I'm surprised there's not an inflation thread yet
POSTED BY: 6IXSTRINGJACK
UPDATED: Thursday, June 11, 2026 17:04
VIEWED: 37356
PAGE 84 of 84
USA Today: Inflation-shocked low- and middle-income Americans may not spend normally for years
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2024/10/25/inflat
ion-low-middle-income-lasting-impact/75796197007/
Quote:
Putting “fun” back into low- and middle-income Americans’ budgets could be years away with most of their income barely covering the surge in costs for bare necessities, economists said.
Even with annual inflation last month cooling to the lowest level since February 2021 and wages rising faster than inflation, low- and middle-income Americans are just barely covering their essentials, which include groceries, shelter, utilities and gasoline, economists say.
That’s because when inflation slows, it only means prices aren't rising as quickly, not that prices are declining. So, Americans continue to pay higher prices for everyday needs.
Low- and middle-income Americans were hit disproportionately harder than their higher-income peers because essentials account for a larger share of their budgets, and their discretionary spending, or spending on nonessential items like dining out, vacations and entertainment, is only just recovering, economists say.
“For a very large share of Americans, the bottom 60% are spending more on essentials than before the pandemic,” said Michael Pearce, Oxford Economics deputy chief U.S. economist. “The burden is hardest among the lowest income but also touches middle income. Spending patterns of low-income Americans will take years to recover.”
Yup.
Why are you being honest about it now, USA Today?
You were one of the rags denying inflation was happening, and then telling us it was transitory, and then spending 2 years making out like it was a conspiracy theory that Americans were being hurt by the current administration.
I guess we've got to start being honest about what's actually happening when we know Trump is about to win.
Tick Tock
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Trump will be fine.
He will also be your next President.
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Pandemic inflation in the US and Europe
was nearly—but not quite!—identical:
Why was it nearly the same? Because in both places the underlying causes were the same: supply chain shortages combined with rescue packages that kept demand steady.
Why was it a little different? Because the US passed a gigantic stimulus all at one time in March 2020. This produced a nearly vertical surge in inflation a year later.
Europe, by contrast, relied more on its existing safety net, which expanded more slowly. It also passed a stimulus bill, but it was smaller than ours and came four months later. This produced a surge that started later and grew a bit more slowly.
Nothing after that mattered more than slightly. Inflation peaked four months apart and then declined at exactly the same rate. The ECB raised interest rates later than the Fed; held them lower; and cut them sooner. It didn't make any difference.
The entire non-poor world had almost identical experiences. Low-income countries, which were largely on the opposite end of supply chains, were a bit different: they suffered even worse inflation and it persisted through 2023.
https://jabberwocking.com/raw-data-inflation-in-the-us-and-europe/
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Trump Team Spirals Over Damning Report on Bungled Iran War Planning
https://newrepublic.com/post/207758/trump-team-spirals-report-iran-war
-planning-strait-hormuz
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Hormuz fertiliser block will upend world’s food production
https://www.ft.com/content/c1398187-304d-44d3-857f-673b8da0f87a
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Quote:Not everyone has a subscription to the Financial Times (ft.com) :
Originally posted by JAYNEZTOWN:
Hormuz fertiliser block will upend world’s food production
https://www.ft.com/content/c1398187-304d-44d3-857f-673b8da0f87a
‘Hormuz fertilizer block will upend world’s food production’
Chris Krebs at the Financial Times
Before the “first strike on Iran, the global food system was already running on reduced redundancy,” says Chris Krebs, and the Strait of Hormuz closure “isn’t breaking a healthy system. It is breaking one that was already compromised.” The “food security clock runs in months,” but the “geopolitical clock runs in years.” If “fertilizer isn’t moving through the Strait of Hormuz in two weeks’ time, we won’t be debating any more, we’ll be sending in aid.”
https://theweek.com/politics/instant-opinion-hormuz-agriculture-educat
ion-corporations-congress
******
Key points Chris Krebs makes at the Financial Times:
- “Gulf states account for 49 per cent of globally traded urea and 30 per cent of ammonia, perishable contributors to the nitrogen cycle that makes high-yield agriculture possible.
- "When that supply chain stops, the effects accumulate quietly in soil chemistry and planting decisions over the months that follow. . . .
- “The agricultural damage clock runs in weeks. Winter wheat across the US, Europe and parts of the Middle East needs its final nitrogen application in the next three to four weeks.
- “The food security clock runs in months. Most import-dependent nations carry enough grain reserves to absorb a short disruption, not enough to outlast a season . . .
- “(T)he geopolitical clock runs in years. Food price spikes above 30 to 40 per cent have a documented correlation with political instability in fragile states within six to 18 months.”
The oil/gas price volatility and inflation risks are one vector impacting companies, consumers and the economy.
But physical supply is another critical vector. The longer strait traffic is severely restricted, the more significant the supply shocks will be, not just in agriculture, but in all physical products down stream of oil and methane inputs.
https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-garstka_hormuz-fertiliser-block
-will-upend-world-activity-7442554148325195777-siDd
The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two
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Oil prices surge above $100 as U.S. Navy to blockade Iran’s ports after peace talks fail
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/04/12/oil-prices-iran-war-strait-hormuz-bloc
kade.html
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Japan bathhouses in deep water as energy costs boil over
https://japantoday.com/category/national/japan-bathhouses-in-deep-wate
r-as-energy-costs-boil-over#comments
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Americans feel worse off financially than at any point in 25 years, Gallup finds
https://www.axios.com/2026/04/28/trump-economy-gallup-finances
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Uh huh...
Funny how there are no shortage of these polls when Trump is President, but while we had 4 year record-breaking inflation under Joe Biden* the only time they ever brought it up was when they were lying and saying that we weren't in a recession.
Were they polling nothing but fired government employees then? Was that the methodology of the poll? Because shit isn't any worse than it was at any other point in time since Joe Biden* took office.
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Be Nice. Don't be a dick.
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US inflation climbs to 4.2% and hits 3-year high amid rising fuel costs
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/world/us-inflation-climbs-to
-42-and-hits-3-year-high-amid-rising-fuel-costs/article71087119.ece
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