Subject: Re: The "Failing" Biden Economy
Again, there is a difference between price levels and the monthly or TTM inflation rate. The U.S. hadn't seen a rate of price increases like we had from mid-2021 to mid-2022 in forty years. The fact that those price spikes have now slipped outside the 12-month inflation comparisons doesn't lower prices. The two-year inflation rate, comparing 2023 prices to 2021 prices, is 13.5%. People are mad about that. The fact that the rate is lower in 2023 than it was in 2022 doesn't make them happier about that.

Plus, even the inflation rate is still doing badly - just not as badly as it was in 2022. Inflation at 3% is still higher than at any time since 2011. That's not great - and that's the best way of looking at inflation for the Administration.

And corporate profits have risen.

"'Excess profits' at big energy and consumer companies pushed up inflation, report claims. New research argues that the impact of companies maintaining margins by passing on higher prices to consumers should not be overlooked as a contributing factor to inflation."
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/0...

A chart:
https://randomterrabytes.net/2...

And I thought price fixing was a thing of the past. Rude awakening # 6254.

"The Attorney General’s Office secured $35.5 million in restitution through resolutions with 15 of the 19 broiler chicken producers named in a 2021 price-fixing lawsuit. These producers, accounting for approximately 95% of broiler chickens sold in the United States, engaged in a widespread illegal conspiracy to inflate and manipulate prices, rig contract bids, exchange information, and coordinate supply reductions to maximize profits. The lawsuit asserts violations of Washington state antitrust laws."

https://seattlemedium.com/atto...

“Greedflation.”

The term defines as what happens when businesses raise prices higher and faster than is needed to cover increases in their costs. We’ve reported before that soaring corporate profits have contributed more to inflation than the Federal Reserve Board’s preferred targets, wages and consumer demand. Two recent papers, however, measure their impact and identify some of the leading culprits by name.

https://www.latimes.com/busine...

I still think we're doing fine, but we need to take a good look at these capitalist assholes. This is anathema to the right.