Why is inflation in the US so high?

[Lloyd]

This sounds like a reasonable assessment of why our economy isn't doin' swell....
================
Why is inflation in the US so high?

By Natalie Sherman
Business reporter, New York


https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61569559

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[dneal]

Looks pretty much on the mark to me as well. Economists will argue about which cause had how much effect, and it seems pumping money into the economy via stimulus checks and unemployment benefits is a significant factor.

The thing that I'm curious about is the chart for China. I've got a few ideas, but it's just speculation.

Screen Shot 2022-06-14 at 8.48.49 PM.png

[Chuck Naill]

Besides me, is anyone aware of the profiteering of oil companies?

[dneal]

Besides me, is anyone aware of the profiteering of oil companies?

That's political spin. Oil is a futures market with numerous factors bearing on it. Environmental regulations, capital investment, global producers, refining capacity, etc... (and even Putin). It's high-risk, which can result in high reward; but a whole lot of oil companies go bust too.

[Chuck Naill]

Wring

[Chuck Naill]

Wrong. I wish you didn’t post what you hoped was true.

[dneal]

Thread #3 like this. Perhaps you should take a break and collect your thoughts and composure?

[Lloyd]

Besides me, is anyone aware of the profiteering of oil companies?

That's political spin. Oil is a futures market with numerous factors bearing on it. Environmental regulations, capital investment, global producers, refining capacity, etc... (and even Putin). It's high-risk, which can result in high reward; but a whole lot of oil companies go bust too.

What large oil companies have gone under in recent years?

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[dneal]

Besides me, is anyone aware of the profiteering of oil companies?

That's political spin. Oil is a futures market with numerous factors bearing on it. Environmental regulations, capital investment, global producers, refining capacity, etc... (and even Putin). It's high-risk, which can result in high reward; but a whole lot of oil companies go bust too.

What large oil companies have gone under in recent years?

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

Not the large ones. My understanding is that the oil environment is sort of like the old dairy system. Local dairy farms produce milk and it's sent to the central dairy to be processed and packaged.

Similarly, oil drilling and whatnot is contracted out by the large corporations to smaller operations more vulnerable to boom and bust.

[Chip]

[Chip]

Lloyd— could you trouble to post a headline or short quote from each linked source?

I don't click on blind links.

[Lloyd]

Sorry about that, Chip. I've fixed it.

Typos courtesy of Samsung Auto-Incorrect™

[Chip]

Profiteering bosses, not workers, are pushing up inflation. Here’s how to fight back.
Aditya Chakrabortty

Unite’s leader, Sharon Graham, is leading the charge against 21st-century corporations. Why isn’t Labour following suit?

The first fruit of this strategy is a report shared exclusively with the Guardian. It shows that whatever Johnson and the Bank of England’s head, Andrew Bailey, warn about a wage-price spiral, there is no evidence of one. While global forces pushed up the cost of essentials such as oil and gas, a careful study of the accounts of the big FTSE-350 companies shows executives are now using this as cover to push up their profit margins – by 73%. Take out energy firms, and the numbers are still huge: over 50%. While the Bank of England is jacking up the rates on your mortgage and credit cards, and hastening a recession, policymakers are fighting a war that is half a century old. It’s not workers who are pushing up inflation; it’s often their employers.

https://www.theguardian.com/commenti...e_iOSApp_Other

I took a screenshot of the table of contents for the report, which outlines the findings.


https://www.unitetheunion.org/media/...col-crisis.pdf

[TSherbs]

Thanks for this, Chip

[dneal]

RE: Chip's Guardian article. This portion strikes me as a key problem:

From privatised trains to high-street chemists and care homes, industry after industry is today owned by multinational investors with tentacles around the world who treat our basic needs as tiny income streams to suck up and siphon off into palm-treed tax havens.

[Chuck Naill]

Remember the cost of fuel in the US during the pandemic? What happened as some of use got vaccines and did all we could to prevent the spread, well, we emerged and started driving again.

I remember buyers competing beyond the asking price for houses. This was demand pull. On the other hand there is cost pull inflation where the cost of producing an item increased.

I don't begrudge a company for acting in its own regard to a point. We all do or should own stock in those companies. Pfizer and Moderna made money and that money came from American taxpayers. I don't begrudge them either and own stock accordingly.

Logistic corporations have seen a huge increase in costs and review.

What I cannot buy into is a "we/they" explanation.

[Chuck Naill]

Gun sales are booming!!

[Chip]

[Boston Brian]

I am currently on vacation in the UK, inflation here in the last year has gone from 2% to currently 9% and the Bank of England are predicting it with be close to 12% by fall.