Free Republic

On Thursday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” White House Council of Economic Advisers member Heather Boushey stated that President Joe Biden is fighting inflation and its impact by “lowering the cost of student debt for all of those borrowers” with the student loan plan he announced earlier in the week. Boushey said, “[T]he President has been focused on using all the tools that he has at his disposal to make sure that he lowers costs for families. So, this is the first President to be negotiating with Big Pharma over prescription drug prices. That’s going to lower prices for...

Reporting from Western New York: gas price at my local gas station jumped $0.13 in the last 24 hours. I've never seen a hike that fast. Is anyone else seeing the same thing? I already see gold prices shooting up. Is this gas price? Starting to catch up to it now?

Here's a look at what's gone wrong at both chains.. These are tough times for two big US dollar store chains. In the past month, Family Dollar said it will close nearly 1,000 stores and 99 Cents Only said it will go out of business. Both companies said inflation and shoplifting have contributed to their troubles. While inflation has pressured the companies' low-income customer base and shoplifting has squeezed their profits, those factors alone can't explain their difficulties. Years of strategic mistakes and underinvestment have plagued Family Dollar and 99 Cents Only, retail analysts say. Both brands were acquired by...

Claim: President Joe Biden claimed on Wednesday that inflation was “skyrocketing” when he took office. “Look we have dramatically reduced inflation from 9% down to close to 3% we’re in a situation where we’re better situated and we were we took office, where we inflation was skyrocketing,” Biden said Wednesday at a White House press conference. The president was reacting to the latest report on the consumer price index, which showed inflation rose at an annualized rate of 4.6 percent in March, the fourth consecutive month in which inflation has exceeded expectations.

Influential investor says US inflation and growth are not at levels where interest rates can fall Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour. https://www.ft.com/content/680c17d1-0d55-4697-aff8-7dcca8c06679?accessToken=zwAGFb2KHEZYkc9oDBfRDVVGl9Ov-H3MqMBmeQ.MEUCIEKUOo8tpYNQH1TIRs1UXW0onmSrH2MkZ28gZyBrU5T-AiEAledOG31n_SXP-FsEVXres7m4-IDthSiN4Xyky3Mv9yQ&sharetype=gift&token=c10df47e-f8fc-4ea2-a059-1720789b4224 Persistent inflation and hot US growth have left the Federal Reserve’s rate-cutting hopes “off track”, Bridgewater’s Bob Prince said on Tuesday, adding...

Inflation ticked higher once again in March, with consumer prices up 0.4 percent over the previous month and 3.5 percent compared to one year earlier. The latest data marks the third month in a row that the consumer price index (CPI), a closely watched gauge of inflation, has come in hotter than expected, likely throwing cold water on hopes that the Federal Reserve would begin cutting interest rates soon.

Funky cold Joe Biden is his reaction to inflation caused by his outragous spending. His legion of sycophants are now saying inflation is a good thing or don’t notice it. But Biden will never stop spending . Coming into today’s CPI number, which followed three previous red-hot inflation prints, we said that it’s time for a “miss” (the first of 2024) not because the data demands it – on the contrary, prices continue to rise at a frightening pace – but because a dovish CPI print today would be the last opportunity for the Fed to set a timetable for...

The consumer price index, a key inflation gauge, rose 3.5% in March, higher than expectations and marking an acceleration for inflation. Shelter and energy costs drove the increase. Energy rose 1.1% after increasing 2.3% in February, while shelter costs were higher by 0.4% on the month and up 5.7% from a year ago. Following the report, traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September, according to CME Group calculations.

Americans looking for shelter from inflation are unlikely to find any at home. Inflation under the Biden administration has sent the costs of maintaining a household soaring. Rent, electricity, and garbage collection prices are all up nearly six percent. The price of rent and associated shelter costs have jumped more than five percent since March 2023: — Owners’ equivalent rent (the opportunity cost of not renting out the home you own): Up 5.9 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.4 percent since February 2024 — Water and sewer maintenance services: Up 5.1 percent since March 2023 / Up 0.5 percent...

KEY POINTS * The consumer price index, a key inflation gage, rose 3.5% in March, higher than expectations and marking an acceleration for inflation. * Shelter and energy costs drove the increase on the all-items index. Energy rose 1.1% after increasing 2.3% in February, while shelter costs were higher by 0.4% on the month and up 5.7% from a year ago. * Following the report, traders pushed the first expected rate cut out to September, according to CME Group calculations. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The consumer price index accelerated at a faster than expected pace in March, pushing inflation higher and likely dashing...

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, issued a sober warning for the U.S. economy in his annual letter to investors this week. Dimon pointed to wars breaking out in Europe, the Middle East, and growing tensions with China as major drivers to economic uncertainty which have helped fuel “higher energy and food prices, inflation rates and volatile markets.” The crises on the foreign policy front are largely a reflection of President Joe Biden’s weakness on the world stage as America’s adversaries have felt that they have more latitude in what they are able to get away with under the...

During an interview with Univision that took place on March 20 and was released on Tuesday, President Joe Biden responded to a question on what he would say to people who don’t feel economic growth or job creation in their paychecks and pockets by stating that “it’s not yet” reflected and touting his work on overdraft and junk fees. Interviewer Enrique Acevedo asked, “I’ve heard you talk about economic growth, job creation. What do you say to the families — not just Latino families — but families across the country, that don’t feel that economic growth, that job creation reflected...

U.S. inflation pressures quickened again last month, with core price pressures also rising past Wall Street forecasts, a reading that will cast further doubt on market bets for a June interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. The headline consumer price index for March was pegged by the Commerce Department at 3.5%, rising from the prior month's tally of 3.2% and coming in ahead of Wall Street's 3.4% consensus forecast. On a monthly basis, inflation edged 0.4% higher, matching the 0.4% gain in February but also coming in ahead of Wall Street's 0.3% forecast. So-called core inflation, which strips out...

By the end of 1819, so many banks, persons, and businesses had declared bankruptcy that each defaulted to ownership by the notorious Second Bank of the United States (SUSB), thus making the SUSB one of the largest and most important property owners in the early republic. Many elites benefitted from its seemingly endless largess, but most Americans despised it as a “monster.” Not only did it seem to own everything in sight (and beyond!), but it also had been responsible for the inflation and sudden deflation that had caused the Panic/Depression of 1819. Its first president, William Jones, had been...

Joe Biden’s massive electric vehicle (EV) agenda will subsidize the lifestyles of America’s well-to-do while hitting average people the hardest.... The Biden administration is aggressively regulating the U.S. auto market to drastically increase the proportion of EVs sold over the coming decade, but consumer demand has not taken off as quickly as proponents had projected despite the subsidies made available by Biden’s flagship climate bill, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Manufacturers are slashing prices of their EVs to make the vehicles more appealing to consumers, which will increase prices for internal combustion engine (ICE) cars to compensate; this dynamic will...

Tyranny by the Numbers: The Government Wants Your Money Any Way It Can Get ItThe government wants your money.It will beg, steal or borrow if necessary, but it wants your money any way it can get it.This is what comes of those $1.2 trillion spending bills: someone’s got to foot the bill for the government’s fiscal insanity, and that “someone” is the U.S. taxpayer.The government’s schemes to swindle, cheat, scam, and generally defraud taxpayers of their hard-earned dollars have run the gamut from wasteful pork barrel legislation, cronyism and graft to asset forfeiture, costly stimulus packages, and a national security...

Friday’s jobs report has everyone excited. Everyone, that is, who is pulling for Joe Biden to win reelection. Outside that blinkered lot, the pain of Bidenomics is still very real. “Today’s report marks a milestone in America’s comeback,” he said. “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink” – a lie we’ve repeatedly exposed – “With today’s report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we have passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office” – another lie; as we noted last week, the economy has created only 5 million net new jobs under Biden,...

Friday’s jobs report has everyone excited. Everyone, that is, who is pulling for Joe Biden to win reelection. Outside that blinkered lot, the pain of Bidenomics is still very real. “Today’s report marks a milestone in America’s comeback,” he said. “Three years ago, I inherited an economy on the brink” – a lie we’ve repeatedly exposed – “With today’s report of 303,000 new jobs in March, we have passed the milestone of 15 million jobs created since I took office” – another lie; as we noted last week, the economy has created only 5 million net new jobs under Biden,...

During an interview with CNBC released on Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen responded to a question on whether she is confident that inflation will hit the target rate of 2% by stating that she expects that inflation “will continue to come down over time.” And “we can certainly get into the twos.” Yellen also stated that “we’ve had generally good news on inflation.” CNBC host Sara Eisen asked, “You’re still confident we can get to 2% this year? We’ve seen a little bit of a flare-up so far this year.”

All of the more than 300 99 Cents Only stores across the country are closing down. This doesn't just affect the shoppers who depend on low prices but it will be a loss of jobs for the workers in the stores. Right now everything is 30% off and business is brisk in the California-based chain. Shoppers are stocking up and many are waiting in line to get inside a store. Economists say this is a scary sight."Sad. I can't buy my apples and bananas anymore," said one man walking into the store."I think people are going to miss it," said...