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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Post Fact America

Post Fact America

by John Cole|  December 21, 20218:14 pm| 137 Comments

This post is in: Domestic Politics, Our Failed Media Experiment

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Right now, the economy is doing so well that we are literally lifting the rest of the world:

A booming U.S. economy is rippling around the world, leaving global supply chains struggling to keep up and pushing up prices.

The force of the American expansion is also inducing overseas companies to invest in the U.S., betting that the growth is still accelerating and will outpace other major economies.

U.S. consumers, flush with trillions of dollars of fiscal stimulus, are snapping up manufactured goods and scarce materials.

U.S. economic output is set to expand by more than 7% annualized in the final three months of the year, up from about 2% in the previous quarter, according to early output estimates published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. That compares with expected annualized growth of about 2% in the eurozone and 4% in China for the fourth quarter, according to JPMorgan Chase.

Major U.S. ports are processing almost one-fifth more container volume this year than they did in 2019, even as volumes at major European ports like Hamburg and Rotterdam are roughly flat or lag behind 2019 levels. The busiest U.S. container ports are leaping ahead of their counterparts in Asia and Europe in global rankings as volumes surge, according to shipping data provider Alphaliner.

And yet:

President Joe Biden is struggling in the minds of the American public. While his approval rating is down on a slew of issues, his difficulties are perhaps most noticeable on the economy.

Biden now sports the lowest net economic rating of any president at this point through their first term since at least Jimmy Carter in 1977.

In the latest CNN/SSRS poll, Biden comes in with a 44% approval rating to 55% disapproval rating among registered voters on his economic performance. This makes for a -9 point net approval rating. The average of all polls taken in December is quite similar with Biden at -13 points on the economy.

In our current post-truth media environment, Republicans get no blame for the shit they break, and Democrats get no credit for the things they fix. And I don’t know what to do about it.

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Reader Interactions

137Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    December 21, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    SNAFU.

  2. 2.

    Citizen Alan

    December 21, 2021 at 8:25 pm

    I genuinely wonder what George Orwell would say about all this. There is no real government censorship or control of the media. Instead, the media is all privately owned by business interests and is engaged collectively in a whole-sale Orwellian rewriting of reality in a way that would make the Ministry of Truth jealous. And for no reason I can see other than the fact that the rich private individuals and companies who own all these media outlets expect to profit more under a fascist dictatorship than under a democracy. We are living through 1984 reimagined as farce.

  3. 3.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 8:33 pm

    It’s inflation, guys. That’s why. Gas prices are still fairly high and rising prices are eating into people’s raises, if they got one

  4. 4.

    Baud

    December 21, 2021 at 8:34 pm

    The serfs can save their approval for when the GOP sends the back to the mud.

  5. 5.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Raises?? I keep hearing about those, but I’ve not seen one.

    People are buying in on the freak out over inflation.

  6. 6.

    E.

    December 21, 2021 at 8:36 pm

    @Citizen Alan: Right now we seem as a culture to prefer stories about brave and valiant saviors fighting against conspiratorial evil forces rather than stories about collective actions that make life better. The other side gets to tell the first story all the time. And we eat it up. The evil my neighbors see everywhere in politics is plainly made up, but they love it too much to let it go.

  7. 7.

    Nelle

    December 21, 2021 at 8:37 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Gas prices here in Iowa lowered before Thanksgiving and remain about 2.80 to 3.20 a gallon.  A lot of those whining about gas prices went out and bought huge trucks that get about 15 mpg.  I have no patience listening to them.

  8. 8.

    Raoul Paste

    December 21, 2021 at 8:38 pm

    Calling it “post fact” is too kind

  9. 9.

    guachi

    December 21, 2021 at 8:40 pm

    Yup. People are freaked out about inflation because it’s all over the news. I see lots and lots of RW whining about gas prices.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    December 21, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    Adjusting the gasoline price data to account for general price inflation produces a less dramatic story line than the one blaring on cable news. Real (that is, inflation-adjusted) U.S. gas prices are nowhere near all-time high. In today’s dollars, gas prices averaged more than $5 per gallon in the middle of 2008 and were over $4.50 for stretches of 2011 and 2012, compared with the national average Tuesday of $3.40.

  11. 11.

    Butter Emails!

    December 21, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    @Citizen Alan:

    Not sure that the wealthy asshats who own the media actually expect to profit more. Goldman Sachs was pretty quick to cut the economic outlook once Manchin announced he was torpedoing BBB. I think it’s just more important to them that the masses share in their delusions.

  12. 12.

    topclimber

    December 21, 2021 at 8:42 pm

    This might be a second try, but, re: polling–

    Sayings of Uncle Joe

    “Don’t compare me with the ideal candidate. Compare me with my opponent.”

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    @Nelle: when I bought my hybrid in 2015, two different friends who don’t know each other tried to talk me out of it on the grounds that it would take me X number of miles to break even because gas was so cheap. Cause the price of gas never goes up! also not my only consideration in buying a hybrid

    Even the Toyota salesman seemed to feel the need to walk me through that math. Maybe he was afraid I’d back out if I figured it out

  14. 14.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 21, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    The expert advice on this blog is that we are fucked forever and visible minorities are better off leaving for another country or at least a blue state. Forget the Republicans and the MSM, the message on blogs such as this one is one of constant doom

    Joe Biden was not my first choice but so far he has been excellent and we are in a far better place than we were under the Tangerine tyrant

    signed

    Visible and a vocal minority.

  15. 15.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 8:43 pm

    @Baud: Yes, with all due respect to Goku, it is not actual inflation that is a problem.

  16. 16.

    The Dangerman

    December 21, 2021 at 8:45 pm

    It’s all about the gas prices. Nobody really gives a shit that their groceries are up significantly…

    …but if gas goes up even slightly, a lot of Folks get pissed.

    I assume gas prices will normalize (I really have no idea what’s going on; I don’t watch the news other than hoping every morning that TFG’s had his ticket punched overnight).

  17. 17.

    zhena gogolia

    December 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: thanks ?

  18. 18.

    Starfish

    December 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    @guachi: It was the weirdest thing. When I saw my mom at Christmas, she was blaming inflation on the Dollar Tree raising their prices from a dollar to a dollar twenty-five. They decided to raise their prices after many years of maintaining their price point. Their decision was unrelated to inflation.

  19. 19.

    The Moar You Know

    December 21, 2021 at 8:48 pm

    Huh.  The media has chosen to finally notice now that the economy absolutely sucks for anyone on the losing (bottom 80%) of the country, and that these folks have been getting ground against the wall for well over thirty years.  Convenient timing, because we now have the first President and Congress in decades that is actually trying to do anything substantive about it.  I’m sure there’s no connection

    ETA:  and hell yes there is inflation, go buy some damn food at a supermarket.  Jesus.

  20. 20.

    Starfish

    December 21, 2021 at 8:51 pm

    @The Moar You Know: They are also counting civilian casualties in wars in the Middle East again.

  21. 21.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 8:52 pm

    @MagdaInBlack:

    I don’t think people are imagining increasing prices. It’s almost all I ever hear about from people I meet. I even overheard somebody say, “Thanks Biden!” for their apparently high grocery bill and I’ve heard, “It’s only going to get worse”, too.

    Plus, I get yahoo!finance alerts on my phone all the time and I’ve been reading them for the past few months that several indicators used by the Fed such as the CPI have consistently shown sky-high inflation

    Fed Chair Powell even retired the term “transitory” to describe current inflation

  22. 22.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    @The Dangerman: people are weirdly emotional about gas prices, it’s true. The way gas stations advertise doesn’t help. Even if you’re only gassing up once a week, you constantly drive past the price of gas. A few weeks ago I was driving down the street with a fairly liberal– and very trump-hating– relative and she was talking and as we passed a gas station she interjected “Oh my god! almost four dollars a gallon!” and then went back to whatever the hell she was talking about. The price of groceries isn’t generally posted on a giant sign you can’t not see.

  23. 23.

    SpaceUnit

    December 21, 2021 at 8:53 pm

    Personally, I don’t feel as though Joe Biden is doing enough to help those Americans who choose not to vaccinate, test, mask or practice even a modicum of social distancing cope with the pandemic.  It’s like he just doesn’t care.

    ETA:  How many have to die from his partisan indifference?

  24. 24.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    @The Moar You Know: We aren’t saying inflation doesn’t exist at the moment.  We are saying it doesn’t explain Biden’s approval ratings.  Jesus.

  25. 25.

    Butter Emails!

    December 21, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    It seems more like the media has decided the economy is bad because for the first time in decades the lower 80 percent seems to be pressing for higher wages and better working conditions.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    December 21, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Yes, they’re increasing. From the pandemic, the breakdown in the supply chain, and hundreds of thousands of dead people. NOT JOE BIDEN.

  27. 27.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 8:54 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Define sky high.

  28. 28.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 8:55 pm

    @debbie:

    To be clear, I don’t blame Joe Biden. But he’s the President and people blame the party in power

  29. 29.

    Nelle

    December 21, 2021 at 8:57 pm

    @debbie: And profiteering.

  30. 30.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 8:58 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I did not suggest they weren’t noticing. I’m noticing. I’m also capable of doing a little research and understanding why , so I don’t also lose my mind over it. They are too, but they’re to lazy to even think about the why.

  31. 31.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 8:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I don’t remember exactly what index it was, but I remember it was the highest it’s been since 1982

  32. 32.

    John Revolta

    December 21, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    Thing about gas prices is, they impact everything that gets shipped by truck or by train. Which is most everything we buy.

  33. 33.

    Scamp Dog

    December 21, 2021 at 9:00 pm

    Is anybody else like me, and driving a whole lot less than I was pre-pandemic? I gas up maybe every two or three weeks, so even with the higher gas prices, less of my overall budget is spent at the pump.

  34. 34.

    JMG

    December 21, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    People cannot envision counterfactuals. They can’t imagine what their lives would be like without the 2021 fiscal stimulus of the American Rescue Plan. Yeah, gas would be like $2.50 a gallon. But they’d be out of a job (or without a raise) and unable to afford it. Basically, we are a nation of spoiled children. Not very bright children, either.

  35. 35.

    Starfish

    December 21, 2021 at 9:01 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Imagine. We had a President who was a racist ass toward farmworkers and did nothing to protect the people in meat packing plants. Unsurprisingly, the price of food went up. Also, climate change is not helping any of this either.

    Some people here were talking about the cost of Christmas trees being up. Our trees are local, and the costs were about the same as last year.

  36. 36.

    Butter Emails!

    December 21, 2021 at 9:03 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    We’re sort of screwed then because the only way to meet the global demand for oil during good economic times is with sources that are only profitable at high prices.

  37. 37.

    CarolPW

    December 21, 2021 at 9:03 pm

    @Scamp Dog: Since Covid happened I fill up about twice a year. My biggest issue is keeping my battery charged enough to start the damn thing.

  38. 38.

    Feathers

    December 21, 2021 at 9:04 pm

    For people asking earlier where Don Lemon is, according to Josh Marshall: “CNN anchors Don Lemon and Brian Stelter speak at sentencing of Trump supporter who threatened journalists: ‘My family was in danger’ ”

     

    https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1473470018402803715

  39. 39.

    Sure Lurkalot

    December 21, 2021 at 9:07 pm

    I filled my tank last week for $2.79/gallon at Costco.

    No doubt there’s inflation but a fair bit of profit taking too.

    Buyback volume may rise to around $848 billion in 2021, which would exceed the record $806 billion seen in 2018, according to preliminary estimates from Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst with S&P Dow Jones Indices

    There’s a lot of noise in the inflation story.

  40. 40.

    apocalipstick

    December 21, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Supermarket inflation has been happening consistently for several years. When everyone touted the “red hot” GOP economy, it was hard to find reporting on food/grocery prices, but (anecdotally) my grocery bill rose from $50-65 per week to $80-95 per week (for the same basket of commodities) over a 4-6 year period (This was during GWBs admin).

  41. 41.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 21, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    @zhena gogolia: You are welcome! How is your injury?

  42. 42.

    Mike in NC

    December 21, 2021 at 9:09 pm

    Saw a CNN article online this morning gloating about the number of House Democrats who are retiring. Authored by Chris Cilliza to nobody’s surprise.

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    December 21, 2021 at 9:10 pm

    @Nelle:

    I live in southern CA and gas is, as I’ve written here a couple of times, well over $4/gal. I filled up yesterday at the cheapest gas station around, $4.35/gal. The 76 station down the street is $4.67/gal. Now the tax per gallon here is the highest in the US, at 66.98 cents per gallon and that’s part of the cost. That along with the US tax of 18.4 cents per gallon. That totals 85.38 cents per gallon in tax.

    Your state tax is 30 cents per gallon.

  44. 44.

    cope

    December 21, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    Robert Reich lays the cause of inflation at the feet of the very few colluding corporations that now supply us with most of the things we buy.  These few suppliers of everything from toilet paper to pork chops are currently enjoying huge profits. Apparently, our oligarchic rulers get their marching orders from Joe Biden.

    https://www.rawstory.com/anti-trusts-laws/

  45. 45.

    apocalipstick

    December 21, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    @Butter Emails!:

    There ya go!

  46. 46.

    Ms. Deranged in AZ

    December 21, 2021 at 9:11 pm

    Most of you have a piece of the truth.  Inflation is real, people are noticing, the media is blaring the GOP talking points instead of explaining the reality of what is causing it, and Americans are too fucking lazy and/or ignorant to understand on their own.  So they are blaming Biden.  And I don’t know how to make the media stop and I don’t know how to get the truth out there.

  47. 47.

    Cameron

    December 21, 2021 at 9:12 pm

    So a lot of the American people are not thrilled in the face of rising prices and spreading Covid.  I don’t blame anybody for that, but I’m curious who these folks think would do a better job than Biden. He’s made serious and largely successful efforts to address several huge problems that are piled on top of each other.  A lot of what we’re going through, particularly the Covid variations, is kind of uncharted territory – yes, coronavirus isn’t new, but this type sure is different. I don’t see anybody else who was in the running who would have done any better.

  48. 48.

    Professor Bigfoot

    December 21, 2021 at 9:13 pm

    @Ms. Deranged in AZ: 

    Exactly this, with exactly the same conundra.

  49. 49.

    Roger Moore

    December 21, 2021 at 9:14 pm

    @Ruckus:

    What’s probably more important in California is that we have specially formulated gas to help deal with air pollution.  That adds substantially to the final cost.  Of course there’s lots of little stuff, too, like wages and rents, which tend to make everything more expensive.

  50. 50.

    Ohio Mom

    December 21, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    Prices creep up all the time. Maybe all not all at the same moment in the same proportion, but creep up they do. Just no one remarks upon it.

    And gas prices bounce around. I’m rolling my eyes at all of this, even as Ohio Family has officially entered the fixed income era of retirement.

    @schrodingers_cat: Joe Biden wasn’t my first (or second, or third) choice either and I am happy to admit I had lousy judgement. If he’s done nothing else (and he’s done lots!), he brought us out of Afghanistan. Which had no direct effect on my life but it isn’t about me.

  51. 51.

    dexwood

    December 21, 2021 at 9:19 pm

    Post Fact America. And that’s a fact, Jack.

  52. 52.

    Nelle

    December 21, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    @Ruckus: I’m sure that I’m affected by the more recent memory of paying about $9 a gallon in New Zealand.  To fill a small Toyota, we could easily pay $70 to $80 NZ.

    We also paid a lot more for groceries.  My son said when I bought $150 on groceries, he would have spent about $70 at the most in the States.

    Americans seem spoiled in their complaining, in comparison.  The inflation of the early 70’s was more dramatic.  Or I was younger on $1.35 an hour and so it was pretty dramatic to me.

  53. 53.

    The Moar You Know

    December 21, 2021 at 9:20 pm

    To be clear:  I not only do not blame Biden, I give him kudos as being the first president in my lifetime who seems to truly give a shit about the poor.  It’s a fucking shame we didn’t give him a better Congress.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    December 21, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    People make it really hard to care about making their lives better.

  55. 55.

    Chief Oshkosh

    December 21, 2021 at 9:21 pm

    @Butter Emails!: Meh. GS has an inside track on government spending plans.* BBB would’ve fit their investment schemes. I actually like that about them, but it does make them riskier than other houses

    *That’s my theory. It is mine.

  56. 56.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 9:24 pm

    @Mike in NC:

    Saw a CNN article online this morning gloating about the number of House Democrats who are retiring. Authored by Chris Cilliza to nobody’s surprise.

    That’s another variable in the Dems retaining the House that never seems to get brought up in discussions here about 2022. Maybe I’ve missed them?

  57. 57.

    Mark Scanlan

    December 21, 2021 at 9:25 pm

    President Joe Biden is struggling in the minds of the American public.

    John,

    Why is it that you along with the all the other front pagers and virtually every single BJ reader continue to ignore the elephant in the room when discussing Biden’s growing unpopularity? His communication skills are fucking pathetic.  He makes Gerald Ford look a world class orator.  I’ve followed Biden’s career going all the way back to the early 1970’s and he’s always been incredibly uninspiring.  Unfortunately, we’re a bitterly divided nation and any Democrat would be having a difficult time serving as President in this climate, but Biden is often his own worst enemy.  He doesn’t know how to motivate or inspire people.  He doesn’t know to take complex issues and translate them into language that’s easily understandable to a layperson.

    Joe Manchin is getting lots of criticism and he certainly deserves all of it, but why the Hell hasn’t Biden given speeches or held town halls to sell BBB to the American people?

    If Biden seeks re-election in 2024, I’ll vote for him but I hope he’ll do the right thing and step aside and endorse Kamala Harris instead.

  58. 58.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 9:27 pm

    @Nelle: We don’t just seem spoiled. A lot of us ARE spoiled.

  59. 59.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    @Mark Scanlan: Disagree completely.  He is one of the best politicians at kitchen table speak that Dems have had in a long time.

  60. 60.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 9:29 pm

    @The Moar You Know:

    Jimmy Carter?

  61. 61.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 9:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’m with you.

  62. 62.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Yeah, gotta say, this is a criticism that doesn’t make any sense to me either. I’ve listened to the dude speak and he’s fine

  63. 63.

    different-church-lady

    December 21, 2021 at 9:31 pm

    We live in an economic system that is designed to absorb every additional penny the proles get. Why the hell anyone is surprised that prices are going up in lock step with all the relief money we flooded the economy with is just flabbergasting to me.

  64. 64.

    zhena gogolia

    December 21, 2021 at 9:32 pm

    @schrodingers_cat:
    I’m ok. no pain.

  65. 65.

    VeniceRiley

    December 21, 2021 at 9:33 pm

    I am for high gas prices solely to push consumers to electric/hydrogen/renewables but we need BBB for that. “Let’s go, Manchin!! Should be the chant.

    The way media get paid is shit, and that’s why media is shit. 1st I’d like to break how cable and streaming aggregators have to pay for channels we don’t watch.

  66. 66.

    Sure Lurkalot

    December 21, 2021 at 9:34 pm

    @different-church-lady: Yep.

  67. 67.

    zhena gogolia

    December 21, 2021 at 9:35 pm

    @The Moar You Know: Yeah. Whenever I groan about the media, my husband says, “They don’t want his tax policy.”

  68. 68.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    @different-church-lady: Thank you.

  69. 69.

    zhena gogolia

    December 21, 2021 at 9:36 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Yeah, I do not know what this person is talking about.

  70. 70.

    zhena gogolia

    December 21, 2021 at 9:37 pm

    @VeniceRiley: YES

  71. 71.

    Villago Delenda Est

    December 21, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    Nuke the Village from orbit.  Only way to be sure.

  72. 72.

    raven

    December 21, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    @different-church-lady: I want the last check I write to bounce!

  73. 73.

    John Revolta

    December 21, 2021 at 9:38 pm

    @Mark Scanlan: Now do “sundowning”.

  74. 74.

    Tony Gerace

    December 21, 2021 at 9:39 pm

    @Citizen Alan: The news media — including goddamn NPR — are corporate controlled.  That’s it

  75. 75.

    Ruckus

    December 21, 2021 at 9:40 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Oh I understand this very well. I’ve owned 2 businesses, one with industrial customers and one with retail customers. My industrial customers either paid my price or took their work elsewhere. My retail customers were far more interested in price because the are the end of the line. The industrial customers charged someone else the cost of what I produced and could make a profit at that, and didn’t have the limitation of being the end of the production process. And yes many of the end products of the things I built in that industrial business was packaging for the retail market or end use items. And you have to keep inflation/economic changes in mind as it was often 6-12 months from quoting to shipping product. Get it very wrong and it doesn’t take long to no longer be in business.

  76. 76.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 9:42 pm

    @MagdaInBlack:

    Being a global superpower who’s currency is a global reserve currency does that, unfortunately

  77. 77.

    cckids

    December 21, 2021 at 9:47 pm

    @different-church-lady: 

    Why the hell anyone is surprised that prices are going up in lock step with all the relief money we flooded the economy with is just flabbergasting to me.

    This. Also, I never seem to see (in media or elsewhere) that part of why inflation seems so high is that it is measured year-over-year; last year, with DT’s ban on selling to China and covid running rampant, prices for lots of things (thinking esp. pork and chicken) were historically low. We all paid for it, of course, in the billions upon billions of our tax dollars Trump threw to farmers as bribes. But our grocery bills were lower.

    As someone who’s worked way, WAY too many hours at a grocery store the past 3 years, prices right now really aren’t that bad. People are bitching about it because they’re hearing how bad inflation is, rather than based on any reality.

  78. 78.

    cain

    December 21, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    There is a part of me that just wants to hand it to the GOP and let them own all of it. Since the press is so wired for GOP rule – let them do it. But the problem is that they would simply pivot to saying that the American public is wrong the economy is awesome and what not.

    We need press regulation … badly.

  79. 79.

    debbie

    December 21, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    @Mark Scanlan:

    Bullshit. What’s next, stuttering jokes?

  80. 80.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 9:51 pm

    @zhena gogolia: What’s funny is that Biden’s speaking style is not my own.  I come much more from the John Kerry school of public speaking and frequent find that I need to tone down vocabulary and sentence structure when talking to many of my clients.  And no casual literary or historical references.  And when I do it, it does not always sound natural.  Biden does it and does it well.

  81. 81.

    Ruckus

    December 21, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    @Mark Scanlan:

    A large part of the President’s job is to actually run the country, not spend large blocks of time explaining minute details of the legislative process and often bullshit takes of his political opponents. The last guy that had that job spent all his time being a moronic, racist fuckstick, which didn’t help a single actual human being. It really is part of our job to stay up with our local/state legislators and what they are doing, while the president does his job of herding cats, a thankless job if there ever was one.

  82. 82.

    MagdaInBlack

    December 21, 2021 at 9:52 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Yup.

  83. 83.

    VeniceRiley

    December 21, 2021 at 9:53 pm

    @cckids: Facebook reality > actual reality

  84. 84.

    Chetan Murthy

    December 21, 2021 at 9:55 pm

    @Ruckus: He also thought his job was to look good on TV, and that was the yardstick he used for all his underlings.  Gosh, look how that turned out.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 9:56 pm

    OT: this appears to be real, from Defense One, a pan-coronavirus vaccine? 

    Within weeks, Walter Reed researchers expect to announce that human trials show success against Omicron—and even future strains.

    Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as from previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.

  86. 86.

    Cameron

    December 21, 2021 at 10:01 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: God, I so hope this is for real ’cause (a) the world needs it and (b) we can tell those assholes at Moderna who turned tax dollars/tax-funded research into profits to go fuck themselves with a flensing spade.

  87. 87.

    opiejeanne

    December 21, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: If true that is enormous. Massive.

     

    I hope it’s true.

  88. 88.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    @Cameron: maybe, maybe not, I don’t know how it works

    The next step is seeing how the new pan-coronavirus vaccine interacts with people who were previously vaccinated or previously sick. Walter Reed will be hiring a yet-to-be-named industry partner for that wider rollout.

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack

    December 21, 2021 at 10:03 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Probably this (from The Guardian): “U.S. inflation rate rose to 6.8% in 2021, its highest since 1982.”

    We are in a singular situation that somewhat undercuts a purely “statistical” story. Last year was unique, or practically so, in our economic history, and we’re still working our way out of that going into 2022. So the bare statistics don’t tell the whole story

    Snippets from Krugman last week. It’s a long piece, worth a read; I don’t know if it’s paywalled. I apologize if even these snippets are tl;dr.

    Now we’re experiencing another episode, the highest inflation in almost 40 years. The Consumer Price Index in November was 6.8 percent higher than it had been a year earlier. Much of this rise was due to huge price increases in a few sectors: Gasoline prices were up 58 percent, used cars and hotel rooms up 31 percent and 26 percent, respectively, and, yes, meat prices up 16 percent. But some (though not all) analysts believe that inflation is starting to spread more widely through the economy.

    I believe that what we’re seeing mainly reflects the inherent dislocations from the pandemic, rather than, say, excessive government spending. I also believe that inflation will subside over the course of the next year and that we shouldn’t take any drastic action. But reasonable economists disagree, and they could be right.

    Part of the answer, as I and many others have noted, involves supply chains. The conveyor belt that normally delivers goods to consumers suffers from shortages of port capacity, truck drivers, warehouse space and more, and a shortage of silicon chips is crimping production of many goods, especially cars. A recent report from the influential Bank for International Settlements estimates that price rises caused by bottlenecks in supply have raised U.S. inflation by 2.8 percentage points over the past year.

    Now, global supply chains haven’t broken. In fact, they’re delivering more goods than ever before. But they haven’t been able to keep up with extraordinary demand. Total consumer spending hasn’t grown all that fast, but in an economy still shaped by the pandemic, people have shifted their consumption from experiences to stuff—that is, they’ve been spending less on services but much more on goods. The caricature version is that people unable or unwilling to go to the gym bought Pelotons instead, and something like that has in fact happened across the board.

    Here’s what the numbers look like. Overall consumption is up 3.5 percent since the pandemic began, roughly in line with normal growth. Consumption of services, however, is still below prepandemic levels, while purchases of durable goods, though down somewhat from their peak, are still running very high.

    Yet supply-chain problems aren’t the whole story. Even aside from bottlenecks, the economy’s productive capacity has been limited by the Great Resignation, the apparent unwillingness of many Americans idled by the pandemic to return to work. There are still four million fewer Americans working than there were on the eve of the pandemic, but labor markets look very tight, with record numbers of workers quitting their jobs (a sign that they believe new jobs are easy to find) and understaffed employers bidding wages up at the fastest rate in decades. So spending does appear to be exceeding productive capacity, not so much because spending is all that high but because capacity is unexpectedly low.

    Inflation caused by supply-chain disruptions will probably fall within a few months, but it’s not at all clear whether Americans who have dropped out of the labor force will return. And even if inflation does come down, it might stay uncomfortably high for a while. Remember, the first postwar bout of inflation, which in hindsight looks obviously transitory, lasted for two years.

    For what it’s worth, the Federal Reserve, while it has stopped using the term “transitory,” still appears to believe that we’re mostly looking at a fairly short-term problem, declaring in its most recent statement, “Supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic and the reopening of the economy have continued to contribute to elevated levels of inflation.”

    Maybe the real takeaway here should be how little we know about where we are in this strange economic episode. Economists like me who didn’t expect much inflation were wrong, but economists who did predict inflation were arguably right for the wrong reasons, and nobody really knows what’s coming.

  90. 90.

    Another Scott

    December 21, 2021 at 10:04 pm

    The economy is doing very well, and the stock market reflects that (S&P500 up 25.6% YTD).  Too many polls are being done by people with agendas – they’re almost useless now.  And the MSM’s readership has cratered since TFG left, so it’s in their interest to find disaster / horrible / this-but-that stories to try to get their numbers back up.

    So, Joe and Nancy and Chuck need to keep moving forward.

    In other news, …

    Thread:

    NSW is the ideal setting to measure the severity of Omicron, and it is showing a CFR for Omicron that is <1/2 of Delta

    Five reasons it's ideal:

    *Prior infection is irrelevant (~2-3% of NSW is prior infected)

    *Delta cases were steady through Nov, making a stable baseline CHR

    1/15 pic.twitter.com/qVT0QxMzSl

    — Andrew Lilley (@andrewlilley_au) December 21, 2021

    (via dsquareddigest)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  91. 91.

    Steeplejack

    December 21, 2021 at 10:07 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Key snippet:

    A recent report from the influential Bank for International Settlements estimates that price rises caused by bottlenecks in supply have raised U.S. inflation by 2.8 percentage points over the past year.

    That’s a huge chunk of that dreadful 6.8% inflation rate.

  92. 92.

    Mark Scanlan

    December 21, 2021 at 10:09 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:  @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    @John Revolta: @debbie: @Ruckus:

    Many politicians are mediocre public speakers at best, so Biden certainly has plenty of company.  Fine rhetoric isn’t everything, but Biden couldn’t deliver a memorable, iconic speech if his life depended on it.  Enjoy living in your fantasy world where Biden is an inspirational, charismatic leader and just pray that we don’t get wiped out in the midterm elections.

  93. 93.

    DonM

    December 21, 2021 at 10:10 pm

    @MagdaInBlack: because of inflation, I left retirement, traveled across country, and took a job, live in a rented room.  Gas from 2.00 to 3.30 a gallon in one year is 65 percent inflation in one year. At least I have my health.

  94. 94.

    Mai Naem mobile

    December 21, 2021 at 10:12 pm

    I know prices are up. Am I the only o e who doesn’t think its a big deal at this point? I personally think inflation has been too low for too many years because I think its based on the people at the lower economic ladder not getting raises. Meanwhile its all good for wealthy folks. We aren’t anywhere close to 70’s inflation. I definitely think many companies are taking advantage of the pandemic and jacking prices up to add to their profits. Also, as usual, Democratic messaging sucks. There’s little coordination. We need what the right does where they all parrot the same freaking language on all fronts. Congress critters, governors, RW radio, RW think tanks, RW columnists, FOX, RW teevee pundits. They strategize like they’re planning an all out war. The Dems not so much.

  95. 95.

    DonM

    December 21, 2021 at 10:13 pm

    @Steeplejack: inflation is always and everywhere due to bad monetary policy.

  96. 96.

    Omnes Omnibus

    December 21, 2021 at 10:15 pm

    @Mark Scanlan: Biden couldn’t deliver a memorable, iconic speech

    An entirely different point than you made in your first comment.  So, 10 yard penalty for goal post moving.  Further, soaring rhetoric isn’t always the best tool.

  97. 97.

    Chetan Murthy

    December 21, 2021 at 10:15 pm

    @DonM: Not all “episodes of rising prices” are “inflation”.

  98. 98.

    schrodingers_cat

    December 21, 2021 at 10:16 pm

    Ds don’t have any swagger. Half of our voters behave like we have already lost and whine constantly. And the other half are upset because they haven’t got everything on their wish list.

    Just this morning someone was whining about the Mueller report asserting that no one paid any price for it. Completely forgetting that Trump’s campaign manager, Manafort went to prison,  as did many others.

    Now its why hasn’t Garland done this that or the other.

    It is tiresome and counterproductive.

  99. 99.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 10:17 pm

    Cory Booker gives a hell of a speech. Pete Buttigieg is widely seen to be charismatic. I personally found Elizabeth Warren’s happy warrior wonkiness to be a unique kind of charisma. Bernie seems to “inspire” some people. But damn me if those funny old voters didn’t pick boring old Joe Biden.

  100. 100.

    Anyway

    December 21, 2021 at 10:18 pm

    I think Biden and Dems unpopularity is partly due to Covid fatigue. The admin has been so tentative and hesitant about calling out DeSantis, Abbot, the other red state govs for their anti-mask, anti-vax pronouncements and laws. I’m not saying Biden should have engaged in that, but aren’t there other  cabinet members HHS maybe that could have done this more, CDC and FDA communication is bureaucratic and qualified — Dems have ceded the rhetoric to the bad guys.

  101. 101.

    Miss Bianca

    December 21, 2021 at 10:20 pm

    @Mark Scanlan:  Oh, fuck off. Seriously. Go enjoy *your* fantasy world where your pathetic opinions not only matter to others, but you’ve actually accomplished enough in your own life to be able to credibly criticize Joe Biden’s leadership and rhetorical abilities. Oh, and have I said “fuck off” yet?

  102. 102.

    Miss Bianca

    December 21, 2021 at 10:21 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: What you said.

    @Omnes Omnibus: And you.

  103. 103.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 21, 2021 at 10:22 pm

    @Cameron:

    go fuck themselves with a flensing spade.

    Not a phrase you see every day.

  104. 104.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    December 21, 2021 at 10:22 pm

    @Anyway:

    I think Biden and Dems unpopularity is partly due to Covid fatigue.

    I’d say mostly, but the partisan divide was pretty stark and angry before Covid, too. Biden was never gonna get much more than the mid-50s, I would say

    The admin has been so tentative and hesitant about calling out DeSantis, Abbot, the other red state govs for their anti-mask, anti-vax pronouncements and laws.

    against stupidity the gods themselves struggle in vain

  105. 105.

    prostratedragon

    December 21, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    Chanticleer Christmas concert, live for about 40 more minutes. A lot of music one doesn’t often hear.

  106. 106.

    OldDave

    December 21, 2021 at 10:23 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Unrelated to this discussion, but instead to an earlier thread:  Designer of the Miata passes

  107. 107.

    Gin & Tonic

    December 21, 2021 at 10:25 pm

    @OldDave: I’ve seen that. Thanks.

  108. 108.

    SFAW

    December 21, 2021 at 10:32 pm

    @OldDave:

    Thanks.

  109. 109.

    SFAW

    December 21, 2021 at 10:33 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    Oh, and have I said “fuck off” yet?

    No, I don’t think so. At least, I seem to have missed it in your comment. Can you please try again ?

  110. 110.

    different-church-lady

    December 21, 2021 at 10:37 pm

    @Mark Scanlan: You know who else was an inspirational, charismatic… aw, screw it.

  111. 111.

    Jackie

    December 21, 2021 at 10:37 pm

    @Miss Bianca: ????

  112. 112.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    December 21, 2021 at 10:44 pm

    @Steeplejack:

    Thanks for that, the snippets were an interesting read

  113. 113.

    debbie

    December 21, 2021 at 10:45 pm

    @Miss Bianca:

    You always know when to show up and say exactly the right thing!  ?

  114. 114.

    bemused senior

    December 21, 2021 at 10:46 pm

    @prostratedragon: thanks for the heads up. I can’t go out to hear the live concert anymore, but my daughter graduated from the sf girls chorus and then sang with chorissima. One season the now-emeritus chanticleer director led chorissima when their director was on maternity leave. We started going to chanticleer Christmas every year. Love hearing them.

  115. 115.

    Ruckus

    December 21, 2021 at 10:48 pm

    @Chetan Murthy:

    What you are trying to say is that he always looks like shit….

    You know it, I know it, even he knows it. It’s just that we admit that he actually is shit……

  116. 116.

    prostratedragon

    December 21, 2021 at 10:52 pm

    @bemused senior:  They’re really doing it here! I never heard of San Francisco’s Chorissima, but I see they’re represented on youtube, so will be checking them out.

  117. 117.

    Ivan X

    December 21, 2021 at 10:53 pm

    I noticed a Western Digital network hard drive I buy all the time for clients has risen by $20 at Amazon. There’s my lived experience anecdata about inflation. (I’ve noticed it here and there on other products too — a piece of $18 software I regularly recommend has gone up by $2, etc.) And, come to think of it, I have raised my own rates for the first time in many years.

  118. 118.

    Cameron

    December 21, 2021 at 10:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t have a problem with hiring them; I have a problem with them slurping up the patent rights.  Probably read more Dean Baker than is good for me.

  119. 119.

    bemused senior

    December 21, 2021 at 10:57 pm

    @prostratedragon: chorissima is the professional level chorus of sf girls chorus. Joe Jennings is the man who directed them that season. He is an awesome gospel singer. You might enjoy listening to Musae.a

  120. 120.

    Jacel

    December 21, 2021 at 10:57 pm

    @Starfish: Over ten years ago there was a local branch of a chain called “Dollar Quarters” that sold each item in the store at the price of $1.25. The offerings were distinctly more interesting and higher quality than the contents of dollar stores. I was sad to see that store disappear awhile after the 2008 crash.

  121. 121.

    Ruckus

    December 21, 2021 at 11:01 pm

    @Mark Scanlan:

    I don’t care if Joe Biden is a inspirational, charismatic leader. That means shit if he leads us down some shitty path. I’m not looking for someone that can win a beauty pageant, or get people to run into gunfire, I’m looking for an honest, hard working son of a bitch who has a concept of fucking democracy, someone who knows how all this crap works and how to motivate people to actually do their fucking jobs. And that’s why he’s a good president, because he understands the fucking job and isn’t trying to be the most impressive asswipe in some 2 in thick $105 best seller so some moron can get wealthy selling bullshit. He cares about actual people, not some impressional jackoffs who think the presidency is written by Hollywood writers and bean counters.

  122. 122.

    Jacel

    December 21, 2021 at 11:03 pm

    @debbie: Don’t forget that the US side of the supply chain was getting badly screwed up by Trump’s tariffs well before COVID hit.

  123. 123.

    Jacel

    December 21, 2021 at 11:12 pm

    @JMG: A lot of the big US gasoline price bump in 2021 has been the result of Putin’s natural gas buddies jerking around supplies to Europe, forcing many countries to switch to liquid fuel for generating electricity, thus driving up the price worldwide for gasoline.

  124. 124.

    Barbara

    December 21, 2021 at 11:13 pm

    @schrodingers_cat: It directs a lot of mental energy to the wrong place.  Agreed.

  125. 125.

    Another Scott

    December 21, 2021 at 11:15 pm

    @Ivan X:  Hard drives have gone through huge swings in the last year or so. E.g. CamelCamelCamel WD 10TB Red Plus. Given the supply chains, Chia coin farming boom and bust, etc., it’s hard to go from that to general inflation numbers.

    Repost: Dean Baker at CEPR – Will we see deflation in the next 12 months?:

    I’m not worried at this point about a deflationary spiral, but I see what, to my view, is a plausible scenario where the CPI actually goes negative in the next twelve months. I go through the categories and my predictions component by component below, but there are four main items driving the story that I’ll mention here.

    First, I assume a sharp reversal in new and used car prices. The 11.1 percent increase in the former and 31.4 percent increase in the latter, have added 1.5 percentage points to the inflation rate over the last year. This run-up is due to the well-known shortage of semiconductors. It seems that manufacturers are overcoming this shortage and getting up to normal production levels. This may lead to a situation where they are not only meeting normal demand, but actually could be overproducing and needing to markdown prices.

    A second big assumption is a sharp moderation in food prices. The price of store-bought food has risen by 6.4 percent over the last year, adding 0.5 percentage points to the inflation rate (food bought at restaurants added another 0.4 percentage points). This has been driven by a huge surge in demand, where we seem to be eating more of everything. We also see supply chain problems raising shipping costs.

    I am betting on the surge in demand easing somewhat and the supply chain problems being resolved over the course of the year. In the past, sharp run-ups in food prices have been followed by declines or periods of very slow growth. I’m betting on the latter.

    My third assumption is a sharp reduction in gas and other energy prices, reversing some of the recent run-ups. Gas prices increased 58.1 percent in the last year, adding 2.4 percentage points to the inflation rate.

    I assume a partial reversal of this run-up, with a drop in gas prices simply reflecting the recent drop in world oil prices. That would imply an 18 percent decline in prices from the November level, knocking 0.8 percentage points off of the inflation rate for the next twelve months.

    Finally, I assume that the prices of many other items, where we have seen a sharp run-up due to supply chain issues, such as appliances and furniture, will level off in the next year as these problems get resolved.

    […]

    We’ll see!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  126. 126.

    Steeplejack

    December 21, 2021 at 11:18 pm

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Sorry if it felt like a homework assignment. I replied to your comment, but I was putting it out there for everyone.

  127. 127.

    Jay

    December 21, 2021 at 11:27 pm

    When the extent of Covid hit, amongst the mitigation measures, ( strictly controlled numbers of customers in the store, etc), Corp gave us “expendable workers” a blanket $2 an hour, Covid bonus, along with the option of 3 months paid leave, which could be used if you got Covid, or didn’t want to risk getting Covid. The temporary measures became permanent in June.

    A lot of older staff took off, so we had a big brain drain, and many when they came back, elected to come back as part time only.

  128. 128.

    Brachiator

    December 21, 2021 at 11:43 pm

    @The Moar You Know: 

    Huh.  The media has chosen to finally notice now that the economy absolutely sucks for anyone on the losing (bottom 80%) of the country, and that these folks have been getting ground against the wall for well over thirty years.

    Business and financial reporting during the pandemic has consistently noted the impact on lower income groups. Reporting about the recovery has also noted the uneven gains of lower income groups. The best reporting has noted that Fed Chair Powell explicitly favored policy that emphasized jobs over inflation fighting.

    But pundits and Republicans not only hate the poor, they enjoy seeing them suffer. So they wanted to eliminate unemployment compensation boosts, wanted to maintain the lowest possible minimum wage, and wanted to cut off refundable tax credits to families with children. All so that people could be forced back into the lowest paying jobs. Even as stock markets and GDP soared.

    And the GOP (and Joe Manchin) are fighting like hell to prevent a BBB plan that explicitly would help lower and middle income citizens.

    ETA:  and hell yes there is inflation, go buy some damn food at a supermarket.  Jesus.

    There is inflation. But there is also a naked attempt to make up for losses and reduced operations during pandemic lockdowns, and to blame price gouging on inflation.

    Here in Southern California, we have seen large increases in the menu prices at restaurants and even fast food franchises. And many of these places had to limit operations to takeout and delivery or reduce capacity by 75 percent. Grocery prices have also risen, but not as much as dining costs.

    I jokingly noted to a relative that the six dollar Carl Jr burger is now a nine dollar burger.

    And the poor are even blamed here. You have business owners whine that they might not have to raise prices so much if they didn’t have to pay employees better wages.

    The right wing also loves to stymie efforts to fight the pandemic, which would also help the economy, and then blame Biden for not being a miracle worker and making the Corona virus disappear.

    But people are often able to get better jobs for higher wages, and have more money saved because of stimulus payments.

    We have a president who not only is trying to make things better, but who has also tried to implement policies which might actually do some good.

    But for some people, especially those whipped up by Fox News, this just isn’t good enough.

  129. 129.

    wuzzat

    December 22, 2021 at 12:28 am

    There are at least two problems here. First, is that “the economy”, in the global sense of the word, is not something that the average poll participant really thinks about. “Do I feel more or less financially secure than I did a couple of years ago” is what they’re voting on. The answer to that, for most people, is negative because the economic output of the country tends to stay up in the stratosphere. For everyone else, wages have not kept up with inflation, there are supply issues with everything from cars to candy canes, housing prices are through the roof and the businesses that we work for are threatening to fold every time someone coughs in order to justify working us harder while not paying us more.

    And none of that is Joe Biden’s fault, which leads us to our second problem. Most people have no idea how the president influences the economy and at what level. People here mostly knew that already, but it became obvious during TFG’s reign of terror.

    I don’t know if there’s any way to fix this beyond improving our education system so that the kids who are starting school now have a better idea of how money and government work *and* are more discerning consumers of media. Considering that the average salary of an 8th grade teacher in the US in 2021 was around 48K/yr and the average cost of living for a family of 4 was around 58K, we might want to work on the wage stagnation thing too.

  130. 130.

    Biff Baxter

    December 22, 2021 at 1:08 am

    They’re still going on about rising gas prices even though the price of gas has fallen 10-12 cent a a gallon over the last month.

  131. 131.

    evodevo

    December 22, 2021 at 6:10 am

    @The Dangerman: ​
      Yep…they all seem to have forgotten a year ago when meat prices suddenly went through the roof in March (I remember the advent of $5 hamburger quite vividly) and haven’t really gone down since…and no one was freaking out about “inflation” then, because, of course the Orange Mad King was in charge and they weren’t going to diss him…

  132. 132.

    Geminid

    December 22, 2021 at 6:50 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):I don’t think retiring Democratic Representatives will be a very significant variable for next year’s Congressional races. Many are retiring from D+ districts. The few Democrats who used to win R+ districts, like Peterson in Minnesota, are already gone.

    I’d be more worried if these retirements were because of some internal party struggle. I think that’s why a lot of establishment-type Republicans retired the last few cycles. But the Democratic House Caucus seems fairly unified, with a lot less intra-caucus tensions than in years past, and a whole lot less than their fractious counterparts across the aisle.

  133. 133.

    SFAW

    December 22, 2021 at 7:22 am

    @Brachiator:

    The right wing also loves to stymie efforts to fight the pandemic, which would also help the economy, and then blame Biden for not being a miracle worker and making the Corona virus disappear.

    The time-honored definition of chutzpah is:

    A kid murders both his parents, then asks the court for mercy/clemency because he’s an orphan.

    The Partei of Traitors is not really any different.

  134. 134.

    SteveinPHX

    December 22, 2021 at 7:49 am

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): ​
     

    I agree as well. He needs to do more communicating with the public. Earlier commenter mentioned more town halls. Something along that line could work, but it’s gotta be done!

  135. 135.

    gvg

    December 22, 2021 at 12:30 pm

    @Starfish: Um, no, that is actually inflation. It’s not scary big inflation, but it is inflation. Inflation includes the normal to us every year slight increase in costs. Did you know in the middle ages prices could remain about the same for hundreds of year? It sucked financially. Investing was too risky so their were no improvements.

    What happened is that a few companies like dollar tree chose to make it part of their brand that most things cost a dollar. I don’t think they realized they would still be around 20 or so years later and the brand perception would become a problem. So they have put off raising prices and instead sold things in smaller and smaller packages. They use the general fuss about “inflation” as cover for doing what needed to be done.

    Be careful when naming a company.

  136. 136.

    Jacel

    December 23, 2021 at 11:46 pm

    @JMG: Gas prices are screwed up worldwide this past year. Nothing the US has done Federally or privately would cause that to essentially not happen.

  137. 137.

    Jacel

    December 23, 2021 at 11:51 pm

    @Mike in NC: Any writers dwelling on these retirements would be otherwise just as likely to deplore the way Democratic incumbents were dismissing the younger generations by seeking to continue in office.

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