Inflation hit home yesterday.

[DesertIguana]

Was head downtown on errands, stopped for quick something to calm hunger as I was near Pro Ranch Marketing PHX. They are what I call a cool experience in wrong part of town. Use to get a Carnitas Quesadilla for about $5.00 that was wonderful, yesterday the bill was $9.00. Still as good, but not as cheap as pre Covid.

Seems everything is going up up and, out of reach for many, sign of times.

 

[Lightcs1776]

It is not just that prices are increasing. I expect that. The rate of the increase is what is surprising.

 

[slimshavy]

I was hearing that on Marketplace, that the "food away from home" category is up 4.1 percent year over year while groceries are actually down year over year.

 

[Columbo]

Seems everything is going up up and, out of reach for many, sign of times.

Doubling the price of energy, which is needed for the production of all things, will do that.

 

[luvmysuper]

There are two ways to make "green" energy price competitive.
1. Expend funding and incentivise research, development and infrastructure of green energy sources.
2. Attack the fossil fuel industry and drive prices of fossil fuel up to green energy pricing.

 

[fpancoe]

A very average dinner out with the wife now breaks the "C note "barrier

 

[Columbo]

There are two ways to make "green" energy price competitive.
1. Expend funding and incentivise research, development and infrastructure of green energy sources.
2. Attack the fossil fuel industry and drive prices of fossil fuel up to green energy pricing.

There's one of those annoying "words and phrases", to cross connect with the other thread. Annoying is an understatement.

"Fossil fuel"

A slick marketing term concocted by John Rockefeller in the Nineteenth Century to inflate the prices of his product. There is zero scientific evidence that petroleum is derived from any fossils or past organic life. It is found and drilled for at depths far lower than where any fossils or any evidence of past life exists. Go ask any geologist.

Titan, one of Saturn's frozen moons, is covered in oceans of it. Frozen oceans of 'fossil fuel'. Oceans of it. No dinosaurs ever roamed there ... at - 250F.

But if people repeat a lie long enough to each other, it somehow becomes accepted. People just call it "fossil fuel" now, because everyone else has said it for so long. A mindless label, divorced from all reality.

But I agree that destroying the American energy industry these past few years has effectively wrecked the US economy.

Everything now costs double, because the cost of the energy to produce everything has doubled.

Food just doesn't plant, water, harvest and process itself.

And printing fiat Dollars, like Monopoly money, to cover a 35 Trillion Dollar national debt, to conceal a lobbyist-run government that spends completely out of control, sending hundreds of billions everywhere else but Main Street, USA, doesn't help either.




I'm tired of squandering my great-great-great grandchildren's future on someone's half-baked, pipe dream, fantasies, built on nonsense.

Go ride a bicycle, and leave the rest of us alone. Or go to China and complain about their unbreathable air. And watch what they do to you.



Go ask all these green people how much CO2 is in the atmosphere, and none of them know.

All they know is that CO2 is the devil that must be crushed at all costs. And we're responsible for it all. Because that's what they've been told. Even though plants need it to live.

CO2 is 0.04% of the atmosphere. 0.04%. It is a trace atmospheric gas. There is more Argon in the air we breathe. Go outlaw Argon next.

0.04%.

That's one part in 2,500. 1/2,500 of the air is CO2.




And humans are responsible for 3% of that 0.04%. Earth is responsible for the other 97%. One volcanic eruption emits more CO2 than humanity does in centuries. Go outlaw volcanoes next.

Do the basic math. Not the common core math. If we eliminated all humanity from the Earth, we would reduce atmospheric CO2 by a grand total of 0.0012%.

0.0012%. That is one part in every 100,000. 1/100,000. That is one person, standing in the largest football stadium in America.

So let's destroy everything our ancestors spent their lives building, to save 0.0012%. Make people decide between heat and food, over that. Complete insanity.




And there is zero scientific evidence connecting atmospheric CO2 levels to surface temperatures. None. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

But if people repeat a lie often and long enough ...

Fossil fuel.




It is all about politics, and control, over humanity. The rule of the few over the many. There, I've said it.

But the propaganda brainwashing is so strong and pervasive now, people's minds freeze up when confronted with these facts. As if their neurons short circuited. They just sand there, silent.




The petrodollar is in the process of being displaced. It's the last big pillar propping the thing up. And when that fully falls, you'll need a wheelbarrow of dollars for a loaf of bread.

 

[Lockback]

I was hearing that on Marketplace, that the "food away from home" category is up 4.1 percent year over year while groceries are actually down year over year.

I question those numbers. I do most of our grocery shopping and the bill climbs literally every week.
I remember the Jimmy Carter era but this by far the worst I've ever seen.

 

[luvmysuper]

There's one of those annoying "words and phrases", to cross connect with the other thread. Annoying is an understatement.

"Fossil fuel"

A slick marketing term concocted by John Rockefeller in the Nineteenth Century to inflate the prices of his product. There is zero scientific evidence that petroleum is derived from any fossils or past organic life. It is found and drilled for at depths far lower than where any fossils or any evidence of past life exists. Go ask any geologist.

Titan, one of Saturn's frozen moons, is covered in oceans of it. Frozen oceans of 'fossil fuel'. Oceans of it. No dinosaurs ever roamed there ... at - 250F.

But if people repeat a lie long enough to each other, it somehow becomes accepted. People just call it "fossil fuel" now, because everyone else has said it for so long. A mindless label, divorced from all reality.

But I agree that destroying the American energy industry these past few years has effectively wrecked the US economy.

Everything now costs double, because the cost of the energy to produce everything has doubled.

Food just doesn't plant, water, harvest and process itself.

And printing fiat Dollars, like Monopoly money, to cover a 35 Trillion Dollar national debt, to conceal a lobbyist-run government that spends completely out of control, sending hundreds of billions everywhere else but Main Street, USA, doesn't help either.




I'm tired of squandering my great-great-great grandchildren's future on someone's half-baked, pipe dream, fantasies, built on nonsense.

Go ride a bicycle, and leave the rest of us alone. Or go to China and complain about their unbreathable air. And watch what they do to you.



Go ask all these green people how much CO2 is in the atmosphere, and none of them know.

All they know is that CO2 is the devil that must be crushed at all costs. And we're responsible for it all. Because that's what they've been told. Even though plants need it to live.

CO2 is 0.04% of the atmosphere. 0.04%. It is a trace atmospheric gas. There is more Argon in the air we breathe. Go outlaw Argon next.

0.04%.

That's one part in 2,500. 1/2,500 of the air is CO2.




And humans are responsible for 3% of that 0.04%. Earth is responsible for the other 97%. One volcanic eruption emits more CO2 than humanity does in centuries. Go outlaw volcanoes next.

Do the basic math. Not the common core math. If we eliminated all humanity from the Earth, we would reduce atmospheric CO2 by a grand total of 0.0012%.

0.0012%. That is one part in every 100,000. 1/100,000. That is one person, standing in the largest football stadium in America.

So let's destroy everything our ancestors spent their lives building, to save 0.0012%. Make people decide between heat and food, over that. Complete insanity.




And there is zero scientific evidence connecting atmospheric CO2 levels to surface temperatures. None. Zero. Nada. Zilch.

But if people repeat a lie often and long enough ...

Fossil fuel.




It is all about politics, and control, over humanity. The rule of the few over the many. There, I've said it.

But the propaganda brainwashing is so strong and pervasive now, people's minds freeze up when confronted with these facts. As if their neurons short circuited. They just sand there, silent.




The petrodollar is in the process of being displaced. It's the last big pillar propping the thing up. And when that fully falls, you'll need a wheelbarrow of dollars for a loaf of bread.

It's one of those words that are universally recognized as a common term.
I don't think anyone who uses it thinks that oil comes from fossils or even ancient creatures that roamed the earth.
Most people understand intrinsically that it means petroleum based fuel without having to use a word that, while more succinct in its description, doesn't have the widespread linguistic acceptance.
The word shampoo comes from Hindi, and means ‘to massage’. It's derived from the Sanskrit root chapati (चपति), the word initially referred to any type of pressing, kneading, or soothing.
It's widely accepted as meaning to wash hair, carpets or upholstery. No one thinks that they are massaging their rug when they clean it.

 

[Columbo]

It's one of those words that are universally recognized as a common term.
I don't think anyone who uses it thinks that oil comes from fossils or even ancient creatures that roamed the earth.
Most people understand intrinsically that it means petroleum based fuel without having to use a word that, while more succinct in its description, doesn't have the widespread linguistic acceptance.
The word shampoo comes from Hindi, and means ‘to massage’. It's derived from the Sanskrit root chapati (चपति), the word initially referred to any type of pressing, kneading, or soothing.
It's widely accepted as meaning to wash hair, carpets or upholstery. No one thinks that they are massaging their rug when they clean it.

My little rant wasn't directed towards you personally, Phil.

You, and I, and everyone else using that term, are merely victims of its underlying purpose.

But its underlying meaning has absolutely been exploited, to further other agenda.

It's just historically been the gateway thrust for all the later government energy shackles placed on people since it was coined.

All the rest about CO2, atmospheric chemistry, geology and astronomy, is readily available knowledge. Confirmed scientific facts from the hard sciences that's been available for decades. Nothing controversial about it. Even Google will still let you see it.

The only controversy is when you apply it to certain agendas.

 

[AshleyC]

What sticks in my mind is the often used argument that coal needs to be phased out because "it is too expensive".

How much of that expense is the result of executive regulations--not through legislative process--that are designed to artificially make it more expensive?

 

[DesertIguana]

Bottom line is seems everything cost more, and this is not good as people income is not rising at rate of inflation. I feel lucky to be retired, and not have to supplement retirement bagging groceries, or be Wally World greeter.

 

[Dtownvino]

Interesting article in the WSJ about how gas is down 4% from 2000 (inflation adjusted) this Memorial Day. The truth is, wages and salaries have not adjusted at the same rate as inflation in many industries.

I get it, I can make many numbers and scenarios look great, I’m a mathematician by schooling and a senior business person.

Still, everything is expensive now compared to pre COVID shutdowns.

Correction it is 5%

 

[Columbo]

Interesting article in the WSJ about how gas is down 4% from 2000 (inflation adjusted) this Memorial Day. The truth is, wages and salaries have not adjusted at the same rate as inflation in many industries.

I get it, I can make many numbers and scenarios look great, I’m a mathematician by schooling and a senior business person.

Still, everything is expensive now compared to pre COVID shutdowns.

Correction it is 5%

View attachment 1850860

That’s interesting. I still remember $1.85 gas.

And a strategic petroleum reserve that was almost 300 million barrels larger than it is now.

And when we had so much petroleum production, we were a net exporter of it.

And not from 1990. 2020.

Someone has authorized another large release from the SPR, just in time for summer, and election season.

Go figure.

 

[AshleyC]

Interesting article in the WSJ about how gas is down 4% from 2000 (inflation adjusted) this Memorial Day. The truth is, wages and salaries have not adjusted at the same rate as inflation in many industries.

I get it, I can make many numbers and scenarios look great, I’m a mathematician by schooling and a senior business person.

Still, everything is expensive now compared to pre COVID shutdowns.

Correction it is 5%

View attachment 1850860

The administration announced yesterday it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline--not oil, but gasoline, from a reserve in the Northwest.

 

[luvmysuper]

The administration announced yesterday it is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline--not oil, but gasoline, from a reserve in the Northwest.

To be fair, that release is from the Northeast Reserve. The Northeast reserve was established in 2014.
That reserve was considered to be unnecessary and was ordered by Bipartisan Legislation to be shut down and emptied this past March.
It is a gasoline reserve rather than our typical crude oil reserves, and gasoline can't be stored long term, thus maintaining that reserve of gasoline costs 19 million a year due to stock rotation.
The million barrel release/sale will nearly empty that dead reserve.

 

[luvmysuper]

I was hearing that on Marketplace, that the "food away from home" category is up 4.1 percent year over year while groceries are actually down year over year.

I guess it depends on what years are compared.
The annual historical average of grocery inflation has been about 4 percent.
The past 48 months have seen average grocery costs increase 25 percent. The past 12 months have seen a 13.5 percent increase.
Eggs and milk etc, above average.
The price of eggs over the last 4 years has increased 54 percent.
Figures reported by Yahoo Finance.

Here’s How Much Grocery Prices Have Increased Since the Last Election

If you feel like your trips to the grocery store have been putting a bigger dent in your wallet lately, you're not imagining things. Food prices in the United States have risen significantly over the...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Rudy Vey]

That’s interesting. I still remember $1.85 gas.

And a strategic petroleum reserve that was almost 300 million barrels larger than it is now.

And when we had so much petroleum production, we were a net exporter of it.

And not from 1990. 2020.

Someone has authorized another large release from the SPR, just in time for summer, and election season.

Go figure.

I am here since 1996 and remember in 1997 I never paid over $1 for gas. The lowest I paid was $0.81, and the most was $0.97.
These numbers are still in my mind, at the time, I used to write them down and calculated my average consumption - very common in Germany. After 1997, I stopped this.

 

[Columbo]

I am here since 1996 and remember in 1997 I never paid over $1 for gas. The lowest I paid was $0.81, and the most was $0.97.
These numbers are still in my mind, at the time, I used to write them down and calculated my average consumption - very common in Germany. After 1997, I stopped this.

Hey, I remember 12 cent gas, and when Sunoco 260 premium ("260 action ... action to be used, not abused") was 22 cents, through the late 60s and very early 70s. I could fill up my full-sized '68 Ford with premium for well under $10. With enough left over to take the future Mrs. C to McDs if we wanted.

And who can forget these prices, back when Nixon was President ...

Nutritional values aside, their ad then was, you could buy lunch there for a dollar, and still get change back. It was affordable.

And then, in 1973, gas and oil spiked, practically overnight, to around 75 cents a gallon. And the price of everything else soon spiked.

And Johnny Cash was suddenly telling us all to lower our thermostats.

But I've never seen anything like this. This is even worse than the Jimmy Carter stagflation years. Maybe it's not as bad as the Depression years, but that was just a wee bit before my time.

The bottom line is, this current economy is not normal, not even compared to the late 70s. It is also hammering the middle and lower classes far more than the elites, a major shift from previous recessions where the pain was more even handed.

It took a few decades to get here. And it may take more than a few years to correct it. We've got a generation, or maybe two, that are going to be economically lost from it.

And the kids and grandkids better wake up, get wise to it, and get active about it. Or they are not going to enjoy the same bountiful (and freedom wealthy) America that we did.

And communism is not the solution, either, despite what the tuition-subsidized professors are telling them.



Just a little aside to the moderators nervously watching. You can't start a conversation about high inflation, which is demonstrably impacting so many, and not have it stray into some discussion about what may be causing it. That's just the nature of an inquisitive mind. I'll try to watch for the political fence posts.

Otherwise, it's just a whine session at the front of the senior center before the bus comes to take you home.

 

[Dtownvino]

Gas in 2000 where I lived, 99 cents a gallon or less for regular unleaded. Today it's 3.79 to 3.89.

Here is the quick point:

According to the Chained CPI measurement, inflation averaged 2.24% per year between 2000 and 2024, resulting in a total inflation of 70.12%. This means that $1 in 2000 has the same buying power as $1.70 in 2024.

It is not 5% less to me.