Karl may be right... but, I don’t see inflation spiking up anytime soon as long as energy prices stay depressed. Natural Gas is back down to decadal lows. Oil prices are trading in a range, but still on the lower side.
It will be interesting to see what happens with oil with the US actually starts re-filling the SPR. Assuming, of course, that Biden will actually do it.
It has been a very mild winter in the Northeast—this has had a major impact on natural gas prices. I live in a high elevation area of northern CT where we normally are buried in snow this time of year.
This is the first I can ever remember not having to shovel any snow in January—or this far into February.
The natural gas situation is a fluke—and Karl’s overall analysis is valid imho.
“It will be interesting to see what happens with oil with the US actually starts re-filling the SPR. Assuming, of course, that Biden will actually do it.”
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Why should he bother to do it? Nobody seems to care if we deplete the reserves. In yet another favor to Biden the media is pretty much silent about it. Truth be known, most Americans have no idea that the SPR even exists.
WRT oil prices, watch what happens when China’s economic activity gets back on track.
The days of "hide the sausage" fiscal policy irrevocably ended with the Ukraine/Russia conflict as a direct result of our, and Europe's, sanctioning actions.
is not only poorly written, at least when it comes to the latest oil and refined products transport sanctions, it has it backwards. THOSE sanctions are helping hold oil, refined products, and arguably even gas prices down.
Earlier sanctions probably are still having an inflationary effect, but most of the pressure is coming from over-spending / too much economic stimulus, high debt levels, and so on.
When it comes to the prices most people pay for basic items / necessities outside of gasoline, inflation is continuing to run at a high level, but, I agree "spiking" would be the wrong description. Small comfort.