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Bidenflation Threatens Almost Half of Small Business Owners

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Almost half of small business owners said their businesses are on the brink of closing after inflation last month hit another record high.

A report published Thursday by the Alignable Research Center found that 47 percent of small business owners say they may close by the fall, marking a 12-point increase from last summer, when only 35 percent of business owners said they were at risk. More than half, meanwhile, said they expect to make less money than they did last year.

More than 60 percent of respondents said inflation has damaged their business more than the COVID-19 pandemic, the report showed. Inflation shot up to 9.1 percent in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists, including former Obama administration officials, have said President Joe Biden’s nearly $2 trillion stimulus package contributed significantly to skyrocketing inflation. (Read more from “Bidenflation Threatens Almost Half of Small Business Owners” HERE)

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Bidenflation Soars! Market Now Sees 100 Basis Point Fed Hike This Month

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The bigger-than-expected increase in the pace of inflation in June has sent expectations for a rate hike at the end of the month into warp speed.

Fed funds futures are now pricing in a nearly 80 percent probability of a full percentage-point rise at Federal Open Market Committee meeting concluding two weeks from Wednesday, according to the barometer of the contracts maintained by the CME Group.

As recently as Tuesday, the market was pricing in a 92 percent chance of a 75 basis point hike. One week ago, prices implied a zero percent change of a 100 basis point hike.

A basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point. So a 75 basis point hike indicates a 2/3 of a percentage point increase and a 100 basis point hike indicates a hike of one percentage point.

Reporters on Wednesday pressed Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic on how far the Fed would go. (Read more from “Bidenflation Soars! Market Now Sees 100 Basis Point Fed Hike This Month” HERE)

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Americans’ Inflation Expectations Hit a Fresh 11-Year High

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Consumer expectations for where inflation will be one year from now climbed to another record high in June, according to a key Federal Reserve Bank of New York survey published Monday, a worrisome sign for the U.S. central bank as it tries to cool surging prices.

The median expectation is that the inflation rate will be up 6.8% one year from now, toppling the previous high of 6.6% recorded in March, according to the New York Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Expectations. The outlook for price gains is the highest since the survey’s inception in 2013. Despite that, three years from now, consumers see inflation cooling off slightly to 3.6% – down from the 3.9% recorded last month.

“Median inflation uncertainty—or the uncertainty expressed regarding future inflation outcomes—increased at the one-year ahead horizon to a new series high, but remained unchanged at the three-year ahead horizon. Uncertainty at the five-year ahead horizon increased,” the survey said.

With consumers lifting their expectations for inflation over the next year, they believe that things like gasoline, medical care, rent and tuition will also increase over the next 12 months. However, they expect that food prices will moderate in coming months. (Read more from “Americans’ Inflation Expectations Hit a Fresh 11-Year High” HERE)

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Most Americans Are ‘Concerned’ About Their Ability to Afford ‘Day to Day Things

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Most Americans are concerned about their ability to afford “day to day things” in President Biden’s America, a YouGov/CBS News Poll released this week found.

The survey asked respondents to identify whether they are “confident” or “concerned” about a range of issues regarding their spending habits in an era of 41-year-high inflation and record-breaking gas prices.

Overall, 65 percent said they are “concerned” about their ability to afford “day to day things,” while 66 percent are “concerned” about their ability to “take a vacation or travel.”

Nearly three-quarters, 73 percent, said they are “concerned” about their ability to purchase a “big ticket item,” and another 73 percent said they are “concerned” about their ability to save money right now. (Read more from “Most Americans Are ‘Concerned’ About Their Ability to Afford ‘Day to Day Things” HERE)

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Not ‘Putin’s Price Hike’: Fed Chair Breaks With Biden on Inflation

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Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Wednesday broke with President Biden’s repeated attempts to blame Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for the highest inflation in 40 years.

Powell, confirmed last month to a second term as chairman, explained to the Senate Banking Committee that “inflation was high before” the Feb. 24 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which increased global food and energy prices.

Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) elicited the remark from Powell at a committee hearing after laying out the fact that inflation grew higher over the course of 2021.

“I realize there are a number of factors that play a role in those historic inflation that we’re experiencing — supply chain disruptions, regulations that constrain supply, we’ve got rising inflation expectations and excessive fiscal spending, but the problem hasn’t sprung out of nowhere,” Hagerty said.

“In January of 2021, inflation was at 1.4%. By December of 2021, it had risen to 7% — a fivefold increase. Now, since the war in Ukraine began in late February, the rate of inflation has risen incrementally another 1.6% to a current level of 8.6%. So again, from 7% to 8.6%.” (Read more from “Not ‘Putin’s Price Hike’: Fed Chair Breaks With Biden on Inflation” HERE)

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The Fed’s Cure for Inflation Is a Major Punch in the Gut

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If you think runaway inflation is brutal, wait until you get hit by the cure.

Last week the Federal Reserve raised the interest rate on money it lends to other banks by .75%, the biggest hike in three decades. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the hike is necessary to rein in skyrocketing inflation.

He’s planning more hikes in the coming months. They’ll lead to increased interest charges on credit cards and higher rates on home-equity loans, car loans and mortgages. It’s a punch in the gut for people who need to borrow.

Get ready for the interest rates on your credit cards to top a budget-busting 20% two monthly statements from now — up from a current average of 14.6%.

If you’re shopping for a home or a car, adjust your expectations downward. Whatever you thought you could afford, you’ll now be able to afford less because monthly payments will include significantly higher interest costs. (Read more from “The Fed’s Cure for Inflation Is a Major Punch in the Gut” HERE)

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Americans Still Care More About Inflation Than Abortion

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Most Americans still rank record-high inflation under President Joe Biden as the most important issue facing the United States even as the mainstream media fear-monger about the Supreme Court potentially overturning Roe v. Wade, according to a FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos poll released Thursday.

Fifty-five percent of Americans—including 71 percent of Republicans, 41 percent of Democrats, and 54 percent of independents—say inflation is the most important issue, the poll found, a 4-point increase since May. Just 10 percent, by contrast, say abortion is their biggest concern.

While mainstream media sources, including the New York Times, have attempted to stoke fears of abortion bans following the leak of a Supreme Court ruling that overturns Roe, the percent of Americans who cite abortion as their most important issue has increased by only 5 points, the poll found. (Read more from “Americans Still Care More About Inflation Than Abortion” HERE)

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Sizing Down: Full List of US Companies Slammed for ‘Shrinkflation’

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As high costs continue to drain the wallets of Americans, companies are now under fire for shrinking the size of their products.

This process is known as shrinkflation, which companies are using to not only scale down the size but aren’t even lowering the price of their products. . .

In particular, Bloomberg reported that Subway rotisserie chicken wraps and sandwiches contain less meat.

Also, Domino’s has cut down its number of boneless wings to eight from 10, while Burger King is doing the same with its chicken nuggets.

Separately, The LA Times specifically points to a bag of “Party Size” Fritos Scoops, which used to be 18 ounces. (Read more from “Sizing Down: Full List of US Companies Slammed for ‘Shrinkflation’” HERE)

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White House Economist Has No Plan for Bidenflation

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Friday morning brought catastrophic results showing inflation yet again at a forty year high. It was even bad enough to blow past expectations. Predictably, President Joe Biden’s response involved blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin. White House Economist Cecilia Rouse tried to repeat that bogus excuse that same day, but not even CNN’s Jim Sciutto would let her get away with it.

Shortly after the numbers were release, Rouse appeared on “CNN Newsroom” where Sciutto directly asked her “does the White House see any relief in these numbers for Americans in the near future, and if so, when?”

Through her fumbled response, Rouse failed to give a proper response. “So, look, the president very much understands and we very much understand that that we’ve got uncomfortably high inflation. What we saw in the data this month was that month on month prices increased overall, the headline CPI increased about 1 percent, and about half of that was due to food and energy, which can be almost directly tied to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.”

Rouse looked to continue by saying “and so” before Sciutto cut in. “It’s not just that, you know,” he said, as sounding less than patient with this administration’s tactic to blame everyone else. “It’s not–prices are rising, I get it. I get the world oil markets are up, but you know pricing are rising for everything: used cars, rent.”

Faced with Scuitto’s pushback, Rouse had no choice but to concede to his point. “Absolutely. And so, and the president understands that and so he has, like, he has emphasized he’s focused on this as part of his plan, I know this doesn’t sound like a plan, but first and foremost he respects the independence of the federal reserve.” (Read more from “White House Economist Has No Plan for Bidenflation” HERE)

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The CBO Confirms Bidenflation Is Real

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The Congressional Budget Office has just confirmed that President Joe Biden is blameworthy for the record-high inflation that is punishing workers. Further, this nonpartisan source says that Biden’s preferred fix, raising taxes, will only make the economy worse.

The CBO’s annual economic outlook adds further force to the arguments against Biden made by other Democrats, such as former President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council director, Larry Summers, and Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Jason Furman. The CBO squarely blames Biden’s 2021 COVID stimulus bill for today’s high inflation, albeit for slightly different reasons.

Like Summers and Furman, the CBO noted that the stimulus checks sent to every family significantly boosted demand, causing inflationary pressure on its own. But there’s more. By paying workers not to work, Biden’s COVID stimulus artificially “slowed the recovery of labor force participation.” As noted by Texas Rep. Kevin Brady, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee, this lack of workers strained supply chains, thus providing a second source of upward pressure on prices.

The CBO predicts that this Biden-caused inflation will persist into next year, tempered only by the Federal Reserve’s willingness to raise interest rates, which will, in turn, cause the economy to slow or even contract. (Read more from “The CBO Confirms Bidenflation Is Real” HERE)

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