I probably should be happy about this, but I really don’t care. This seems like something that’s more important to experts and academics. Regardless of what the official indicators say, something just doesn’t seem right to me. I can’t necessarily quantify it or express it through some equation, something just feels…wrong.
It’s because this is a manufactured inflation (imo) that companies have created by greedy price gouging.
To imply that we should be rejoicing at the fact that companies are starting to drop prices slightly (even though the average person is struggling to afford GROCERIES) is quite frankly, disgusting.
No, we should be taking this as what it is: the world’s smallest W. Take it, have a beer or a smoke if you’ve got them, and go back to being angry tomorrow.
There’s recent research showing that may not be the case entirely, though that’s not to say price gouging isn’t happening in places.
Corporate price gouging has not been a primary driver of U.S. inflation, according to research published on Monday by economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
While markups for motor vehicles and petroleum products did rise sharply during the 2021-2022 inflation surge, markups across the entire spectrum of U.S. goods and services have been relatively flat during the post-pandemic recovery, the bank’s latest Economic Letter showed.
“As such, rising markups have not been a main driver of the recent surge and subsequent decline in inflation during the current recovery,” wrote the bank’s research chief Sylvain Leduc and colleagues Huiyu Li and Zheng Liu.
Why are you being downvoted? Is there something I’m missing with the generally accepted reliability of the source or the methodology in the research?
Where is the research in the article? It’s basically citing one paper, and not really telling what its title is so you can’t just review it to make sure it’s valid and not missing something.
Thanks for linking, it was just suspect that it wasn’t linked in the Reuters article (I know it Reuters, but even then if it’s a claim that might be challenged they should link to the research).
The source reporting on the study should lend itself to the veracity of the information. I think there’s a bit of shooting the messenger going on. I trust Reuters as a reliable source of information, and if the study were lacking I feel it would be noted. The study was published in May, so I would hope if there were holes in the report they would have surfaced by now.
From where did you glean that someone thinks you should be rejoicing?
I could have sworn that this was the version I read, but they may have deleted it and posted a different article on the same topic.
We did it, y’all! Get the Champagne on ice and gather the townsfolk because America hath slain the beast known as inflation. (Or, at least, it’s hit a turning point.)
Huzzah! Maximum employment and price stability? Let’s party.
But wait — what’s that I hear? Not the riotous cheers of American consumers dancing in the streets. Not a chorus of workers singing about the strongest labor market of their lifetimes, and no — I can’t even pick up on the sound of what I’m sure is an army of economists demanding sainthood for Jay Powell. Instead, the single best economic news of the past decade is but a murmur of chit-chat, barely audible against a clamor of politicos shouting about President Joe Biden’s age.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/might-just-missed-earth-shattering-095630768.html
The article we’re responding to here is a Reuters article that states the facts. You just linked to a poorly written CNN op-ed hosted on Yahoo
This was the original article that was uploaded, that I read. I assume they took it down and posted the Reuters article in its place.
So would you rather respond to that article or the posted one? Because the article you’re citing was written with a humorous bent, which I thought would bring some levity. But instead I see it’s taken seriously, so I suppose it was right to go down.
And it was the CNN article for those keeping score, not Yahoo.
I can say for myself, I’m certainly not apathetic towards progress.
But is it really progress, or did the price of everything jack up an it has come down just a bit because companys are finally getting the blowback they deserve as consumers reduce spending?
Yes, that’s progress.
Consumer price index falls 0.1% in June
CPI increases 3.0% year-on-year
Core CPI gains 0.1%; rises 3.3% year-on-year
Weekly jobless claims fall 17,000 to 222,000
Continuing claims decline 4,000 to 1.852 million
While that is a better trajectory, I do kind of have the mildly pessimistic view that a large part of the costs of good going down isn’t truly a positive sign for inflation, but the market forcing prices down due to decreased spending. I’m luckily in a decent position financially (my bills are paid, rent, while not cheap, is paid on time), but the cost of pretty much everything has become so much higher with not much of an increase in earning. If the minimum wage were forced up it would probably help, but idk, every person I’ve talked (in person) about the issue with is pretty negative about the issue.
Minimum wage has seen positive movement in 2024, granted not everywhere. And a federal would definitely help.
On January 1, 22 states will increase their minimum wages, raising pay for an estimated 9.9 million workers. In total, workers will receive $6.95 billion in additional wages from state minimum wage increases. In addition, 38 cities and counties will increase their minimum wages on January 1 above their state’s wage floors, adding to the number of workers likely to see increased earnings. In the absence of federal action, states and localities continue to take the lead in advancing fairer wage floors via legislation, ballot measures, and automatic inflation adjustments.
The problem is we’ve had huge inflation for a long time now. Itstacks and accrues and gets compounded, and wages just arent keeping up.
Minimum wage went to 7.25 BEFORE the 08 housing crisis.
Well, congratulations on the good news, I suppose.
If you’re in the US, congrats yourself.
Don’t get me wrong, if these numbers are indicators that some people are going to experience less stress and that they will be less overwhelmed or that they will be made to feel more secure in their financial situation, I do think that is objectively a good thing and I’m happy for those people. It’s just that these numbers don’t make me feel any better about the economy or my personal financial situation. Maybe I should feel better, but I don’t. I generally feel pessimistic, and these numbers don’t change that.
Well, I’m sorry to hear that. I too hope this continues to unfold in the ways we’re seeing.
Nice. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend and it keeps going in the right direction.
This is like compulsive gambler logic - 48 losses in a row followed by 1 win - “Woohoo! I’m on a winning streak now!”
That’s kind of just how trends work. Economics indicators tend to lag, as it takes time for supply chains to adjust to conditions and changes.
Deflation is actually not a desirable thing anyway, so this isn’t actually necessarily a win. But I’ll take it anyway.
One month is not a “trend.”
It represents a break in the previous trend.
No, but the few years of inflation was. Now that trend is changing.
Or it’s noise.
True, though this is considered feeding into disinflation in the article, so it may not lead to ill effects of deflation.
U.S. consumer prices fell for the first time in four years in June amid cheaper gasoline and moderating rents, firmly putting disinflation back on track and drawing the Federal Reserve another step closer to cutting interest rates in September.
