Posted on 12/28/2009 8:07:02 PM PST by blam
Astonishing Inflation Data From The BLS
Economics / Inflation
Dec 28, 2009 - 12:42 PM
By: Larry_Edelson
With the new year rapidly approaching, not much is happening in the markets. So I’d like to take this time to show you some stats that simply amaze me.
Even more astonishing, the figures I’m about to review with you are most likely conservative, and err on the low side of the spectrum.
I’m talking about inflation data courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
I find the stats startling because it’s proof positive that inflation is far from dead. And as I just mentioned, even more so because the BLS’s inflation data is contrived and manipulated to almost always show less inflation than there really is.
Consider the following price increases which have occurred since the beginning of the financial crisis in October 2007.
In the 24 month period since then, a time when deflation was supposedly striking everywhere …
* Food and beverage prices increased an average of 5.6%
* Cereal and bakery prices jumped 11.5%
* Sugar and sweets prices, up 11.8%
* Cooking oils, up 11.6%
Meanwhile …
* The cost of medical care increased an average of 6.7%
* Medical care services, up 7.1%
* Hospital services, up 14.0%
* The cost of education (tuition) at private schools jumped 10.7%
* Educational books and supplies, up 14.9%
About the only sector of the economy where prices either fell or rose modestly is, not surprisingly, housing, where the overall cost of providing shelter for a family rose a meager 2.4%. But even that is a far cry from the deflation everyone is talking about in housing.
The seeds of inflation have not only been sown, they’ve been sprouting since the financial crisis began. So what does all this mean? As I said earlier, considering that these figures cover a 24-month period where deflation was supposedly striking every sector of the economy, it means inflation is not dead. In fact, it’s not even close to dead.
It’s merely hibernating for a bit, waiting to bust wide open.
I believe 2010 will be the year where most are shocked at how much inflation takes off.
[snip]
Wait..Senior citizens were told there was no inflation so with the increase cost in medicare they would get less money this year
Just wait till spring, when the creeping vines of economic stupidity begin to climb.
couple this with the non food producing San Juaquin Valley thanks to the Delta Smelt. ANd it is gonna get ugly real soon.
Try this on for size-—University of California system up 32% in 2010!! Yes, 32% jump in ONE YEAR!
Guess who runs the universities and the State of CA?
Those of us just a few years away from retirement are so screwed. 40 years of careful planning, scrimping and saving all blown to hell.
I almost forgot to ask,
When exactly did the Democrats Assume power in Congress???
I know everyone wants to blame the occupant of the White House, but it is Congress who controls the purse.
And the assholes in Sacramento are going to double or treble our energy prices fighting a mythical non-problem.
I was asking a few days ago how it is that bananas growing in Central American can be picked, packaged and shipped to the US and sold for $0.39 a pound and I'm having trouble finding fresh tomatos under $2.00 a pound?
Correct, the smelt thing smells like another fraud of junk science and political leverage. Oregon had a similar thing happen a number of years ago, after 5 years they realized that their agricultural industry had no bearing on the environment and the fish that was to have been impacted was not (just like owls in trees years back). Anyway if this was really happening other than a land and power grab, they would stock these little fishies.
UNIONS!
The continued erosion of the dollar is the erosion of our standard of living. For a worker to make the same spending power as a person making about 2.50 an hour in 1964 they would need to make between 60-80 thousand depending on the items being examined. It continues despite any government figures to the contrary, because the morons keep creating more unsupported money.
because we dont have Child or Slave Labor like they do.
I didn’t mean to hijack your thread but I believe this plays into your post nicely. It at least adds a whole new perspective as to how bad it is gonna be.
Astonishing? Hardly. This was guaranteed to happen.
Scary? I get up every day wondering how we are going to survive.
IMO, since I do all of the shopping in my house, the food numbers he quoted understate the increases.
Well, let's grow some tomatoes there too then... not, just bananas.
The price of nearly every grocery item jumped last year by significant amounts. We used to spend around $120 a week on groceries, now it’s $150 for the same stuff. And that’s at Wally World where they USED to keep prices low.
Obama and the democrats trying to reinstate the misery that we got rid of when Carter was thrown out of office almost 30 years ago. I am old enough to remember the Carter years and how bad they were. With zero, he will make Carter look like a picnic in the park.
Markets were up about 20%. Dollar was down about 20%. Add inflation and you lost.
Me too.
I bought a house in 1980 at 13% interest...my neighbor bought at 17%.
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