Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis
And folks, for the record, bacon is $5/lb at a regional grocery store, not on sale (regular price). Bacon has been $5/lb in my region for 30 years, with fluctuations.
The price of a men's name-brand triple blade disposable razor is less than $1/pc today. Double-blade cartridges were $1/pc 30 years ago.
What's happening? Deflation.
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Chassis - that's not how this works, and you've just proven my point about consumer goods coming from Asia.
I'll see your razor blades and raise you auto insurance and homeowners insurance rates: 20-50% increases, or more in flood/hurricane zones.
Inflation is sticky and jumps from sector to sector. Right now, it's embedded in services (up 8.2% in January), and as of last week's PPi report, may be re-accelerating in finished goods, which were up 7.1% annualized.
Rent: up 6%
Legal/Business services: 6.8%
Streaming/Cable/TV: 5.3%
Utilities/City Services: 5.5%
Veterinary/Pet Supplies: 7%
Restaurants: 5.1%
What's down?
Energy: -10%
Durable Goods: -5.4%
Again: inflation bumps around from sector to sector, and considering the other variables contributing to long term inflationary pressures, the Fed is much better erring on the side of causing a mild recession than they are in not being aggressive enough with rates to keep inflation under wraps.
Unlike the 1980s/1990s, we don't have massive offshoring and new energy production to bring those two key parts of inflation (at that time) to heel. It's different this time, and with consumers showing no sign of slowing down their buying (retail sales dip in January is always an annual thing), this is going to be a tightrope.