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Venezuela Isn’t Cooking The Books Under Mass Inflation. It’s Lighting Them On Fire.
Benweingarten.com ^ | 2015-08-18 | Ben Weingarten

Posted on 08/18/2015 11:19:05 AM PDT by fredericbastiat1

America’s government has gradually watered down its economic data over time, thereby painting a rosier picture of conditions on the ground than actually exists. Consulting economist John Williams has dedicated his life in fact to exposing its manipulation of economic data and backing into the real numbers.

But you will know when America has really hit full on panic mode when the feds stop printing figures altogether, and the only way to measure price inflation is through tracking the daily price increase of say, cronuts, or some other confection.

This is the position sadly but all-too-predictably in which Venezuela finds itself today. Writes the Wall Street Journal:

(Excerpt) Read more at benweingarten.com ...


TOPICS: Government; Politics
KEYWORDS: columbia; cuba; hyperinflation; iran; monetarypolicy; nicaragua; socialism; venezuela

1 posted on 08/18/2015 11:19:05 AM PDT by fredericbastiat1
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To: fredericbastiat1
But you will know when America has really hit full on panic mode when the feds stop printing figures altogether

According to the Feds the national debt hasn't changed in almost half a year.

2 posted on 08/18/2015 11:22:56 AM PDT by RightOnTheBorder
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To: fredericbastiat1

The US hasn’t updated its debt clock in months, BTW


3 posted on 08/18/2015 11:26:10 AM PDT by GeronL (Cruz is for real, 100%)
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To: fredericbastiat1

The US also has what I call “Deceit Inflation”; you know...where a 1lb link of sausage is now 13oz, a bar of soap is whipped with air and has a “new, easy-to-hold shape”, both of which mean less soap per bar, a newly-opened box of cereal has enough empty space in it to cause an echo. I just wonder how many of these changes are accounted for in the CPI.


4 posted on 08/18/2015 11:34:27 AM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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To: GeronL

Ok, but we have this!

http://www.usdebtclock.org/


5 posted on 08/18/2015 12:00:58 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
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To: econjack

I’ve also noticed packages have the same “front” dimensions, but are thinner. This way they look the same on the shelf.

I fell for this a couple of times. Grabbed an item thinking “decent price” until I got it home and realized I’d been had.


6 posted on 08/18/2015 12:05:06 PM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: econjack; fredericbastiat1
" But you will know when America has really hit full on panic mode when the feds stop printing figures altogether, and the only way to measure price inflation is through tracking the daily price increase of say, cronuts, or some other confection."

"The US also has what I call “Deceit Inflation”; you know...where a 1lb link of sausage is now 13oz, a bar of soap is whipped with air and has a “new, easy-to-hold shape”, both of which mean less soap per bar, a newly-opened box of cereal has enough empty space in it to cause an echo. I just wonder how many of these changes are accounted for in the CPI.

You mean like this?

http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/pricebasket.html


The link has details as to what was used to calculate the prices.


------------------


Our Price Basket - or Cost Of Living 2008 - 2014 Latest Inflation Update December 2014 Interest Rates, Housing, Food, Gas, Stamps, Dollar Exchange Rate, Dow Jones, Movie Ticket, College Tuition and Wages. We created this page to address two specific needs 1. Providing a comparison for earlier years and 2. As a means of watching how prices and wages react and the effects on inflation, prices and wages when the world comes out of the recession . As you can see we have changed the format to make it easier to read. Hope You Like the new style. To gain an idea of true inflation check 2008 prices to current with our Price Basket Graphic -- Steve
As you can see from our table the overall basket of goods has increased significantly from 2008 to 2014,

Our real world Price basket of goods shows an increase of over 45% from May 2008 to September 2012 far above published inflation figures and I believe reflects how the working class and the middle class have been effected by real world prices and stagnation in wages due to high unemployment, our basket is representative of the goods and services we all use and buy. Obviously different people spend on different amounts and types from our food basket dependent on multiple factors
1. Size of family, 2. Income, but we hope it offers an insight into real world inflation we are all affected by as opposed to government statistics.

Our basket of goods shows a slight increase from 2013 to 2014 which could be suprising when you consider the price of Gas has decreased ( the big factor was the increase of Tide Soap Powder ) other factors including rent, taxes ( local and State ) College Tuition, Cost of a Stamp, Movie Ticket or going out for a meal all affect how much disposable income we have available


Our Pricebasket of food etc. 2008 to 2014


And even the fed numbers shows household income declining during the same years from $58,000 to $54,000.

7 posted on 08/18/2015 12:08:02 PM PDT by ForYourChildren (Christian Education [ RomanRoadsMedia.com - Classical Christian Approach to Homeschool ])
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To: P.O.E.

I’m also seeing that the Family Size box per unit is often more expensive than a regular size. On Monday I bought a 4lb package of chicken breasts @$1.99/lb. When I took it home, there was a “gel pack” you usually find on the underside of the chicken. When I lifted it out, it was heavier than normal so I weighed it with a cooking scale I have. It weighed 15.5oz! What really pissed me off is that it was a sealed pack! It was not there to sop up juices; it was there to add weight. I went back to Kroger and plopped it on their Service Desk and asked if they would serve this to their family. To their credit, they refunded $1.99 and informed me that anytime I wanted to, I could ask the butcher to remove the meat from the package, weigh it, and then repackage for me. I will likely do that with pre-packaged meat.


8 posted on 08/18/2015 1:18:56 PM PDT by econjack (I'm not bossy...I just know what you should be doing.)
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