Free Republic

B of A: “Transitory” Inflation And Supply Chain Imbalances Are Hitting Autos Hardest The auto industry is already stuck between a rock and a hard place, as dealers struggle to get production up to speed despite an ongoing semiconductor chip shortage that has hamstrung production for some of the world’s biggest manufacturers. At the same time, the U.S. is letting the inflation genie quietly begin to slip out of the bottle. As rising prices take hold amidst supply chain imbalances, focus has turned to automobiles. With new car inventory crunched due to production constraints, used car prices have skyrocketed, as...

I'm not sure whether COVID-19, first identified in Wuhan, China, in the U.S. qualifies as a true disaster. Putting the disease in perspective, we might look at current influenza illnesses. According to Centers for Disease Control estimates, between Oct. 1, 2019, and March 14, 2020, there have been 390,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations as a result of the flu, 38,000,000 to 54,000,000 flu illnesses and 23,000 to 59,000 flu deaths. That's compared with, as of March 27, a total of 85,356 cases of COVID-19 resulting in the deaths of 1,246 people. But let's agree that COVID-19 is a disaster and ask...

Many Seattle workers are about to see their income go way up, after the City Council unanimously passed a $15 minimum wage earlier this month. But faster than you can get a happy meal at McDonald's, the ordinance is facing a legal challenge. “I guarantee not everyone will survive,” warned David Jones, who owns a Subway franchise in Seattle. “This discriminatory law will affect some franchisees and they will go out of business.” The International Franchise Association, representing those concerns, has sued over the wage hike, specifically objecting to the fact the ordinance treats franchises as big businesses and requires...

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by LOVE, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thes 1:3 Once again the free market makes fools of the Harvard grads, which is like saying water is wet; after President Obozo announces tapping into the strategic oil reserves the pump price drops dramatically. How can this be after we have been lectured endlessly by the Dems how increasing our supply would have no effect on the prices for years? All the simpletons who don’t have Ivy League degrees...

Southern California water officials are drawing up plans that could force rationing in some cities as early as next year, officials said Wednesday. For now, residents are being asked to voluntarily use less water, but the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned that mandatory rationing could become necessary for the first time since 1991. The immediate trigger for concern arose from U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger's ruling last week that to protect the delta smelt, a small fish threatened with extinction, water imports from Northern California must be cut by up to 30 percent. Officials said the threat of...

The global pressures of supply and demand that sent energy prices skyward over the past year have brought the cost of gasoline closer to earth, at least for the time being. Oil production along the Gulf Coast hasn't been interrupted by major hurricanes, so domestic supplies are up. The geopolitical climate of the Middle East has cooled. Crude oil futures, which traded at $78 per barrel in July, now go for close to $60. As a result, Americans are paying anywhere between 30 and 70 cents less for a gallon of gasoline than they did this summer. In some parts...

by Mark Finkelstein May 23, 2006 Sometimes you just want to throw up your hands. Interviewing another big oil exec this morning, Katie Couric's proposed solution to high gas prices was to repeal the laws of supply and demand . . . just a little bit. Whereas Matt Lauer took a while in his interview of another oil exec to get around to his price-cutting point, Katie wasted no time. Interviewing Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, Katie's opening salvo was "I am just wondering, you and many other oil companies are posting record high profits, of course. And while the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. commercial crude supplies shot to the highest level in nearly seven years last week on sluggish refinery use and high imports, the government said on Wednesday. U.S. oil stocks jumped 6.8 million barrels in the week ended March 3 to 335.1 million barrels, or 10 percent higher than last year, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical arm of the Department of Energy. "The crude build is huge," said Jason Schenker, an economist at Wachovia Bank in Charlotte, North Carolina. Oil futures on the New York Mercantile Exchange fell more than $1.00 after...

A newspaper headline -- "Lawmakers Struggle to Define Gasoline Price 'Gouging'" -- shows how phony the current Congressional jihad against the oil companies is. "Price gouging" is one of those phrases that evoke strong emotions but have no definition.