On BIDE-O-NOMICS

thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 22, 2023 AT 8:57 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, people, are there adverse consequences to WE, THE AMERICAN people as a result of the massive BORROW-AND-SPEND program known today as BIDE-O-NOMICS, which is CORPORATE WELFARE on steroids?

Or is it really true that federal deficits no longer make any difference as Dick Cheney, father of Lizzie the Pelosi-ite WITCH HUNTER famously told Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill when he tried to warn Vice President Dick Cheney that growing budget deficits posed a threat to the economy, when Cheney cut him off, telling him, “You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter?”

Can we in fact, as a nation, continue to borrow and spend forever, continually increasing the federal deficit, and have endless government stimulus and CORPORATE WELFARE with absolutely no consequences whatsoever?

And that brings us to an article in The Hill titled “Feehery: Balanced budgets and the debt ceiling” by John Feehery, a partner at EFB Advocacy who served as spokesman to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), as communications director to former House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and as a speechwriter to former House Minority Leader Bob Michel (R-Ill.), on 02/21/23, where we had as follows on that question, to wit:

Dick Cheney once said, “Deficits don’t matter.”

If the polls are any indication, the American people largely agree with the former vice president.

If deficits don’t matter to the public or to the fiscal markets, why should House Republicans fight for a balanced budget that has little likelihood of being enacted into law and will set them up for a tough reelection campaign in 2024?

Why should Republicans fight for fiscal responsibility as part of a debt-limit extension, if nobody else will?

end quotes

And given reality, that is a very important question, and while Dick Cheney was a hack politician who looked at life through that distorted lens and could say anything he chose to say, any of the American people out there who don’t believe deficits make a difference, and the federal government can borrow and spend forever with no consequences are fools, plain and simple, because of course there are consequences, despite what those like “TOODLES” Yellen and Joe Biden who believe in Keynesian economics think.

And is the statement “deficits don’t matter to the public” an accurate statement in the first place?

Not according to an article from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation on February 20, 2020 titled “Do Voters Care About the National Debt? The Polls Say They Do,” where we havfe as follows:

Heading into the 2020 elections, the vast majority of Americans are urging leaders in Washington to address the unsustainable national debt and budget deficit.

end quotes

And quite obviously, neither Joe Biden nor “TOODLES” Yellen took any heed of that, and it made no difference, because Joe got elected, and that to him was all that mattered.

Going back to that article, it continued thusly:

Public concerns and calls for action on fiscal solutions have been measured in at least 11 different polls this year.

Here is a listing with highlights.

The Democracy Poll: 52% of voters think the national debt and deficit is the biggest economic problem, above inequality, wage stagnation and slow growth, and 82% said they even support the government reducing it in a recession.

The Economist/YouGov: 83% of Americans say the budget deficit is an important issue.

The latest Financial Times-Peterson US Economic Monitor Six in ten voters believe that management of the national debt is on the wrong track (38% right direction/62% wrong track).

Voters are most concerned about the debt’s effect on Social Security and Medicare, as well as the impact of interest on the debt on other priorities, including climate change, education, infrastructure and national defense.

The January Fiscal Confidence Index: 85% of voters say the president and Congress should spend more time focused on addressing the debt.

Three in four voters (78%) want it to be a top-three priority for the president and Congress, including 75% of Democrats, 79% of independents and 82% of Republicans.

Gallup: 95% of Americans worry about the budget deficit, including 50% a “great deal.”

The Hill-HarrisX poll: 52% of Americans said the federal budget deficit needs to be addressed, and the other 48% weren’t necessarily against addressing but said other things should be done first.

Morning Consult-POLITICO: More than four out of five voters consider reducing the federal budget deficit to be an important priority for Congress — more than any other issue asked about in the poll.

Morning Consult-POLITICO: Found that 75% of registered voters think that reducing the federal budget deficit is a “top priority” or an important priority.

Pew: 90% of Americans believe reducing the national debt should be a top or an important priority for the federal government to improve quality of life for future generations.

Pew: 53% of Americans think the Federal Budget Deficit is a “very big problem,” and 38% said it was a “moderately big problem.”

POLITICO-Harvard: Americans consider “substantially” reducing the federal budget deficit as a top-five domestic priority for President Trump and Congress.

Six in 10 Americans agree it is an “extremely important” or “very important” priority, including 60% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans.

With the national debt eclipsing $23 trillion, annual deficits above $1 trillion (and rising), and interest costs coming in at $1 billion every day, it’s no surprise that Americans feel strongly about the need to come together around solutions to put us on a more stable path.

Doing so will help build a strong economic future for our nation, with widely shared economic opportunity and prosperity.

end quotes

So it does appear that the American people really do care about the federal deficit, but to no avail, because under BIDE-O-NOMICS, the federal deficit continues to climb, while on August 14, 2023, in a Reuters article titled “Yellen says US economy on ‘right track,’ Bidenomics is driving investment, job growth” by Andrea Shalal, “TOODLES” Yellen told us everything is just ducky and rosy and we are doing great, so nothing to worry about here, people, to wit:

LAS VEGAS, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday argued that the Biden administration’s economic policies have been successful and are driving a boom in private-sector investment in the United States and powering historic job growth.

Yellen underscored the importance of the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act, which marks its anniversary on Wednesday, especially in a summer that has made headlines with record heat and climate change-related disasters.

end quote

For the record with respect to this “record heat” BULL**** we keep hearing as a justification for BIDE-O-NOMICS, it was FIFTY-THREE (53) degrees here this morning where I am, which is hardly “record heat.”

Going back to “TOODLES,” who can spew BULL**** with the best of them, having made her political career doing exactly that, we have more as follows, to wit:

“It’s our nation’s boldest-ever climate action.”

“And it is beginning to spark an economic renaissance in communities that had been left behind,” Yellen said at a union facility in Las Vegas, after touring a training center where workers are learning skills to work on clean-energy projects.

Yellen’s visit to Nevada, likely to be a battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, is part of a blitz by President Joe Biden and his cabinet to sell the successes of the IRA, a bipartisan infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act to voters.

The U.S. economy has outrun recession warnings with record-low unemployment, strong wage gains and better-than-expected GDP growth, but many voters who backed Biden in 2020 think the economy has fared poorly, and may not vote for him in the 2024 election, a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.

Yellen told members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) trade union that overall inflation and the unemployment rate had both dropped below 4%, and that the U.S. economy was continuing to expand.

“Workers are better off than they were last year.”

Yellen said the U.S. economy is on the “right track” as it continues to transition from rapid recovery to stable growth, although it was important to remain vigilant about potential challenges, particularly abroad.

“I still believe that there is a path to continue reducing inflation while maintaining a healthy labor market,” she said, adding that consumer sentiment was now at its highest level in almost two years.

“These are real Americans back at work – able to put food on the table, support their families, and save for retirement.”

Yellen said the IRA was delivering on a key goal – to revitalize communities that suffered industrial decline or were left behind – through targeted bonuses.

A Treasury analysis showed that investments in clean energy, electric vehicles and batteries under Biden’s watch had been concentrated in counties that had lagged the country in earnings, college graduation rates, and child poverty rates, she said.

She also touched on the challenges of transitioning away from fossil fuels, one of the goals of the IRA, which includes $500 billion in new spending and tax breaks that aim to boost clean energy, reduce healthcare costs and increase tax revenue.

Yellen emphasized the continuing resilience of the U.S. economy and the rebuilding of the U.S. manufacturing base, despite predictions by some that the economy would slip into recession.

end quotes

And with that statement about “TOODLES” Yellen emphasizing the “continuing resilience of the U.S. economy,” this is a good place to pause once again for station identification and a commercial break, and when we return, we’ll jump to a CNBC article titled “Mortgage rates hit their highest point since 2000” by Diana Olick on August 21, 2023, where we learn that mortgage rates jumped Monday, following a rise in bond yields driven by investors’ concerns that high interest rates and inflation will linger longer than expected.

And a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-Yields hit decade highs as higher rate concerns take hold” by Herbert Lash on August 21, 2023, where we learn that the yield on 10-year Treasury notes hit highs last seen during the Great Financial Crisis in 2007 on Monday amid a growing view that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer amid a resilient U.S. economy, so that the sell-off in Treasuries pushed the 30-year bond’s yield up to a 12-year high as the 10-year note touched 4.354%, the highest since November 2007, almost a year before the collapse of Lehman Brothers fully ushered in the Great Financial Crisis, while to finance BIDE-O-NOMICS, “TOODLES” sold $69 billion of 13-week bills at a high yield of 5.3% and $62 billion of 26-week bills at a high yield of 5.295%, so how about that for economy, people?'

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-836740
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 23, 2023 AT 5:04 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, yes, people – CONSEQUENCES!

And it is WE, THE AMERICAN PEOPLE who suffer those consequences, never the political hacks like Janet “TOODLES” Yellen, who cause them to happen, but are NEVER held to account, nor do they ever take any responsibility for their actions.

Which thought takes us to 19 August 2023, and a Daily Caller article titled “J.D. FOSTER: The Inflation Reduction Act Is More than A Farce, It’s A Call” by J.D. Foster, the Norman B. Ture Senior Fellow in the Economics of Fiscal Policy at The Heritage Foundation, coming to Heritage after a five-year stint as Chief Economist at the Office of Management and Budget during the George W. Bush Administration, where we have as follows concerning BIDE-O-NOMICS, to wit:

One year ago this week, President Joe Biden signed the most laughingly labeled legislation in modern history, the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The IRA is a big piece of Bidenomics, the new marketing ploy of Biden’s administration.

The IRA, like Bidenomics is all hat and no cattle as they say in Texas.

The IRA was a Christmas bill in August, doling out goodies to every feel-good scheme with a leftist lobbyist.

Inflation was soaring after years of relative calm while Congress fashioned the IRA, so naturally it became the Inflation Reduction Act, never mind it had nothing to do with reducing inflation, not in 2022, not in 2023, or ever.

View it as just one component of the Biden Spending Blowout trifecta which also includes the CHIPS and the mega infrastructure bills.

Together they help explain why the Congressional Budget Office projects the 2023 budget deficit to soar above $1.5 trillion, an increase of nearly 11% compared to 2022.

As important as are the soaring deficits, even more so is Bidenomics’ core tenet that government always knows best, and especially the federal government.

The three big spending bills are laced with credits, grants and special funding large and small to nudge and induce favored behaviors.

If you believe government really does know best and does best most of the time, then Joe Biden is your man.

If you find the idea preposterous and its application frightening, then you might consider rising up in opposition however you think best.

There is an election coming up.

It’s a start.

end quotes

And from there, we go to a Fox News story titled “NBC panel hammers the president over ‘Bidenomics,’ dismal polling: More like ‘Clinton in ’16′” by Hanna Panreck on 21 August 2023 where we have a dose of reality concerning BIDE-O-NOMICS, keeping in mind that NBC is very pro-Joe Biden, which makes this surprising, to wit:

NBC’s “Meet the Press” panel criticized President Biden on Sunday over his administration’s “Bidenomics” push, his refusal to comment on investigations into his son and his low poll numbers.

Lanhee Chen, a Hoover Institution fellow, said he was “confused” about the “Bidenomics” push.

“You’re trying to convince people of something, you’re trying to convince people their own impressions about the economy are wrong,” Chen said.

“And so, if you look, for example, at how Hispanic and Black voters feel about the economy, they’ll tell you it stinks.”

“Now they can keep saying, ‘but we have the CHIPS Act, but we have the IRA,’ at the end of the day, you can’t convince someone that they’re feeling, how they’re feeling about the economy is wrong,” he continued.

“And that’s what this election is going to come down to.”

“And I get they’re trying to present a proactive message but at the end of the day, it’s very difficult I think to do that when people feel, they simply feel differently.”

end quotes

CONSEQUENCES, people – and Joe Biden and his team don’t and can’t understand that, at all.

They believe we should all be cheering the fact that Joe Biden is peppering America with CHIP FABS, as if that is going to do the average person any good when the inflation caused by BIDE-O-NOMICS makes it difficult to pay one’s bills, which takes us to CNBC and an article titled “Mortgage rates hit their highest point since 2000” by Diana Olick on August 21, 2023, where we have the CONSEQUENCES of BIDE-O-NOMICS laid out for us in plain language, to wit:

Mortgage rates jumped Monday, following a rise in bond yields driven by investors’ concerns that high interest rates and inflation will linger longer than expected.

end quote

Ye, people, bond rates, those on the federal debt “TOODLES” is selling more and more of to keep her PONZI scheme afloat, where she needs to sell debt today to get money to pay back the people who bought debt yesterday, directly influence not only mortgage rates, but credit cards and auto loans, as well, and when the PROFLIGACY of the Biden regime drives up interest rates, as is happening right now, then up go mortgage rates, as well, which takes us back to that story, to wit:

The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage hit 7.48%, the highest level since November 2000, according to Mortgage News Daily.

It has risen 29 basis points in just the past week.

“Investors just aren’t seeing the kind of deterioration in economic data that they expected,” said Matthew Graham, chief operating officer of Mortgage News Daily.

He noted that the Federal Reserve wants to see the same deterioration before considering a policy shift, and that shift would likely favor short-term rates first.

“The net effect is that longer-term rates like 10-year Treasury yields and mortgages are bearing the brunt of the market’s negative rate sentiment.”

“This won’t change until the data forces the Fed to start talking about the first rate cut.”

Higher rates are hitting potential homebuyers hard, adding insult to the injury of Covid pandemic-inflated home prices.

Rates set more than a dozen record lows in 2020, setting off a homebuying spree that caused prices to rise over 40% from the start of the pandemic to the summer of 2022.

Prices pulled back slightly at the end of last year but are now increasing again due to still-strong demand and very lean supply.

Higher mortgage rates exacerbate the supply situation.

Current homeowners are reluctant to list their homes for sale because the vast majority of them have rates around or below 3%.

To move to another home would mean more than doubling that rate.

It has created what is now being called “golden handcuffs” among potential sellers.

For a buyer today, the difference in affordability from just a year ago is dramatic.

The average on the 30-year fixed last year at this time was around 5.5%.

For someone buying a $400,000 home, with 20% down on a 30-year fixed loan, the monthly payment today, with principal and interest, is roughly $420 more than it would have been a year ago.

More borrowers are now opting for adjustable-rate loans, which offer lower interest rates for shorter fixed terms.

The average rate on a 5-year ARM last week was 6.2%, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The ARM share of applications rose to 7%.

In 2020, when the 30-year fixed was setting multiple record lows, that share was less than 2%.

end quotes

So, here we are once again, going back to the ARM’s that caused the 2007-2008 economic crisis, which has me wondering if everybody in our federal government is insane, because what else can we call it?

And while people ponder the answer to that question, it is time to pause for station identification, and a word, or several, actually from all our corporate sponsors who have everything and then some to make your life totally complete, because by listening to them, and taking their advice, you’ll end up having better stuff than your neighbor does, and in America today, people, that is really what it is all about!

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-837047
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 24, 2023 AT 8:18 PM

Paul Plante says:

And here, by way of background, let us go back to August 14, 2023 and the Reuters article titled “Yellen says US economy on ‘right track,’ Bidenomics is driving investment, job growth” by Andrea Shalal, where we had “TOODLES” Yellen arguing that the Biden administration’s economic policies have been successful and are driving a boom in private-sector investment in the United States and powering historic job growth, while she emphasized the continuing resilience of the U.S. economy and the rebuilding of the U.S. manufacturing base, despite predictions by some that the economy would slip into recession, and from there, let us come forward in time, keeping in mind the effect high treasury yields have on our day-to-day lives, to a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-Yields hit decade highs as higher rate concerns take hold” by Herbert Lash on August 21, 2023, where we have reality as it is happening staring us right in the face, to wit:

NEW YORK, Aug 21 (Reuters) – The yield on 10-year Treasury notes hit highs last seen during the Great Financial Crisis in 2007 on Monday amid a growing view that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer amid a resilient U.S. economy.

end quote

Note that the Federal Reserve, which “TOODLES” was recently the head of, so you would think she would be able to make these same connections I am making, given it takes no more than a high school education to make them, will keep interest rates higher for longer amid the “resilient” U.S. economy being fueled by MASSIVE BORROW-AND-SPEND BIDE-O-NOMICS, so that the federal reserve is punishing us as it tries to dismantle what Joe Biden and “TOODLES” are trying to put together, which is insanity to me that we are paying the price for, which takes us back to that article, to wit:

The downgrade of U.S. government debt on Aug. 1 by Fitch Ratings Inc also raised the outlook for higher yields, said David Petrosinelli, senior fixed-income trader at InspereX in New York.

“Most of this, in terms of the big move (in yields) and the curve being less inverted and rates being higher led by the back end, is really part and parcel with the fiscal situation in the country,” he said.

“There’s no fiscal restraint in sight.”

end quotes

No fiscal restraint, people, and we are the ones paying the price for that as Joe Biden hands out massive CORPORATE WELFARE, as we see in this Reuters story titled “Micron says federal support necessary for Idaho, New York projects” on August 21, 2023, to wit:

Aug 21 (Reuters) – Micron Technology said on Monday federal funding and investment tax credits would be necessary to develop its memory chip manufacturing facilities in Boise, Idaho and Clay, New York.

President Joe Biden last year August signed a landmark bill to provide $52.7 billion in subsidies for U.S. semiconductor production and research.

end quotes

This is the same Micron that pays its CEO Sanjay Mehrotra a yearly compensation of $28.84M , comprised of 4.9% salary and 95.1% bonuses, including company stock and options, and on September 29, 2022, in its
“Micron Technology, Inc. Reports Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of Fiscal 2022,” informed us as follows:

“In fiscal 2022, Micron generated record revenue of $30.8 billion and delivered our sixth consecutive year of positive free cash flow, allowing us to return a record $2.9 billion to our shareholders,” said Micron Technology President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra.

“Our technology and manufacturing leadership in both DRAM and NAND, deep customer relationships, diverse product portfolio, and strong balance sheet put Micron on solid footing to navigate the weakened near-term supply-demand environment.”

“We are taking decisive steps to reduce our supply growth including a nearly 50% wafer fab equipment capex cut versus last year, and we expect to emerge from this downcycle well positioned to capitalize on the long-term demand for memory and storage.”

end quotes

So why, people, do they need us to help them build their CHIP FABS?

Moving right along, we come to a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-US Treasury rout festers on deficit spending, higher for longer concerns” by Herbert Lash on August 22, 2023 for some more reality facing us, to wit:

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields eased on Tuesday after the benchmark hit almost 16-year highs overnight as a bond rout simmers on concerns the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates higher for longer and the government fiscal deficit will widen.

end quotes

The government fiscal deficit is widening because of BORROW-AND-SPEND BIDE-O-NOMICS and Joe’s MASSIVE CORPORATE WELFARE to corporations like Micron and its stockholders, and let us not kid ourselves about that fact, which takes us back to that story, to wit:

“With the Fed on the march, not necessarily to hike rates in September, but to keep rates higher, buyers haven’t been as willing to come in and pick up these yield levels,” said Kim Rupert, managing director of global fixed income at Action Economics in San Francisco.

“There’s almost a perfect storm against Treasuries,” she said.

“With the Treasury refunding, they put it in black and white, the borrowing needs, the market gulped and said ‘Well, maybe this is not a good thing’.”

The Fed’s overnight lending rate is now seen above 5% into June.

Washington also needs to borrow ever more to fund its $1.6 trillion budget deficit, and lenders are demanding higher returns over and above inflation.

That has pushed real yields up.

end quotes

And as those real yields go up, it is we, the people, who take the screwing, which takes us next to another Reuters article titled “Strong US data makes ‘reacceleration scenario’ possible, Fed’s Barkin says” by Howard Schneider on August 22, 2023, where we see what the future might hold for us as a result of BIDE-O-NOMICS, to wit:

DANVILLE, Virginia, Aug 22 (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve must be open to the possibility that the economy will begin to reaccelerate rather than slow, with potential implications for the U.S. central bank’s inflation fight, Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said on Tuesday.

Since the last policy meeting in July, for example, the yields on long-term and 2-year U.S. Treasuries have risen sharply, raising borrowing costs for households and businesses.

end quotes

And does anyone wonder why it is they seem to be getting more and more behind thanks to Joe Biden’s “resilient” economy?

Go figure, which in turn takes us to more reality from Reuters in the story titled “From stocks to bitcoin, soaring US yields cast shadow over risk asset rally” by David Randall and Lewis Krauskopf on August 22, 2023, to wit:

NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) – Surging U.S. Treasury yields are sending shudders through riskier areas of the market, leaving investors to wonder how badly it will dent a rally that has lifted everything from stocks to bitcoin this year.

Higher Treasury yields – which move inversely to bond prices – can take the shine off speculative assets by offering investors attractive payouts on an investment seen as basically risk free because it is backed by the U.S. government.

Rising rates also increase the cost of capital throughout the economy, making it more difficult for everyone from individuals to companies to service debt.

end quotes

And then we go to a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-Treasury yields slip on weak PMI data, economic outlook” by Herbert Lash on August 23, 2023, where we have as follows with regard to this supposedly “resilient” economy, as the chickens of inflation come home to roost, to wit:

NEW YORK, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Treasury yields slid on Wednesday after weak U.S. and European business activity signaled global disinflation as markets await possible indications of where the Federal Reserve sees interest rates ahead of its annual summit at Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

U.S. business activity approached the stagnation point in August, with growth at its weakest since February, as demand for new business in the vast service sector contracted, while the downturn in euro zone activity was far deeper than expected.

“What the market is starting to confront in the last few days is maybe we got it all wrong,” Thierry Wizman, global FX and interest rates strategist at Macquarie in New York said of a narrative painting an exceptionally strong U.S. economy.

“Maybe what’s happening here is that we’re going to get lower inflation, but we’re going to get it in the context of a soft economy in Europe, in China especially, and potentially also in the U.S. by extension.”

end quotes

And from there we go again to Reuters and a story titled “Indexes end sharply higher; AI chip maker Nvidia jumps again after the bell” by Caroline Valetkevitch on August 23, 2023 where we have as follows:

Data showed U.S. business activity approached the stagnation point in August, with growth at its weakest since February, as demand for new business in the vast service sector contracted, while the downturn in euro zone activity was far deeper than expected.

end quotes

May we always live in interesting times, people!

But stay tuned, because this is all live and late-breaking with more yet to come as Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin demonstrates for us just how ignorant someone can be and still be a high-ranking federal reserve official with tremendous power over our lives and our futures.

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-837483
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 25, 2023 AT 6:29 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, yes, people, next up is Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin demonstrating for us just how ignorant and totally clueless someone can be today, and for that very reason, still be a high-ranking federal reserve official with tremendous power over our lives and our futures, but before we get there, I would like to quote from two separate newspaper articles on that subject of who can and who can’t be a public official in government in America today.

The first is an editorial from the Troy Record in New York state on 4 April 1989 titled “Give Paul Plante a break” which accurately explains exactly why it is that I am not allowed to be a public official at any level of government in America today, to wit:

Trying to form an opinion on the entire Paul Plante episode is an exercise in frustration.

This much is pretty clear: He is headstrong, possesses a pretty good temper and is honest to a fault.

The latter has not been challenged even by his attackers.

As a matter of fact, that appears to be the bone they have to pick with him – that he is too honest and is unyielding in his honesty.

What this has meant to Mr. Plante is that he is being attacked from all sides and, to defend himself against the attacks, he has expended all his financial resources.

end quotes

Yes, people, in America today, being unyielding in one’s honesty while a public official is a very serious crime, for which in my case, I was not only stripped of my means of earning a living, but was stripped of my accrued pension money, as well, to make me an object lesson to anyone else out there foolish and stupid enough to think or believe that honesty is the best policy in a public official, which then takes us to the other side of that equation, somebody who did do things the right way as a public official, the way things are supposed to be done, this in an Albany, New York Times Union article titled “Feeding off taxpayers no crime, lawyer says – Cronyism, big spending called usual government practice at Strevell trial” by James M. Odato on January 18, 2007, to wit:

A defense lawyer for the Rensselaer County entrepreneur whose organization got more than $1 million in member item grants directed by Sen. Joseph L. Bruno is arguing in federal court that dishonesty isn’t necessarily a federal offense.

William P. Fanciullo, lawyer for J. Felix Strevell, the former director of the now-defunct Institute for Entrepreneurship, also said that Strevell’s actions, including putting relatives on the state payroll, were normal practices in government.

Fanciullo asserted that the U.S. attorney’s case against Strevell is full of allegations that should not be classified as federal crimes.

Strevell is charged with nine counts of mail fraud and six counts of wire fraud.

The case before U.S. District Court Justice Gary L. Sharpe centers on Strevell’s lavish spending on himself and on parties that honored lawmakers who helped him get public money.

Among its funding sources, the institute received two $500,000 discretionary grants, known as member items, through Bruno in 1999 and 2001.

Strevell allegedly misused some of the $8 million in mostly taxpayer funds raised by the institute during his reign from 1998 to 2001, when he and his brother, Chauncey, the former chief operating officer, abruptly quit.

While at the institute, Strevell hired friends, relatives of powerful Republicans, his daughter and his daughter’s boyfriend.

He also used institute funds to purchase clothing and trips for himself and family members.

end quotes

And that dude got a free ride for doing things the way they really are to be done in government in America today, which then takes us to a CNBC article titled “10-year Treasury yield eases Tuesday as investors consider interest rate outlook” by Pia Singh and Sophie Kiderlin on August 22, 2023 where we are treated to the following, to wit:

Richmond Fed president Thomas Barkin said Tuesday that the Fed needs to defend the 2% inflation target to preserve its credibility with the public.

“We have one big weapon and that is credibility,” Barkin said to the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce.

“There is nothing magic about 2 except that when you set that as a target you probably want to achieve it.”

end quotes

Now, first of all, the clueless dude is joshing us when he tells us the federal reserve has credibility, when the reality is, it has none at all, and hasn’t for years now.

The federal reserve lost whatever shreds of credibility it might have had when it was caught sleeping at the switch in 2007 during the housing market crash, which story is told in an article in The Economist titled “Desperate measures – A whiff of panic as the Fed cuts rates” on January 22nd, 2008.

And it made a mockery of itself more recently when it wrongly stated that inflation was “transitory,” when in a Reuters article titled “Two Fed officials tentatively embrace bond yield jump” by Michael S. Derby on August 24, 2023, we were told that Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker sees inflation cooling to 4% this year, 3% next year and back to the central bank’s 2% goal in 2025.

But where I want to go is to Barkin’s lunatic statement that “There is nothing magic about 2 except that when you set that as a target you probably want to achieve it.”

Why is it a lunatic statement which shows the dude is out of touch with reality?

For that answer, let’s go to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis article “The Fed’s Inflation Target: Why 2 Percent?” by Kristie M. Engemann on January 16, 2019, where we have what Barkin should not be ignorant of with his stupid statement about there being nothing magic about a 2 percent inflation rate, to wit:

A recent Open Vault post explained that the Federal Reserve has a so-called dual mandate for monetary policy — maximum employment and price stability.

The latter, price stability, is often interpreted to mean low and stable inflation.

To meet the price stability objective, Federal Reserve policymakers target an inflation rate of 2 percent.

This post discusses some basics on inflation, such as what inflation is and how it is measured.

It also discusses the Fed’s inflation target, how it came to be, what it means and why the Fed targets a positive number instead of zero percent inflation.

How the Fed’s 2 Percent Inflation Target Came to Be

As mentioned earlier, the FOMC interprets an inflation rate of 2 percent as consistent with price stability.

As such, the FOMC adopted an explicit inflation target of 2 percent in January 2012.

In the 2016 version of the statement on longer-run goals (PDF), the FOMC clarified that its inflation target is symmetric (in other words, it isn’t a floor or a ceiling).

The FOMC added: “The Committee would be concerned if inflation were running persistently above or below this objective.”

Although the FOMC didn’t explicitly name an inflation target until 2012, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard has argued that the U.S. had “an implicit inflation target of 2 percent after 1995.” (See Bullard’s presentation from Sept. 12, 2018. In that presentation, he also noted that 2 percent became an international standard in the inflation targeting era that began in the 1990s.)

end quotes

So if the FOMC, of which Barkin is a member, interprets an inflation rate of 2 percent as consistent with price stability, why then other than the fact that he is a clueless idiot who knows nothing about federal reserve policy, would he tell us there is nothing magic about 2 percent?

And that takes us to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System article “Why does the Federal Reserve aim for inflation of 2 percent over the longer run?” where we have as follows:

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) judges that inflation of 2 percent over the longer run, as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, is most consistent with the Federal Reserve’s mandate for maximum employment and price stability.

When households and businesses can reasonably expect inflation to remain low and stable, they are able to make sound decisions regarding saving, borrowing, and investment, which contributes to a well-functioning economy.

For many years, inflation in the United States has run below the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent goal.

It is understandable that higher prices for essential items, such as food, gasoline, and shelter, add to the burdens faced by many families, especially those struggling with lost jobs and incomes.

At the same time, inflation that is too low can weaken the economy.

When inflation runs well below its desired level, households and businesses will come to expect this over time, pushing expectations for inflation in the future below the Federal Reserve’s longer-run inflation goal.

This can pull actual inflation even lower, resulting in a cycle of ever-lower inflation and inflation expectations.

If inflation expectations fall, interest rates would decline too.

In turn, there would be less room to cut interest rates to boost employment during an economic downturn.

Evidence from around the world suggests that once this problem sets in, it can be very difficult to overcome.

To address this challenge, following periods when inflation has been running persistently below 2 percent, appropriate monetary policy will likely aim to achieve inflation modestly above 2 percent for some time.

By seeking inflation that averages 2 percent over time, the FOMC will help to ensure longer-run inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent.

end quotes

And there I will again pause for station identification.

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-837883
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 26, 2023 AT 10:34 PM

Paul R Plante, NYSPE says:

So think about it, people, if as was proved in federal court, the “law of the land,” public officials feeding off the taxpayers is no crime, and dishonesty isn’t a federal offense, while being unyielding in one’s honesty while a public official clearly is a very serious federal offense as I proved all the way to the federal 2d Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City, while putting relatives on the state payroll is a normal practice in government, as is lavish spending on oneself and on parties that honor lawmakers who help one get public money, as is using public funds to purchase clothing and trips for oneself and family members, which means that we, the American people have NO RIGHT to an expectation of honest services from government officials, a supposed “intangible right of honest services,” why should we then believe a single word any and all public officials say, starting with Joe Biden himself, when clearly, they can lie through their teeth to us with impunity to secure gobs of federal funds, as is the case with Joe Biden’s so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” which his treasury secretary Janet “TOODLES” Yellen touted as “our nation’s boldest-ever climate action?”

Consider a POLITICO article titled “Biden says he has ‘practically’ declared a climate emergency” by Kelly Garrity on 08/09/2023, where we have as follows, to wit:

President Joe Biden said he has already “practically” declared a climate emergency.

But he has yet to actually make a declaration, which would give him a host of new powers to combat climate change as the country faces record-breaking heat and more frequent and intense floods, droughts and wildfires.

“We’ve already done that,” Biden said Wednesday when asked whether he was prepared to declare a national climate emergency during an interview on The Weather Channel.

end quotes

As to this so-called “record-breaking heat,” it has been down in the 50’s in the morning up here where I am to the north of sultry Cape Charles, which is hardly “record-breaking” heat, and as I type these words, it is about 80 degrees outside, which is not hot for August.

And here we have to consider that the MASSIVE BORROW-AND-SPEND fiscal program now known as BIDE-O-NOMICS is based on there being a “climate emergency.”

So when Joe Biden tells us we need BIDE-O-NOMICS because of a climate emergency that Joe, himself no scientist, tells us exists as the justification for him to be able to borrow and spend massive amounts of money to “combat” it, what exactly is he basing that declaration on?

How about an “industry” created with government money which takes us to an article by OPlaneta titled “Manufactured Climate Consensus Deemed False By Climate Scientist – ‘The Time For Debate Has Ended'” by Olawale Ogunjimi on 26 August 2023, where we have the following to consider, to wit:

Is there really a man-made global warming crisis?

Although the urgency surrounding hundreds of international environment conferences could make such a question seem ridiculous, some leading scientists warn that the global warming panic is all a big scam.

For many years, the world seemed to have reached a climate consensus about the growing threat to the environment.

With the support of an overwhelming majority of world-renowned scientists, various treaties have been borne.

The United Nations is leading the charge with this climate consensus, and its core message has been pretty clear.

The environment is under human threat, and we have to “act now!”

But is that really true?

Some top-level scientists have come out to refute these claims.

One of them is Dr. John Clauser, a renowned physicist and Nobel Prize winner.

He vehemently opposes the notion of a man-made climate crisis.

In fact, he believes it’s all a deliberate hoax.

The Nobel Laureate is strongly joined by the founder of the Weather Channel, John Coleman.

The now-late veteran weatherman who has spent most of his life analyzing weather changes has something interesting to say.

“Climate change is not happening; there is no significant man-made global warming now, there hasn’t been any in the past, and there is no reason to expect any in the future,” he declared.

The flames of dissenting statements such as these have always been doused by online fact-checkers.

But these online information moderators have been unable to hide the smoke.

The chorus of heretical views has gotten even louder in the past few years.

Just recently, another leading dissident voice joined the party.

American climatologist Judith Curry is making her doubts known loud and clear.

In over a hundred scientific papers, the Georgia Institute of Technology professor emerita has described the consensus as “manufactured.”

According to her, “the time for debate has ended.”

She also had scathing criticisms of her colleagues in the science world.

She has accused other scientists of deceptively fuelling the man-made climate emergency for “fame and fortune.”

Professor Curry has also bravely opened a can of worms concerning the science world.

She has exposed what she described as a “climate change industry” where scientists have become puppets of politicians and moneybags.

No doubt, these are grave allegations.

But they are allegations she has backed up with her own experiences.

Professor Curry, who also claims to have been part of the industry, went on to narrate her experience.

She admitted to being recruited to fuel the climate hysteria.

“I was adopted by the environmental advocacy groups and the alarmists, and I was treated like a rock star.”

“Flown all over the place to meet with politicians.”

“Like a good scientist, I investigated,” she said.

Professor Curry has been involved in years of research involving aspects such as atmospheric modeling, hurricanes, remote sensing, climate models, and lots more.

She claims that her defection hasn’t come without a price.

Scientists who will not play ball will lose out on millions of dollars in grants as well as recognition.

According to her, the “industry” only rewards scientists who are ready to raise the false alarm.

Every year, the UN, as well as other bodies, fork out billions of dollars to organize climate change conferences.

Could these elaborate arrangements be built on lies and misconceptions being pushed by some secret puppeteers?

It’s up to you to decide.

end quotes

And here, we again pause for station identification, but as always, stay tuned!

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-838345
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 27, 2023 AT 8:15 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, people, however you want to look at this, to use a metaphor, the train has now left the station, and the ball is in play, and NOBODY, starting with the Biden regime and the fools on the federal reserve, knows what is going on, they are knee-jerking, which means nobody is in charge of what will be our collective future in this country, which takes us to a Bloomberg article titled “US Budget Deficits Are Exploding Like Never Before” by Liz Capo McCormick, Erik Wasson, Christopher Condon and Alexandre Tanzi on 25 August 2023, where we have this look at the objective reality facing all of us today and more importantly, tomorrow, when the chickens of PROFLIGACY on the part of Washington hack politicians with no sense of responsibility come home to roost, as they always do, to wit:

(Bloomberg Businessweek) — American politicians are keener than ever to juice the economy with government cash, a shift that’s already helping to drive up borrowing costs and looks likely to keep them high long after the inflation emergency is over.

The outlook for the federal budget right now is essentially unprecedented — crisis-size deficits as far as the eye can see, even though the economy appears to be in good health.

That prospect is making investors uneasy, as demonstrated by yields on benchmark 10-year Treasuries climbing above 4.3% this week, their highest levels since 2007.

Other borrowing costs are rising in tandem: The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage has surged above 7% for the first time in more than two decades.

end quotes

And we are to consider that “good fiscal management?”

If so, we are all insane, which may well be the real problem with this country today, which takes us back to Bloomberg, as follows:

Investors worry that sustained fiscal shortfalls on the scale projected by the Congressional Budget Office could push rates higher still — which only puts more pressure on public finances by adding to the government’s ballooning interest bills.

Concerns intensified this month after a one-two punch: The US Treasury ramped up debt issuance, heralding a supply deluge that’s likely to last several quarters, and Fitch Ratings unexpectedly downgraded America’s sovereign credit rating.

“How much debt is too much” is an old debate, and Wall Street has been grousing about Washington’s spending habits forever.

But there’s a new twist underlying the bond market angst.

This year’s surge in the deficit — which more than doubled, to $1.6 trillion, in the 10 months through July — looks like what happens when the government goes into recession-fighting mode.

end quotes

Keep that figure in mind when Joe Biden and TEAM BIDEN try to tell us that through BIDE-O-NOMICS, Joe has decreased the deficit, when in fact, he is causing it to skyrocket, to our detriment, which again takes us back to Bloomberg, to wit:

In a strong economy with low unemployment, American politicians “really have no impetus to think they need to change anything,” says Oksana Aronov, head of market strategy for alternative fixed income at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

“You have a tremendous amount of fiscal spending — an unprecedented amount in non-war times.”

“There are a lot of factors coming together to push long-end rates higher.”

The consequences stretch beyond the $25 trillion Treasury market.

end quotes

For the record, that $25 trillion Treasury market is the WALL OF DEBT confronting we, the American people, the 330 million of us, who are responsible for debt service on that debt, plus the debt, itself, which again takes us back to Bloomberg for the adverse consequences we are facing as a result, to wit:

American housing is now less affordable than at any time since the 1980s, and it will become even less so if rising yields on US government debt pull mortgage rates north of 8%.

Stocks may also suffer, since higher financing costs for corporations eat into profits.

“History tells us that no asset class is really going to escape this entirely,” Aronov says.

The main reason everyone’s paying more to borrow now is that the Fed has been ratcheting up interest rates for a year and a half to quell inflation.

The conventional wisdom is that the most rapid cycle of monetary tightening in four decades is near an end, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell could upend that assumption when he addresses fellow central bankers at the annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming on Friday.

Some economists and investors warn that the Biden administration’s fiscal spending — it’s pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into programs to bolster domestic manufacturing of electric cars and semiconductors, and to repair roads and bridges — could rekindle inflation and make it hard for the Fed to dial back its rate hikes.

The upshot is that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office expects the deficit to expand to roughly 6% of gross domestic product this year — and to stay in that ballpark for the next 10 years.

For context, in the six decades or so between the aftermath of World War II and the 2008 crash, the shortfall never reached that level.

What’s changed is that fiscal policy is being used as a tool to prolong expansions and keep the economy humming, according to Doug Holtz-Eakin, a former CBO director who now heads the American Action Forum, a Republican-leaning think tank.

“During the 1980s and 1990s there was more of a focus on the long-term picture and making sure our fiscal house is in order,” he says.

“And they let the Fed take responsibility for the business cycle.”

end quotes

And in 2007, the federal reserve proved itself to be incompetent and untrustworthy with respect to responsibility for the business cycle, so that now, Joe Biden has assumed that responsibility for himself with his central planning through BIDE-O-NOMICS, which once more takes us to Bloomberg for information we should all be aware of, to wit:

Monetary and fiscal policies are intertwined in another important way, too: The government’s debt service costs are soaring as a result of the Fed’s rate hikes.

Net interest payments on federal debt have surged above $600 billion a year, from around $380 billion when the pandemic hit.

They now gobble up about 14% of tax revenue, a level that in the past spurred investors and Congress itself to demand more fiscal discipline, says Brian Rehling, head of global fixed income strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.

“Having more and more of your revenue consumed simply to pay your debt servicing costs to bondholders is not a very productive use of capital,” he says.

“Investors should take it seriously.”

Maturities on Treasuries have gotten shorter in recent years, so that almost one-third of the whole national debt needs to be rolled over within the next 12 months — likely at the new higher rates.

And that doesn’t take into account additional issuance to finance larger deficits.

In the current quarter, net borrowing is coming in at $1 trillion.

After adding up the debt arithmetic and political deadlock, Fitch knocked the grade on US sovereign debt down one level from AAA to AA+ on Aug. 1, predicting the country’s finances will likely deteriorate over the next three years and citing an “erosion of governance.”

end quotes

An “erosion of governance?”

HAH!

How about a complete lack of governance, instead!

And once again, time to take a pause for station identification and another commercial break where you will have ten uninterrupted hours of the best commercials the commercial-writing industry has ever come up with to inform you of everything you need to be one-up on your neighbors, and then we will be back with more.

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-838703
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 28, 2023 AT 8:24 PM

Paul Plante says:

And going back to this Bloomberg article titled “US Budget Deficits Are Exploding Like Never Before” by Liz Capo McCormick, Erik Wasson, Christopher Condon and Alexandre Tanzi on 25 August 2023, we have as follows by way of essential background, to wit:

The main reason everyone’s paying more to borrow now is that the Fed has been ratcheting up interest rates for a year and a half to quell inflation.

The conventional wisdom is that the most rapid cycle of monetary tightening in four decades is near an end, although Fed Chair Jerome Powell could upend that assumption when he addresses fellow central bankers at the annual Jackson Hole conference in Wyoming on Friday.

end quotes

And Friday having come and gone, let’s first go to the Reuters article titled “Analysis: Powell’s ‘higher for longer’ mantra fans investor caution over economy” by Davide Barbuscia and David Randall on August 25, 2023, to see where we now are as a result of that meeting, to wit:

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Friday did little to dissuade markets from the “higher for longer” mantra for rates that has driven up Treasury yields in recent weeks, leaving some investors looking for more cautious bets in case the economy is unable to escape a downturn next year.

Speaking at the Kansas City Fed’s annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell left open the possibility of further rate increases and stressed the U.S. economy’s surprising strength, though he acknowledged declines in the pace of inflation over the past year.

While more balanced than the Fed chair’s ultra-hawkish address at last year’s symposium at Jackson Hole, the speech nevertheless offered little solace to those hoping the central bank would nod towards eventual rate cuts in 2024.

Yields on the benchmark 10-year Treasury, which move inversely to bond prices, were basically unchanged on the day at 4.233%, though they remained near 16-year highs hit earlier this month.

Two-year yields – which are more closely linked to monetary policy expectations – added about four basis points.

The surge in bond yields over the last few months – driven by bets that the Fed will need to keep rates around current levels for longer than expected to prevent inflation from reigniting – has rippled out into the economy, pushing 30-year mortgage rates to their highest level in over 20 years while credit spreads, a measure of risk, widened slightly this month.

end quotes

So that was Friday, and to see just how schizophrenic (when schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation) the Federal Reserve is, as well as clueless, because they are making things up as they go, which is known as knee-jerking, let’s drop back in time to August 27, 2020 and a CNBC article titled “Powell announces new Fed approach to inflation that could keep rates lower for longer,” the exact opposite of where we are today, two years later, by Jeff Cox, where we have federal reserve insanity before our eyes, as follows; to wit:

The Federal Reserve announced a major policy shift Thursday, saying that it is willing to allow inflation to run hotter than normal in order to support the labor market and broader economy.

end quote

And now, the federal reserve is fighting to reduce inflation by raising rates, after letting inflation run hot by reducing rates, which the federal reserve laughingly calls maintaining price stability, which takes us back to CNBC as follows:

In a move that Chairman Jerome Powell called a “robust updating” of Fed policy, the central bank formally agreed to a policy of “average inflation targeting.”

That means it will allow inflation to run “moderately” above the Fed’s 2% goal “for some time” following periods when it has run below that objective.

The changes were codified in a policy blueprint called the “Statement on Longer-Run Goals and Monetary Policy Strategy,” first adopted in 2012, that has informed the Fed’s approach to interest rates and general economic growth.

As a practical matter, the move means the Fed will be less inclined to hike interest rates when the unemployment rate falls, so long as inflation does not creep up as well.

end quotes

Now, the federal reserve is trying to make the unemployment rate rise by raising rates in a bid to cool inflation, which brings us back to CNBC for more, as follows:

Central bank officials traditionally have believed that low unemployment leads to dangerously higher levels of inflation, and they’ve moved preemptively to head it off.

However, a speech Powell delivered to a virtual gathering of the Fed’s annual Jackson Hole, Wyoming, symposium, and accompanying documents that codified the new policy, signaled a shift away from the old thinking.

The policymaking Federal Open Market Commitee approved the changes unanimously.

“Many find it counterintuitive that the Fed would want to push up inflation,” Powell said in prepared remarks.

“However, inflation that is persistently too low can pose serious risks to the economy.”

Powell noted that the interest rate level that neither constrains nor pushes growth has fallen considerably over the years and is likely to stay there.

He contrasted the current situation to what the Fed faced 40 years ago, when then-Chairman Paul Volcker ushered through a controversial series of rate hikes that sought to tamp down inflation.

Over the years, fundamental changes in the economy, such as demographics and technology, have shifted the Fed’s focus to inflation that has run too low.

The situation, Powell said, “can lead to an unwelcome fall in longer-term inflation expectations, which, in turn, can pull actual inflation even lower, resulting in an adverse cycle of ever-lower inflation and inflation expectations.”

Policymakers, consequently, are left with little room to lower rates during times of economic stress.

Since the end of the financial crisis, the Fed has struggled to hit its 2% inflation target.

Officials hope that the new approach will change the landscape, raising expectations and allowing inflation to float higher as rates remain low.

“Right now, to put it in context, we have an unemployment rate that’s well above 10%,” said Kathy Jones, head of fixed income at Charles Schwab.

“The chances of seeing significant inflation anytime soon are quite slim.”

“With or without this policy change, the Fed was going to be at zero for a couple of years.”

end quotes

That was on August 27, 2020 when she was saying the chances of seeing significant inflation anytime soon were quite slim and just a year later, a worldwide increase in inflation began in mid-2021, with many countries seeing their highest inflation rates in decades.

And the federal reserve called it “transitory,” as did Joe Biden and Janet “TOODLES” Yellen.

Going back to CNBC, we have more as follows, to wit:

In addition to the shift on inflation, the Fed also announced a policy tweak that changes the approach to employment.

The new language says the approach to the jobs situation will be informed by the Fed’s “assessments of the shortfalls of employment from its maximum level.”

The prior language referred to “deviations” from the maximum level.

While the shift appears to be a matter of verbiage, Powell said it is significant.

“This change reflects our appreciation for the benefits of a strong labor market, particularly for many in low- and moderate-income communities,” he said.

“This change may appear subtle, but it reflects our view that a robust job market can be sustained without causing an outbreak of inflation.”

end quotes

Which is exactly opposite to what he is saying today, and there, once again, I will pause for station identification and another commercial break where you will learn about all the things you absolutely have to have to make your life complete so you will feel good about yourself and all warm and squishy inside, and then, we will be right back, so stay tuned and don’t touch that dial!

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-839085
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 29, 2023 AT 8:52 PM

Paul Plante says:

So, yes, people, following up on this statement from the Bloomberg article titled “US Budget Deficits Are Exploding Like Never Before” by Liz Capo McCormick, Erik Wasson, Christopher Condon and Alexandre Tanzi on 25 August 2023, that the main reason everyone, which means each and every one of us, is paying more to borrow now, is that the Fed has been ratcheting up interest rates for a year and a half to quell inflation, are we to then believe that BIDE-O-NOMICS or MASSIVE BORROW-AND-SPEND to fund CORPORATE WELFARE is the greatest thing to come along in our lives since the combination of pre-sliced white bread and Velveeta cheese made the job of an American housewife so much easier by eliminating the need to have to actually cook something, that burden having been relieved by corporate America that has only our well-being and happiness in mind?

Is BIDE-O-NOMICS really good for America and what ails it?

Or is it actually toxic, like a form of societal roach poison?

And how on earth are we poor common folks who aren’t Ph.D.’s in the field of economical studies like Janet “TOODLES” Yellen and Jay Powell of the federal reserve to even know?

To which I answer, gee, how about applying some old-fashioned common sense, which takes us to a Reuters article titled "TREASURIES-US yields drift lower ahead of key economic data” by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss on August 28, 2023, where we find as follows, to wit:

Monday’s auctions by the U.S. Treasury were mixed, with the $45 billion two-year note sale garnering more demand than the $46 billion five-year offering.

The two-year notes fetched a high yield of 5.024%, the highest in 17 years.

end quotes

Keep in mind, people, that it is we, the American people who are the ones paying those in America or the world rich enough to purchase that debt the 5.024% interest on a two-year treasury note, which is a form of taxation without any representation whatsoever.

And by way of comparison, on Jan 1, 2008, the same two-year notes were paying 2.48%.

On Jan 1, 2009, that had dropped to 0.81%.

Thereafter, on Jan 1, 2010, it was at 0.93%.

On Jan 1, 2011, it had fallen back to 0.61%, and from there, on Jan 1, 2012, it was at 0.24%.

On Jan 1, 2013, it had risen slightly to 0.27%, followed by 0.39% on Jan 1, 2014, 0.55% on Jan 1, 2015, 0.90% on Jan 1, 2016, 1.21% on Jan 1, 2017, 2.03% on Jan 1, 2018, 2.54% on Jan 1, 2019, falling back to 1.52% on Jan 1, 2020, and then down to 0.13% on Jan 1, 2021, followed by 0.98% on Jan 1, 2022.

So work that math out for yourselves and then ask yourself whether or not we as a people are better off with BIDE-O-NOMICS than without it, which takes us to another Reuters story titled “Post-pandemic, world facing gloomy stew of debt, trade wars and poor productivity” by Howard Schneider on August 28, 2023, where we have this glimpse of the future promised to us by BIDE-O-NOMICS, to wit:

JACKSON HOLE, Wyoming, Aug 28 (Reuters) – Record levels of government debt, geopolitical tensions that threaten to split the global trading system, and the likely persistence of weak productivity gains may saddle the world with a slow-growth future that stunts development in some countries even before it starts.

That sobering view of a post-pandemic global economy emerged from research organized by the Kansas City Federal Reserve and debated here this past weekend.

It explored issues like the outlook for technological innovation, public debt, and the state of international trade at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine and conflict between the U.S. and China have eroded a once-broad global agreement, at least in theory, to boost the free flow of goods and services.

“Countries are now in a more fragile environment.”

“They’ve used a lot of their fiscal resources to deal with a pandemic…”

“Then you have policy-driven forces, geoeconomic fragmentation, trade tensions, the decoupling between the West and China,” International Monetary Fund chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said in an interview on the sidelines of an annual Fed conference here.

Emerging industrial policies in the U.S. and elsewhere are reordering global production chains in ways that may be more durable or serve national security ends, but also be less efficient.

end quotes

For a view of the future promised by BIDE-O-NOMICS, focus on those words “emerging industrial policies in the U.S. are reordering global production chains in ways that also may be less efficient,” keeping in mind that less efficient means more expensive.

And that brings us to this Reuters article titled “US business borrowing for equipment falls 2% in July – survey” on August 28, 2023 for a further look at how the higher borrowing costs associated with BIDE-O-NOMICS are affecting the economy here in the U.S., to wit:

(Reuters) – U.S. companies borrowed nearly 2% less in July than last year to finance equipment investments, an Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA) survey showed on Monday.

The companies signed up for new loans, leases, and lines of credit worth $9.9 billion last month, compared with $10.1 billion a year earlier, the industry body’s survey said.

“In the current relatively high-interest rate environment in which the industry finds itself this summer, survey respondents are reporting some softness, coinciding with expectations by economists that overall investment in equipment and software will slow down in the second half of 2023,” ELFA Chief Executive Ralph Petta said.

ELFA, which reports economic activity for the nearly $1-trillion equipment finance sector, said credit approvals totaled 75.3%, down from 76.1% in June.

Washington-based ELFA’s leasing and finance index measures the volume of commercial equipment financed in the United States.

The index is based on a survey of 25 members, including Bank of America Corp and financing affiliates or units of Caterpillar Inc, Dell Technologies Inc, Siemens AG, Canon Inc and Volvo AB.

“Rising interest rate environments will slow consumer spending.”

“Cheap money notes that begin to expire will be replaced by more expensive money, and new investments will be reduced,” said Craig Ault, Honour Capital’s chief revenue officer.

end quotes

Rising interest rate environments will slow consumer spending while cheap money notes that begin to expire will be replaced by more expensive money, and new investments will be reduced!

So is BIDE-O-NOMICS taking us forwards or backwards, people?

And once again, time for a pause for station identification and a commercial break so you can get an idea what your neighbor might be planning to buy next, so you can get there before them and one-up them, even if you really didn’t need what you bought for yourself.

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-839480
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR AUGUST 30, 2023 AT 10:44 PM

Paul Plante says:

So yes, people, MASSIVE CORPORATE WELFARE on borrowed money!

That is the central core tenet (a principle or belief) of BIDE-O-NOMICS, which takes us to a Reuters article titled “Bosch CEO says US support needed for full expansion of California chip factory” by Sarah Wu and Stephen Nellis on August 30, 2023, where we have as follows, to wit:

SAN FRANCISCO/TAIPEI, Aug 30 (Reuters) – The top executive at German technology group Robert Bosch said on Wednesday the company needs subsidies from the U.S. government to carry out the full expansion it has planned for a California chip plant it is acquiring.

end quotes

According to my research, Bosch USA’s annual revenue is $84.9 Billion, and Bosch USA makes $232.5M in a day, while in a single month, Bosch USA normally makes close to $7.1B in revenue, which, of course, makes them a prime candidate for CORPORATE WELFARE from Joe Biden, on our dime, because it is we, the American people who foot the bill for BIDE-O-NOMICS, including the cost of the inflation caused by the massive spending related to all of the various components of BIDE-O-NOMICS, and with respect to inflation, don’t be fooled by this mantra of “oh, look, inflation is cooling.”

Yes, the rate of inflation is slowing, but it is not the rate of inflation that is coming from our pockets each time we buy something, it is the ever-rising costs caused by inflation, so while the rate of inflation might be cooling, prices are still going up, not down, as was reflected in the price of gas this last fill-up for me, which was up to $4.46 for gallon of 89-octane from $4.40 the week before.

Going back to the Reuters story, it continues as follows:

In April, Bosch said it planned to buy key assets of TSI Semiconductor’s chip production facilities in Roseville, California and invest $1.5 billion to retool the site to make silicon carbide chips, which can help boost the range of electric vehicles.

Production at the new company, called Robert Bosch Semiconductor LLC, will start in 2026.

On Wednesday, Bosch said the state of California has approved a $25 million tax credit for the factory.

In an interview during a trip to San Francisco, Bosch Chief Executive Stefan Hartung told Reuters that expanding the facility to the intended full size “depends on the support of the U.S. government, or the regional government or the California government.”

“And it is already supported by some, but obviously it needs more support.”

The TSI facility would become the “third pillar” of in-house semiconductor production, along with two sites in Germany, Bosch said.

Hartung said buying the California plant, which has been making chips since the 1980s and has produced automotive-grade chips for years, will speed Bosch’s entry into the race to make silicon carbide chips.

Demand for the chips is growing by 30% a year, the company said.

end quotes

So obviously, Bosch plans on making a profit from this operation, or they wouldn’t be making the investment.

So why do they then need we, the American people to “support” them?

Because it is the right thing for us to do?

As to the short-sighted nature of BIDE-O-NOMICS, and its author Joe Biden, known as a very shallow thinker, we have an America Insider article on the subject titled “Biden Releases Plan to Drive Economic Growth. There’s Just One Problem” by Claire O’Hare on 30 August 2023, where we have as follows:

Joe Biden says “Bidenomics” will help improve America’s economy despite two years of rising inflation.

In many cases, Democrats are focusing on combatting global warming.

According to NBC, there is one major problem: Industries receiving taxpayer dollars say they are “having difficulty finding enough workers to actually do the work.”

“While the administration expects the bill to drive the creation of millions of jobs in the coming decade, an apparent lack of blue-collar workers and rising supply costs could hamper projects that the administration has touted as signature achievements of its tenure,” the NBC report found.

During a speech about the bill, Biden said, “I also want to be clear: We are in this to win.”

end quotes

In this to win?

Win what?

Is this some kind of game Joe is playing?

And if so, how come he hasn’t told we, the American people about it, which takes us back to America Insider for this dose of reality and truth, to wit:

Ben Brubeck, ABC’s vice president of regulatory, labor and state affairs, said, “There’s a lot of concern that taxpayers aren’t really getting the best bargain for their investments.”

And amen to that, say I!

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-839889
thelivyjr
Site Admin
Posts: 74463
Joined: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:40 p

Re: On BIDE-O-NOMICS

Post by thelivyjr »

THE CAPE CHARLES MIRROR SEPTEMBER 1, 2023 AT 10:15 AM

Paul Plante says:

So, yes, people, BIDE-O-NOMICS is just another name for MASSIVE amounts of CORPORATE WELFARE on borrowed money, and as we see from a Reuters article titled “US offers $12 billion to auto makers, suppliers for advanced vehicles” by Timothy Gardner on August 31, 2023, who is handing out the CORPORATE WELFARE this time is Biden “energy secretary” Jennifer Granholm, a Canadian-American lawyer, educator, author, political commentator, and politician with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984 and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1987 who knows absolutely nothing whatsoever about energy, but notwithstanding, became Joe’s “energy secretary” because she is a proven party loyalist who was a member of the presidential transition team for Hussein Obama before he assumed office in 2009 and then she became host of “The War Room” with Jennifer Granholm, and in 2017, she was hired as a CNN political contributor, and more importantly, at least as far as Joe is concerned, because Joe made a campaign promise to select a team that “looks like America” and modernizes the predominantly male, white institution, she won the Miss San Carlos beauty pageant, and then as a young adult, she attempted to launch a Hollywood acting career but abandoned her efforts at age 21, and after that, in 1978, she appeared on The Dating Game, another top qualification to be a member of TEAM BIDEN (cue Bob Seger – Her Strut https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C51c0vuLEng ) and held jobs as a tour guide at Universal Studios and in customer service at the Los Angeles Times and was the first female tour guide at Marine World Africa USA in Redwood City, piloting boats with 25 tourists aboard.

Going back to Reuters, we learn as follows, to wit:

WASHINGTON, Aug 31 (Reuters) – The Biden administration is offering $12 billion in grants and loans for auto makers and suppliers to retrofit their plants to produce electric and other advanced vehicles, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said on Thursday.

The administration will also offer $3.5 billion in funding to domestic battery manufacturers, Granholm said.

For the advanced vehicles, $2 billion in grants will come from the Inflation Reduction Act which was passed by Democrats last year, and $10 billion in loans will derive from the Energy Department’s Loans Program Office.

end quotes

And that takes us to a Business Insider article titled “EVs are running out of customers — and some dealers don’t want them anymore” by Alexa St. John and Nora Naughton on 24 August 2023, where we find that by and large, the American people, for many good reasons, do not want these electric cars, to wit:

More electric vehicles are being pumped out of car factories than ever before – but some dealers don’t want them.

Electric car inventory has been piling up on dealership lots this year as companies up their EV production, leading some dealers to say enough is enough.

Some are telling automakers they don’t want any more until they can sell what’s sitting, several dealers told Insider.

“We have turned away EV inventory,” said Scott Kunes, COO of Kunes Auto and RV Group, which sells Detroit brands as well as Nissan and Mitsubishi in the Midwest.

Automakers are “asking us to make a large investment,” Kunes added, “and we’re just wanting to see some return on that investment.”

A switch from enthusiastic and wealthy early adopters to more apprehensive and budget-minded car shoppers is throwing the electric car transition for a loop, forcing car companies to change their outlooks and pull back on ambitious EV-production goals.

EVs have gone from shortages to near over-supply

Automakers are shoring up their factories to churn more of these cars out.

But demand isn’t growing at the same pace.

Even with record EV sales month after month, sales are plateauing as automakers try to target buyers beyond the early adopters: more mainstream consumers.

As a result, one East Coast Ford dealer previously told Insider they were only declining allocation of electric cars from the automaker.

One Hyundai dealer, on the West Coast, said they were also passing on EV-specific allocation, while another Hyundai dealer told Insider he anticipates having to turn away EVs soon.

In this round of growing pains for the electric car market, dealers are set up for the most trouble.

Car companies are likely to continue churning out the EVs they promised to investors, leaving dealers to figure out how to sell them to a new set of customers.

But the most savvy executives will heed this first warning from dealers about where the demand pendulum is swinging, analysts say.

“Dealers know in real time with real-time feedback what the market is doing,” Karl Brauer, an automotive analyst for iSeeCars, previously told Insider.

“They have always acted as the first warning lights on the dash for the automotive industry.”

end quotes

But that is reality, people, and in America under Joe Biden and his “beauty queen” energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, does reality really matter anymore?

And hey, how about inflation!

Yes, people, it is going UP, not down, as we see in a Reuters article titled “TREASURIES-US yields dip after inflation, jobless data; market awaits payrolls” by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss on August 31, 2023, to wit:

In the 12 months through July, the PCE price index gained 3.3% after climbing 3.0% in June.

The so-called core PCE price index increased 4.2% year-on-year in July after rising 4.1% in June.

end quotes

And according to a Reuters article titled “US consumer spending accelerates; declining savings a red flag” by Lucia Mutikani on August 31, 2023, we see as follows:

Food prices climbed 0.2% and energy edged up 0.1%.

end quote

And in that same article, we also see as follows, to wit:

With the saving rate dropping to 3.5% last month, the lowest since November 2022, the outlook for consumer spending is less robust.

The saving rate was at 4.3% in June.

Some of the drop in July was attributed to higher taxes, which left income at the disposal of households after accounting for inflation declining 0.2% last month.

end quotes

So while it is clear that CORPORATE AMERICA is finding itself doing quite well under BIDE-O-NOMICS, as are the rich in America, has BIDE-O-NOMICS made our lives better?

And back to station identification, and twelve continuous hours of commercials showing you all the things you would like to have but can’t afford because BIDE-O-NOMICS inflation has made them into luxury items, and then, we will be right back!

http://www.capecharlesmirror.com/op-ed- ... ent-840436
Post Reply