Economy

Scary Charts – 02.06.23

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

To the extent that the Fed knows anything, it knows this, and really, really wants to force that blue line down into negative territory if possible. But it also knows that doing so will send prices spiraling out of control – which is another way of saying the dollar will crash (not necessarily against the euro and the yen, which have similar problems, but against oil, lumber, eggs, milk, cars, and all the other things voters buy regularly). The result? Political and financial chaos.

Welcome To the Death Spiral — https://rubino.substack.com/p/welcome-to-the-death-spiral

YIKES!

On a positive note I’ll likely be dead when the SHTF.

Quote for Today 12.09.22 AND Scary Charts

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There is no mystery to controlling inflation. You just have to stop spending money you don’t have…stop lending out money at interest rates below inflation…and stop ‘printing’ up extra money to cover the holes in your budget. Instead, most governments continue to spend and print. Inflation is on the rise almost everywhere. And for the first time in modern history, much of the entire world’s middle class – the people who make the world work – is facing a grim period of higher inflation and lower real standards of living.

Three Strikes, You’re Out! More on the government’s middle class massacre – Bonner Private Research https://bonnerprivateresearch.substack.com/p/three-strikes-youre-out

But wait…it’s worse in North America.

I’m just thankful I haven’t retired yet.

What Middle Class?

/ SupremeCmdr / 8 Comments

Hat tip to Mike Shedlock, a registered investment advisor at SitkaPacific Capital Management for highlighting the following video for his blog readers.

This is the portion of the blog post where I typically add a snarky comment.

Nope. Not going to joke about this.

We Don’t Need No Education (with apologies to Pink Floyd)

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

Enrollment declines continued to worsen this spring. Total post-secondary enrollment fell to 16.2 million this spring, marking a one-year decline of 4.1 percent or 685,000 students. Enrollment declined this spring at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Following a 3.5 percent drop last spring, post-secondary institutions have lost nearly 1.3 million students since spring 2020. Undergraduate enrollment accounted for most of the decline, dropping 4.7 percent this spring or over 662,000 students from spring 2021. As a result, the undergraduate student body is now 9.4 percent or nearly 1.4 million students smaller than before the pandemic.

National Student Clearinghouse Research Center — https://nscresearchcenter.org/current-term-enrollment-estimates/

I wonder why so many kids are not going to college.

Make $250K and Live Paycheck to Paycheck?

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

Some 36% of households taking in nearly four times the median US salary devote nearly all of their income to household expenses, according to a survey by industry publication Pymnts.com and LendingClub Corp.

One-Third of Americans Making $250,000 Live Paycheck-to-Paycheck, Survey Finds — https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-01/a-third-of-americans-making-250-000-say-costs-eat-entire-salary

A billion dollars isn’t what it used to be. Nelson Bunker Hunt

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/nelson_bunker_hunt_176038

Scary Charts (the scariest chart of 2021)

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https://wolfstreet.com/2021/12/23/oops-americans-big-pay-increases-got-run-over-by-even-bigger-price-increases/

This week I made a donation to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma https://www.regionalfoodbank.org/. If you live in Oklahoma please consider a year end gift. There is a $500,000 dollar for dollar match until year end. If you live elsewhere there will be a similar charity you can give to.

End of post.

New House Construction Supply Chain Mess

/ SupremeCmdr / 2 Comments

The inventory of new single-family houses that home builders put on the market for sale rose to 389,000 in October, the highest since September 2008, according to data from the Census Bureau.

Houses for Sale, Highest since 2008, as Construction Costs Spike Most in 42 Years, Projects Stall — https://wolfstreet.com/2021/11/27/whats-behind-the-huge-pile-up-of-new-houses-for-sale-highest-since-2008-as-construction-costs-spike-most-in-42-years-and-projects-stall
Does anyone else see a problem here?

Where Are The Starter Homes?

/ SupremeCmdr / 3 Comments

Pergens and his wife, Amanda, have a 6-year-old daughter and another child due this month. She stopped working as a pastry chef during the pandemic. They rent a small two-bedroom apartment. “We build all these fancy homes,” Pergens says. “Fancy, fancy houses … and low-income apartments. And there’s absolutely nothing in between.”

The Housing Shortage Is Significant. It’s Acute For Small, Entry-Level Homes — https://www.npr.org/2021/09/04/1033585422/the-housing-shortage-is-significant-its-acute-for-small-entry-level-homes?

Good article but the analysis is only partially correct. Affordable housing has been an issue for decades. It’s not merely an issue of current economic conditions. It’s a lack of political will and the continuing demise of the middle class. WAY BACK last century our starter home cost less than $100,000 and we had over 1600 square feet 3BR 2B.

It’s no wonder the newest hit show on HGTV is Cheap Old Houses. https://www.hgtv.com/shows/discovery-plus-home/articles/cheap-old-houses-hgtv-show

Every Day is an Emergency – Psychiatric Bed Shortages Nationwide

/ SupremeCmdr / 1 Comment

The pandemic and the parallel economic crisis have fueled new concern about access to mental health care. An estimated 40% of American adults are have a condition involving mental illness or substance abuse. In June, federal health officials reported nearly 11% percent of adults surveyed seriously considered suicide during the past 30 days.

‘Every day is an emergency’: The pandemic is worsening psychiatric bed shortages nationwide — https://www.statnews.com/2020/12/23/mental-health-covid19-psychiatric-beds/?utm_campaign=rss

We are just ten months into the Great Pandemic and I fear conditions will get worse before they get better.