for Teaching Current Events

The Latest Lesson

2008-08-25: Record-setting Beijing Olympics end
2008-08-22: Poland and U.S. sign missile shield deal
2008-08-19: Australia mayor seeks ‘ugly’ women
2008-08-16: Russian buys world's priciest home
2008-08-13: Scientists can make things invisible
2008-08-10: Georgia calls for ceasefire in South Ossetia
2008-08-07: Japanese cars still most reliable
2008-08-04: Scientists develop pill to replace exercise
2008-08-01: Ex-Thai PM’s wife guilty of tax evasion
2008-07-29: Toxic chemicals found in household products
2008-07-26: PlayStations banned in UK jails
2008-07-23: Radovan Karadzic captured in Serbia
2008-07-20: EU warns of hidden ringtone charges
2008-07-17: Zimbabwe inflation at 2,200,000 per cent
2008-07-14: Scientists use windows to trap solar energy

Comparing $1 From 1914 to $1 from 2007

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:27:58 GMT

clipped by: sahara

Clip Source: www.measuringworth.com

In 1914, $1.00 from 2007 is worth:

	$0.05	using the Consumer Price Index
	$0.06	using the GDP deflator
	$0.02	using the value of consumer bundle
	$0.01	using the unskilled wage
	$0.01	using the nominal GDP per capita
	$0.00	using the relative share of GDP

In 2007, $1.00 from 1914 is worth:

$21.40 using the Consumer Price Index $16.11 using the GDP deflator $44.96 using the value of consumer bundle * $90.83 using the unskilled wage * $124.18 using the nominal GDP per capita $378.51 using the relative share of GDP
* The 2007 data for unskilled wage and consumer bundle are estimated and will be adjusted when official data become available.

Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present

Tags: money, economy, wages, inflation, corpocracy

Pinching pennies like your grandparents

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 12:13:40 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

the skyrocketing cost of everything from cereal to eggs is prompting some Americans to turn to traditional techniques for stretching a dollar or a meal.

The food inflation is clearly affecting American lifestyles. An April survey by market researchers NPD Group found that more than half of adults who described themselves as “financially challenged” were trying to use up leftovers more often and prepare more meals at home than they did a year ago.

Americans are still eating out but are choosing cheaper restaurants

more people are choosing grain-based foods, such as pizza and pasta, over meat-based meals.

Clip Source: www.msnbc.msn.com

For those people who are trying to shop and eat more like their grandparents did, the change in behavior isn’t just a matter of time management. Accustomed to years of drive-through restaurants and pasta in a box, many simply don’t know how to cook from scratch.

Tags: economy, consumers, i-spending, i-decrease, i-consequences

Price of rat meat quadruples in Cambodia this year

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 05:46:33 GMT

clipped by: tommy2balmy
clipper's remarks: Still only quarter the price of beef

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people, officials said on Wednesday.

With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel ($1.28) from 1,200 riel last year.

($1 = 3,900 riel)

Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg.

Officials said rats were fleeing to higher ground from flooded areas of the lower Mekong Delta, making it easier for villagers to catch them.

"Not only are our poor eating it, but there is also demand from Vietnamese living on the border with us."

He estimated that Cambodia supplied more than a tonne of live rats a day to Vietnam.

Rats are also eaten

n Thailand, while a state government in eastern India this month encouraged its people to eat rats in an effort to battle soaring food prices

Tags: rat meat

Superior Economic-Policy Reporting And Writing

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 22:34:48 GMT

clipped by: Brett Nelson
clipper's remarks: This, from Sunday's NYTimes magazine, is the most clear and comprehensive economic-policy piece I've read in awhile. (It even makes the tax code nearly digestible.) Regardless of your political stance, it's worth a look.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The fact that the economy grows — that it produces more goods and services one year than it did in the previous one — no longer ensures that most families will benefit from its growth. For the first time on record, an economic expansion seems to have ended without family income having risen substantially. Most families are still making less, after accounting for inflation, than they were in 2000. For these workers, roughly the bottom 60 percent of the income ladder, economic growth has become a theoretical concept rather than the wellspring of better medical care, a new car, a nicer house — a better life than their parents had.

Tags: obama, deficit, mccain, taxes

Money Supply Contraction

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 19:31:18 GMT

clipped by: everfree

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Sharp US money supply contraction points to Wall Street crunch ahead

On a three-month basis, the M3 growth rate has fallen from almost 19pc earlier this year to just 2.1pc (annualised) for the period from May to July. This is below the rate of inflation, implying a shrinkage in real terms.

The overall debt burden in the US economy is currently at record levels, raising concerns that a recession - if it occurs - could set off a sharp downward spiral.

Household debt is now 131pc of disposable income, compared with 93pc at the top the dotcom bubble, 79pc in the property boom of the late-1980s, and 62pc at the end of the 1970s.

Uncle Joe

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 19:22:09 GMT

clipped by: sillysam

Clip Source: voices.washingtonpost.com

The Case Against Joe Biden

"I've had a great relationship [with Indian Americans]," Biden said. "In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."

Then Neil Kinnock happened. Biden borrowed passages of a speech given by Kinnock, a leader in Britain's Labour Party, without attribution -- a mistake that led to a detailed examination of Biden's public statements that turned up several more examples of potential plagiarism and resume inflation. The feeding frenzy eventually chased the Delaware senator from the race.

in response to a question about where he went to law school and what sort of grades he received, delivered this classic line: "I think I have a much higher IQ than you do."

Biden, by his own admission, has the capacity to fall in love with his own voice and wander off on tangents about his life that have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

McCain- McBush- Bush Be Frightened

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:45:11 GMT

clipped by: klippety
clipper's remarks: Be very Afraid for America. " It Can Happen Here", a book by Sinclair, written earlier, describing the way America slides into fascism. Wars on all sides, and your civil rights being diminished by the day with new laws to curb your freedom and expand the powers of FBI, CIA and all the other 3letter clubs. Americans are already afraid of their own government. Time to take it back! It is your Land, after all.

Clip Source: www.thenation.com

McCain's Warped Worldview

The world according to John McCain is one in which America is triumphant at home and abroad thanks to the Bush legacy, rolling to victory internationally and mastering its domestic economic problems. If daily news, like reports of the ten French soldiers killed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and the US government's imminent nationalization of much of the American mortgage-lending industry, would seem to deny such a rosy scenario, then that only shows skeptics lack the courage that sustained McCain as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

There you have it encapsulated, the McCain campaign for President, an irrational mélange of patriotic swagger and blindness to reality that is proving disturbingly successful with uninformed voters.

The economy is in a downward spiral, the national debt is at an all-time high, the dollar is an international disgrace and inflation in July had the steepest rise in twenty-seven years, driven by oil prices fivefold higher

Clipmarks | Inflation Clips

Slow Income Growth For Middle America

inflation

Why cheaper oil signals trouble

On Misery and Presidential Elections

Getting coffee free for long!

The Return of the Robber Barons

PHNOM PENH PAYING DEARLY FOR RATATOUILLE !

Rat meat in demand as inflation bites

Beaking News

www. Breaking News English .com EFL / ESL Lesson Plans for Teaching Current Events

The Latest Lesson

Comparing $1 From 1914 to $1 from 2007

Six Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present

Pinching pennies like your grandparents

Price of rat meat quadruples in Cambodia this year

Superior Economic-Policy Reporting And Writing

Money Supply Contraction

Sharp US money supply contraction points to Wall Street crunch ahead

Uncle Joe

The Case Against Joe Biden

McCain- McBush- Bush Be Frightened

McCain's Warped Worldview

www. Breaking News English .com
EFL / ESL Lesson Plans for Teaching Current Events