Free Republic

Last weekend, Governor Palin gave a measured and thoughtful speech at the Western Conservative Summit, speaking primarily in the tone of the “forgotten man”–”the hard working middle class man who can’t catch a break”. She also used a masterful analogy of the “calloused hand that built America”. What a stark contrast between an open hand calloused from hard work and the clenched fist of socialism. What a stark contrast, too, between Governor Palin’s speech that hit a tone that resonates with middle class America and the tonedeafness and lack of self-awareness of Washington. Take, for example, the Left’s newest pivot...

In the early-1990s, political Washington moved to change the nature of the CPI. The contention was that the CPI overstated inflation (it did not allow substitution of less-expensive hamburger for more-expensive steak). Both sides of the aisle and the financial media touted the benefits of a “more-accurate” CPI, one that would allow the substitution of goods and services. The plan was to reduce cost of living adjustments for government payments to Social Security recipients, etc. The cuts in reported inflation were an effort to reduce the federal deficit without anyone in Congress having to do the politically impossible: to vote...

Japanese CPI printed 3.6% in June, modestly down from May's 3.7% YoY, but hotter than the expected 3.5% YoY analysts predicted. If you don't eat food or use energy then inflation merely bit 2.3% of your income this year but if you did then you may have noticed that energy costs are 9.1% higher YoY, TVs +8.0%, and Food +4.1%

Call it doomsday prepper economics. For more than five years, many Republicans and conservatives have warned that catastrophe is nigh. Washington's deficit spending and the Federal Reserve's excessive money printing will lead to a financial crisis worse than the Great Recession, they prophesied. Inflation will skyrocket, the dollar will collapse, and the Chinese will dump treasuries, they swore. As Ron Paul, the libertarian former GOP congressman and presidential candidate, said back in 2009: "More inflation is absolutely the wrong way to go. We're taking a recession and trying to turn it into a depression. We're going to see a real...

Brace yourself… Skepticism, doubt and criticism of Obamanomics (all of which are, undoubtedly, based in racism) will be cast aside. Why? Because, according to the 20-something-year-old White House intern that is in charge of the official White House twitter account, “Our businesses have added nearly 10 million new jobs over the past 52 months.” I know, right? Pretty awesome statistic. (Gloss over the fact that the President is referring to private enterprise as “our businesses”.) But before you rush out to slap an Obama ‘16 sticker on your car (are those stickers available yet?), you may want a little bit...

"I can't find anything. Prices are climbing daily," said Jesus Ramirez, a taxi driver who has spent a year trying to replace the 2008 Renault he purchased new for $7,441. He sold the car for over $30,000 five years later. With inflation at 60% a year, among the highest in the world, Venezuelans protect their earnings by buying cars, among other big-ticket items. Car parts needed to keep vehicles on the road have also become difficult to find. That has led thieves to steal parts such as batteries from parked cars. The owner of a Caracas car dealership who said...

“Americans should stop whining about food prices.” That was the message AEI’s Mark J. Perry blasted last September to families gullible enough to believe that rising food prices were a problem: It’s a favorite pastime in this country – Americans love to complain about rising food prices. Even when they aren’t. In fact, given all of the complaining you would never know that average food price inflation in recent years is actually the lowest in several generations. Below are three reasons that Americans should stop whining about food prices, and be a little more appreciative of how affordable food is...

U.S. consumer prices rose in June as the cost of gasoline surged, but the overall trend continued to point to a gradual build up of inflationary pressures. The Labor Department said on Tuesday its Consumer Price Index increased 0.3 percent last month after May's 0.4 percent gain. Gasoline accounted for two-thirds of the rise in prices last month. In the 12 months through June, the CPI increased 2.1 percent after a similar rise in May.

By Michael Snyder July 16th, 2014 The basic necessities in life just keep getting more expensive. On Tuesday, Hershey announced that the price of all of their chocolate bars is going to go up by about 8 percent. That is particularly distressing to me, because I am known to love chocolate. But if it was just chocolate that was becoming significantly more expensive perhaps that would be okay. Last month, it was coffee. J.M. Smucker, one of the largest coffee producers in the United States, announced that it planned to raise coffee prices by about 9 percent. And Starbucks has...

The American Dream has been a focal point and topic of debate since the financial crisis of 2008: citizens and politicians alike are asking whether it's time to redefine what success looks like in the U.S. According to Howard Gold, columnist for MarketWatch and founder of GoldenEgg Investing, the white picket fence and security that hard work can bring is still alive, but it will cost you... a lot. In a USA Today article, Gold calculated that for a family of four living out the American Dream costs just over $130,000 a year. "This isn’t about being rich,” Gold tells...

1. Historically, when Capacity Utilization is as high as its now (suggesting not much industrial slack) the inflation rate has been much higher. 2. According to survey data from the National Federation of Independent Businesses, more and more companies are saying they can't find qualified applicants for job openings. 3. Survey data shows a big increase in the number of businesses who say they plan to raise wages in the future.

How does the U.S. economy do it? Europe is floundering. China faces slower growth. Japan is struggling to sustain tentative gains. Yet the U.S. job market is humming, and the pace of economic growth is steadily rising. Five full years after a devastating recession officially ended, the economy is finally showing the vigor that Americans have long awaited. Last month, employers added 288,000 jobs and helped reduce the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent, the lowest since September 2008. June capped a five-month stretch of 200,000-plus job gains - the first in nearly 15 years. After having shrunk at a 2.9...

This country is a bunch of lions led by donkeys, as the Germans said about the English Army in the first war. The latest Obama-related bray is the revised GDP numbers for the first quarter. Economists expected the economy to grow by 1.9% even after a discount for the cold weather. Instead the initial estimate saw a contraction of 1%. As we approached the revision to the initial estimate, we began hearing that perhaps things would be even worse in the next estimate. They were. The revision came in at a contraction of 2.9% for the first quarter. But...

DANIELLE WIENER-BRONNER, The WireJun. 20, 2014 ï‚‚Months after we all started fretting over the prospect of a global coffee shortage, it seems we might actually start to feel the caffeine-related effects of Brazil's massive drought and Central America's coffee fungus, in the form industry-wide retail price increases. The Washington Post reported back in February that coffee costs were expected to rise later in the year: For now, retail prices for coffee are stable. Roasters typically have enough supplies to cover themselves for a few months. But if the price of the Arabica (pronounced uh-RAB-ick-uh) beans continues to rise, consumers could...

Have you noticed that prices are going up rapidly? If so, you are certainly not alone. But Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, the Obama administration and the mainstream media would have us believe that inflation is completely under control and exactly where it should be. Perhaps if the highly manipulated numbers that they quote us were real, everything would be fine. But of course the way that the inflation rate is calculated has been changed more than 20 times since the 1970s, and at this point it bears so little relation to reality that it is essentially meaningless. Anyone that...

You don't have to be an expert to notice that costs for many essentials are at all-time high. From gas to food, Americans can expect to pay even more in coming months. The current national average for a gallon of gasoline is $3.67 -- that's higher than it's been since 2008. The higher prices are being blamed, in part, on the instability in Iraq. According to AAA, both gas prices and global oil prices have steadily risen since ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) took control of Mosul last week. The brutal jihadist army is actually flying its flag...

Two U.S. senators on Wednesday proposed raising federal gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by 12 cents a gallon [3.2 cents a liter] over the next two years to keep a road and bridge fund from going broke. The gasoline tax now stands at 18.4 cents a gallon, and the diesel tax at 24.4 cents a gallon. The politically sensitive levies have not been increased since 1993. The senators' plan faces an uphill fight this year, with congressional elections coming in November. Senators Bob Corker, a Republican, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat, called for the tax increase, with the new revenue...

Consumer prices are skyrocketing. The price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs was up 0.7% in May. The price of chicken is up 50% in the last decade. There are some mitigating factors in these price increases. The cattle herd isn’t very good this year and a pork virus has killed thousands of pigs. Nonetheless, with incomes stagnate price increases on staples such as meat and eggs is felt by the middle class. Consumer prices generally were up 0.4% in May after a 0.3% increase in April. Inflation has arrived after years of money printing at the Federal Reserve. (with...

The electricity price index and the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity both hit records for May, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The average price for a KWH hit 13.6 cents during the month, up about 3.8 percent from 13.1 cents in May 2013. The seasonally adjusted electricity price index rose from 201.431 in May 2013 to 208.655 in May 2014—an increase of about 3.6 percent. ... Per capita production of electricity in the United States peaked in 2007. Since then it has generally been on downward trend. In 2013, the U.S....

Inflation unexpectedly jumped last month as higher prices for food, energy and other items pushed the annual rate above the Federal Reserve's preferred 2% target, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. The new data could lead central bank policymakers to act more quickly to raise rock-bottom short-term interest rates. The consumer price index rose 0.4%, the biggest monthly increase since February 2013, the Commerce Department said. The rise followed increases of 0.3% in April and 0.2% in March, a trend that mirrors improving economic data this spring. For the 12 months ended in May, the index was up 2.1%. That was...