Search Results: inflation

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/saudi-arabia-is-slashing-oil-supply-it-could-mean-higher-gas-prices-for-us-drivers_n_647d2840e4b0b4444c7f89b6
Saudi Arabia Is Slashing Oil Supply — And It Could Mean Higher Gas Prices For US Drivers

Saudi Arabia will reduce how much oil it sends to the global economy, taking a unilateral step to prop up the sagging price of crude after two previous cuts to supply by major producing countries in the OPEC+ alliance failed to push oil higher.

The Saudi cut of 1 million barrels per day, to start in July, comes as the other OPEC+ producers agreed in a meeting in Vienna to extend earlier production cuts through next year.

Calling the reduction a “lollipop,” Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said at a news conference that “we wanted to ice the cake.” He said the cut could be extended and that the group “will do whatever is necessary to bring stability to this market.”
The new cut would likely push up oil prices in the short term, but the impact after that would depend on whether Saudi Arabia decides to extend it, said Jorge Leon, senior vice president of oil markets research at Rystad Energy.
The move provides “a price floor because the Saudis can play with the voluntary cut as much as they like,” he said.

The slump in oil prices has helped U. S. drivers fill their tanks more cheaply and gave consumers worldwide some relief from inflation.

Bottle return fees were started in the late 1960's, starting at 5 cents ($0.05). This fee provided 5 cents for the consumer for returning the bottle, thus recycling the materials. Back then, if you collect 100 cans and return them, that's $5.00. A person could eat (hamburder cost ( $.65) on that small work or fuel their car ($.35 gallon of gas) with money left over.

Since then with inflation, the value of such fee would be $0.39, based upon inflation, but the return fee remains $.05 and at most $.10. The same effort to collect 100 cans produces $5, but that won't even buy a hamburger today.

https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/1970?amount=0.05

The value of the ensuing metal or glass may have gone up as well, one may assume. Certainly the cost of the labor to collect and deposit the cans has increased.

Would you support raising the return feel so people whom do this work can make a living?

Check out this explosion in western Ukraine... this stuff is going to spread all over.

https://www.newsweek.com/huge-mushroom-blast-khmelnytskyi-reignites-depleted-uranium-claims-1800443 https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/gigantic-fireball-explosion-rocks-town-in-western-ukraine

Whether it's Gamma/alpha radiation or what... it's gonna raise questions of whether farming is viable for 10-15 years following the war... pollution, mines, unexloded shells, huge holes, etc..

Meanwhile... the war is feeding inflation in places like Argentina... with no end in sight... impacting people around the globe as food costs rise.

https://apnews.com/article/argentina-cash-note-pesos-inflation-0281e028fb394ead23daeace186df12f

Somebody... is going to suffer... or maybe many

I think they raise it.25 because they use fake numbers for inflation and unemployment. I think this will cause more banks to fail and more people to lose homes.

If they lower rates , inflation will continue to get worse.

The Fed has been raising interest rates quite a bit over the last year to combat inflation. And this may have helped create the bank crises in Silicon Valley, etc. like 2007 crash, these banks were handing out loans to folks who couldn’t afford it.

Of course when the government stays out of it, other banks like Chase will buy up the shattered remnants and now be even larger. What if Chase is next?

https://finance.yahoo.com/inflation-grocery-prices-decline-again-in-april-including-milk-hot-dogs--and-eggs-141756139.html
Inflation: Grocery prices decline again in April, including milk, hot dogs — and eggs!

Grocery prices saw another decline in the month of April, falling 0.2% month-over-month.

The sort-of-bad news: Year-over-year prices are still up 7.1%. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) April Consumer Price Index (CPI) published Wednesday morning.

Still, these increases far lower than the highs seen in August 2022, back when grocery prices were up 13.5% year-over-year.

"The deceleration has been pretty consistent and sort of steep over the last several months," BLS economist Steve Reed told Yahoo Finance. Last month, grocery prices were down 0.3% in March compared to February on a seasonally adjusted basis.

But don't get too excited yet. Reed said "it would take several monthly declines" to have a negative decline year-over-year.

Additionally overall food inflation remains higher — rising 7.7% year-over-year in April. Prices for food were flat month-over month. Food away from home, such as at restaurants and bars, saw prices rise 8.6% year-over-year in April and up 0.4% month-over-month seasonally adjusted.

Here's what led the downward trend, on a month-over-month basis: Milk (-2.0%); fresh fruits (-0.5%) driven by citrus fruits (-2.7%), frankfurters (-2.9%), pork (-1.2%) driven lower by bacon (-2.2%), fish and seafood (-0.7%) — shelf stable fish and seafood saw a 1.7% decline — and nonalcoholic beverages and beverage materials (-0.1%), reflecting a 1% decline in frozen noncarbonated juices and drinks.

Coffee also saw a 1.4% decline month-over-month.

I know it’s difficult for most people to do. But really try to put your personal opinions aside about Trump’s personality and character when it comes to the question of inflation and the economy. I will be the first to admit Trump’s a scumbag and a self-centered one at that. Although I also believe Biden’s character is even worse (and the media protects him) I again will admit that Trump is a narcissist. I do NOT want to see him run against Biden again. No.

However back to the economy. I do not think everything would be wonderful right now if Trump was in office. However things would be much better. The government CAN f*ck up the economy and this how Biden did it:

• Insane spending on bs most Americans don’t want or need. The giant oxymoron “the inflation reduction act” is exactly the last thing our country needs. But it got passed anyway thanks to Joe Manchin caving to bs promises. This should have been called the inflation expansion act. $1.2 trillion of taxpayer money we can’t afford spent on bs we don’t need.
• Onerous regulation on domestic oil drilling which skyrocketed energy costs. Yes global warming is real. But you can not destroy our economy thinking that will “solve” global warming. But Biden’s suggestion is for everybody to go out and buy a $80k electric car (he really did say that). Energy costs get factored into everything and it directly contributed to inflation.
• Reckless and disasterous pull out of Afghanistan which emboldened Putin to invade the Ukraine. So if Trump and Putin were supposedly in bed then why didn’t Putin invade the Ukraine while Trump was in office and not Biden? Trump would of went soft on Russia right? No Putin felt emboldened to invade after Biden demonstrated pure fecklessness on the world stage with Afganistán. This lead to the war and skyrocketing energy costs given Russia is a huge exporter of oil. This wouldn’t of happened under Trump.

Try to leave feelings aside and think about your own personal life. Have things gotten better or worse for you?

Overall things have gotten much more difficult in my own life. Ever since Biden took over I’ve had the following happen:

• Inflation has devastated my real earnings. I have only gotten two tiny 2% raises at my company in the last 3 years. However like everybody my own expenses have skyrocketed. I am not wealthy but I am trying to be upper middle class. The Biden administrations policies have now knocked me down a peg or two where everything is much more of a struggle. I have much less savings
• I work in the tech sector and there has been a ton of paranoia and stress. The direct company I work for is actually outperforming expectations. However the conglomerate who acquired us is suffering and pushing undeserved suffering on us as a result (no raises, less benefits, etc.). This is the hardest I’ve worked in 7 years with zero appreciation.
• Although I work 100% remote I was forced to vaccinate two years ago. I was on the fence about this initially however as a condition of employment I was left no choice. This was direct Biden mandate and was authoritarian. The fact I had no choice really pissed me off.
• Homeless and crime has skyrocketed in my home state (which has gone far left in the last few years). Fortunately I live in a nice and overall safe neighborhood. However the crap is starting to make out to where I live. I see more and more sketchy people at the grocery stores and there has been in increasing reports of crime. Now I know that’s local not federal politics. But still the “woke” attitude has infiltrated my state and the Biden administration propagated this crap.
• I was recently forced to take a DEI course at my job online. This was mandated company wide. For the most part I don’t care. But they got deep in the “non binary/trans” section. The “lesson” made up a definition that “gender is socially created” which I believe is complete bullshit.