TEK2day

Operating at the Intersection of Technology and the Capital Markets

    Tag: inflation tax

    • Food & Energy Prices Aren’t Helping CPI

      The Fed promotes “Core” inflation which excludes Food and Energy price increases – two of the largest expense categories for many Americans along with mortgage and car payments. I would be surprised if the two broad CPI components – Food and Energy – are not higher for the month of December with Food prices continuing…

    • CPI Data Quality Is Low

      CPI figures are due Thursday morning. CPI is a blunt tool at best. We have written on a number of occasions as to why we are not fans of the Government-reported CPI data. To summarize why we dislike the CPI measure:

    • Inflation: Why We Have It & How To Fix It.

      Price inflation is no great mystery. It’s a function of Money Supply growth that is not tied to Productivity. The remedy is simple: The U.S. must spend less and produce more. Government spending was $6.8 Trillion in 2021, $4.5 Trillion of which (66% of total spending, 19% of GDP) went to Entitlements. The U.S. ran…

    • The Fed Intends To Cripple The Economy

      The Fed wants a deep recession. There is no getting the CPI back to 2% without crashing the Bubble Economy that it created. The Fed was faced with a choice: a decade of 1970’s style stagflation or a deep recession. The Fed wisely chose the latter. The Fed has had to move faster than it…

    • Will Powell Surprise To The Upside?

      The Fed’s FOMC meeting will take place this week on June 14th and 15th. Fed Chair Powell has lost control of the inflation narrative. The Fed needs to act boldly to capture control of the inflation narrative. Price inflation was obviously never going to be transitory given the Fed grew the money supply as measured…

    • Too Little Too Late

      Three or four quarter point rate increases in 2022 won’t be nearly enough to curb inflation. The Fed does not have the luxury of taking interest rates anywhere near the Volcker-era Fed. Thus, inflation is likley to persist for an extended period of time measured in years not months. Further, we do not believe that…

    • Inflation: A Visual Representation

      Inflation is the result when money supply growth outpaces an economy’s ability to produce goods and services. We use M2 in the below chart to represent the money supply (the thin blue line). We use the The Producer Price Index (PPI) and Real GDP as productivity proxies. The PPI is measured by the thin red…

    • Inflation Is A Primary Driver Behind The Economic Slowdown

      Whether it is the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg or CNBC, the business press fails to mention price inflation as a primary factor behind the economic slowdown as measured by Real GDP of 2%. Supply chain bottlenecks and the Delta variant are not exclusively responsible for the stagflationary period we are about to embark on where…

    • How The CPI’s Fuzzy Math Understates Inflation

      The CPI data category “Owners’ Equivalent Rent” (“OER”), uses data derived from surveys of homeowners in select markets rather than real world data. This technique allows the BLS and the Federal Reserve to understate price inflation. OER understates CPI by 1% or more. September’s 5.4% CPI increase was understated by at least 1% per our…

    • Real GDP Growth Will Not Rebound In 2022

      Economists pushing the narrative that Real GDP growth will climb back to mid-single-digit percentages in 2022 have got it wrong. The combination of persistent price inflation and weak labor participation will ensure that Real GDP remains range bound between zero and 2%. The sooner Wall Street pundits learn to say “Stagflation” the more honest conversation…