DISQUS

Fireblazes(cheetohsandcatfood) · 1 year ago

He is partly right, we are going to get the skyrocketing prices, but we will not get a dime more in wages.

jjttll1 · 1 year ago

you've really got a lot to learn about what central bankers mean when they talk about inflation, and why food and energy are excluded from some measures of inflation. first, when central bankers speak, they're generally addressing financial markets, who understand their jargon, and not laymen who frequently don't understand it. when they talk about inflation, central bankers, especially at the Fed and the ECB, aren't saying that current price increases are not affecting people right now. instead, they're worried about inflation in the medium- and longer-term, and whether current price increases in some area will spread to other prices in the economy. food prices and energy prices tend to be volatile, and price increases can accelerate or decelerate quite quickly in a short period of time. if producers start passing their cost increases, either for fuel or for some other raw material, along to their customers, then you start to see what are called second-round effects of price increases in consumer prices. sometimes companies choose to just swallow their cost increases in the expectation prices will come back down, other times those increases "filter through" to the cpi and lead to demands for bigger wage increases, which begins the inflationary spiral central banks are trying to avoid. i'm not saying bernanke shouldn't be criticized, but your criticism here is completely off the mark because he's not saying what you seem to think he's saying.

Bostonian_Queer_in_Dallas · 1 year ago

Really? Did you live through what happened in 1973 when OPEC had the oil embargo?

jjttll1 · 1 year ago

really what? im not sure which point youre referring to. and yes, i lived
through that.

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

Fuel cost will only climb. I think that's clear so long term, inflation will increase for consumers on other items besides food. Not only because of the transportation of consumer items but on the products, like plastics, that are made from petro. He must know that.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

We know exactly what the central bankers are doing--shoring up their capital at the expense of the consuming public. Oil is just one factor in a long line of complexity that Wall St. doesn't want the public to understand.

jjttll1 · 1 year ago

what are you talking about? shoring up what capital, and at the expense of the consuming public how? the Fed can't do anything about the price of oil, all it can do is try to stop those price increases from spreading to the rest of the economy. based on the quote in the original item, bernanke's not saying that people aren't affected by higher food and fuel prices, he's saying he doesn't expect those price rises to spread to the rest of the economy, which is of course delusional on his part and very much open for criticism. and one more point, price rises in one area of the economy dont always spread to other parts of it. prices arent decided based solely on the cost of raw materials, the strength of the economy and the competition in the market are also very important factors. if some costs are rising, but competition is strong and/or the economy is weak, producers will frequently try to cut costs elsewhere, or accept a smaller profit, rather than raise prices and risk losing business. im not saying thats happening now, but that filtering through isnt automatic.

Ed_Tracey · 1 year ago

JT, I understand the "core rate" argument; excluding the "volatile food and energy sector" to see if it becomes across-the-board from a statistical analysis angle.

It's just that Mr. Bernanke is not addressing an econometrics panel; these remarks will reach the general public. And those volatile costs are a dagger aimed at many people's heads.

Indigo · 1 year ago

The gap between theoretical economics a la Bernanke and the experiences on Main Street is vast enough to trigger at-home depression while Wall Street regains its perspective and balances out at the new, bear market levels. As jjttll1 below points out, food and energy are not a part of the inflation measuring system.

The problem as I see it is that while the central bankers speak Banker-Urdu, the public speaks Shopper-Grief Esperanto. I wonder whether Bernanke knows that the little people are listening? I bet not.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Screw that academic in his ivory tower of capitalism. This morning, gas prices on our "main" street here in this rural area had already gone to $4.05 at one station and $4.07 at another. I found a station that was still $3.99, among several down the road that have not had time to hike their prices this am.

I almost never leave my house anymore except for absolute necessity.

dad · 1 year ago

"uncertainty" ?

HE remains high

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

Rising gas prices are going to begin causing social turmoil as more and more are unable to drive while the watch the rich driving hither and thither. It's not sustainable for the poor to be spending 20% of their income on fuel. The rich aren't phased.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Right now, oil is pushing $143/bbl ($142.80 to be precise) and the Euro has climbed to $157.84 to the dollar, with 4% inflation said to be due to oil prices.

Of course, they figure inflation quite differently than the cheaters in this country. How can mfg, other industries and even service centered businesses absorb the higher costs they're encountering? They can't and won't as costs will erode their profits and affect shares. We're already seeing small businesses add on fuel costs, or just raising their prices. And corporations, banks, etc. are doing this in other ways, increasing fees, giving you less product for your money, less food in containers if not outright raising the price, eliminating dollar and budget menus, etc.

Read the prices at the supermarket...a 2.25 lb of Folger's coffee, for instance, is regularly priced at $10.99--almost $5/lb. Eggs were $2.29 a dozen this past weekend, and on and on...

Businesses are going to recoup their expenses no matter what Bernanke says. And wages will NOT rise because of it. Labor, as usual, will take the beating from this disaster.

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

Going to go higher today with reporting that US military operating inside Iran, Sy Hersch is reporting.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Not surprising...it was reported last week that Israel is pressuring the US to invade Iran...is that going to be the "October surprise?" Some surprise, indeed.

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

I think the only thing that's stopped the administration to this point is us constantly jumping on all their actions concerning Iran and some patriotic generals like Fallon. But they've been removed. Israel is a tiny country. A "one bomb nuclear country" where they believe one bomb would wipte them out. I understand their paranoia from what they been through. They've been incinerated in the past and are crazy from that history. They know Iran will begin construction of bomb to counter Israel once another administration is in there and not neocons. The reason is Iran needs their own deterent from Israel. Iran is a pround country. So Israel needs to take measures to remove all nuclear weapons from the Middle East. Israel doesn't need them. Never really has. Then Iran can be attacked if they try to build one. But it's hypocritical of Israel to say other people can't do everything necessary to have their own deterent for the protection of their people.

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

Sy Hersch is getting his information from other patriots inside the pentagon who want the information to get out. Scott Ritter is getting his information from other contacts inside there. I'm really sick of those saying that the adminstration would never attack Iran.

Õ¿Õ · 1 year ago

I get my caffeine fix from iced tea. Drink that and only that. Never anything else. Costs me about 5 cents a day. And it's good for you, except for the sugar part...

lynchie · 1 year ago

I think if you check the Folger's tin it is 13 oz.

OlderAndWiser · 1 year ago

Prescient remarks from Sept., 2003 regarding the US Dollar:

http://www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net/1973_Oil_...

lynchie · 1 year ago

Bernake like his predecessors has no clue about the reality of living in this country, doing the shopping, finding a job, putting gas in your car. Like the politicians in Washington they are out of touch and frankly don't give a damn about our issues. Someone does their cooking, cleaning, shopping and they have driver's for their cars. Seldom do they go out into the real world. McCain when asked about the price of gas admitted he didn't remember when he had last pumped gas, course he doesn't remember much of anything that is 24 hours ago.
I can tell you this about Western Pa., gas is now $4.17 for regular, home heating oil is $4.69 a gallon, our food has gone up at least 20% in the last 4 months since what we buy varies very little. I see everything going higher as the costs are passed on immediately, and understandably, and Mr. Bernake if you think wages are going to go up you better think again. Wages have been stagnant for a couple of years. Where I work no one got a raise this year and we had a year of record profits. The boss has 6 homes, 7 cars and barely speaks to the employees. He is planning on moving his office and warehouse about 35 miles to a bigger location. The issue of wages came up since most of the employees live in this small town. His simple answer was any extra mileage is the employees problem. It was the "your lucky to have a job" answer. 70 extra miles a day is $16 bucks for gas. No Mr. Bernacke everything is just peachy down here with the little people.

ComradeRutherford · 1 year ago

Inflation has climbed to around 20%. The GOP under Acting-President Reagan removed gas and food from the inflation calculations as part of a grand scheme to lie to the American people in order to make the GOP look like they were NOT trying to destroy the nation, which of course they are.

I bought what used to be $120 of groceries just last year, now it was $240.

When McCain says he has no idea what the price of gas is, that's because he lives in that world of money-is-no-object. You know, "If you have to ask how much it costs, you can't afford it" When he goes out to dinner the restaurants he goes to doesn't even have prices on the menu.

The Republican Party is fulfilling it's long-term plan to destroy the US economy in order to eliminate the pesky middle-class. The dream future the GOP is striving for has 95% of the population living in abject poverty, and when they think at all about the poor they fantasize about American children starving to death by the thousands.

The GOP will not be happy until they control every dollar in circulation. When the GOP attains power, the first thing they to is tighten up the money supply to screw over the US population.

And make no mistake, the Democratic Leadership, including the moderate Republican Obama are in on the deal. The ONLY difference between the GOP and the Dems is how soon to abolish the Constitution and decree martial law.

We are all screwed now.