Submitted by: Terry Payne
https://www.americanthinker.co
th_joe_in_charge.html
American Thinker
November 18, 2021
Transitory Inflation? Not With Joe in Charge
By John Green <https://www.americanthinker.c
Americans are now facing the highest inflation in 30 years. People are even
starting to talk about the "misery index" again -- and I haven't heard that
term since the Carter administration. Unfortunately, inflation hits low and
middle-income Americans the hardest. You can bet that Speaker Antoinette
and President Asterisk aren't feeling the pinch. Maybe that's why they're
not acting very interested in the problem. But the rest of us are sure
interested.
Inflation isn't a simple matter to control. It is a complex issue that is
affected by many factors.
Whenever the government lowers the value of our money, inflation goes up.
When our geniuses in Washington put more money into circulation by either
borrowing it or printing it, the value (buying power) of the money goes
down. It is simple supply and demand economics. The more there is of
something, the less valuable it becomes. Venezuela has tons of money -- and
it takes a ton of it to buy bread. The Venezuelan currency is the Bolivar,
and they're issuing it in 50,000 Bolivar notes now -- because that's what it
takes to buy anything. Venezuela proves that you can't print your way out
of inflation. Our federal government currently has over $29 trillion in
borrowed money. What does President Gremlin want to do? Borrow $5 trillion
more for his various spending boondoggles. Because he simply doesn't
understand this principle.
Product scarcity also factors into inflation. Gold and diamonds are
valuable for one reason, and one reason only -- they're rare. If we had to
sweep diamonds off the sidewalk every day, no bride would want one on her
engagement ring. It's simple supply and demand again. If there's not
enough of something to meet the demand, people are willing to pay more for
it and prices go up.
Which brings us to our failing supply chain. If there aren't enough
products on the shelves, the remaining products get a bit pricey. COVID
restrictions and work disincentives have starved the country of skilled
workers. Democrat-sponsored emission standards in California have created a
shortage of trucks to move products inland from West Coast ports. Further,
California's AB5 killed private contracting in the state and is creating a
shortage of drivers to pilot the trucks that aren't available anyway. And
just like that, we have over 100 cargo ships parked off the West Coast,
unable to unload, empty store shelves nationwide, and skyrocketing prices
for those scarce products which are available.
What is President Gremlin's plan? His Build Back Better program of course.
A massive deficit spending program which will:
* Borrow enough money to further devalue the dollar
* Fund the Green New Deal to impose further environmental restrictions
on an already failing system
* Expand AB5 nationwide and exacerbate the supply chain labor shortage
Like every Democrat, his only solution to any crisis is to do more of the
same thing that created the crisis.
We can't talk about inflation without also talking about production costs.
I know this is a hard one for liberals to understand. If Joe's reading this,
he needs to pay attention. When it costs more to make and deliver a
product, prices go up. Who knew?
So, what's Joe doing to lower production costs? Well, he's extended
unemployment benefits -- paying people to not work. Businesses across the
country are suffering from labor shortages. They're overcoming that by
offering higher pay and passing on that increased labor cost to their
customers.
A big piece of the processing expense is the price of energy. It takes a
lot of electricity to turn a raw hunk of aluminum into a shiny new rim for
your car. Therefore, skyrocketing energy costs are also contributing to
inflation. When the price of fuel goes up, Americans don't just feel it at
the pump. They feel it when they buy rims for that car -- and every other
product as well. So, what is President Gremlin doing to help with spiking
energy costs? He's canceling pipelines, closing others, restricting
fracking, and canceling drilling permits. That should do the trick.
But let's not forget about those overhead expenses -- of which taxes are a
big one. President Gremlin's Build Back Better program also includes
massive tax increases -- especially for businesses. That's why Senator
Kyrsten Sinema is fighting the program. Those taxes will increase the cost
for every company to stay in business. They will pass those costs along,
and prices will go up.
But inflation isn't only driven by scarcity and costs, it is also driven by
expectations. When buyers (of anything) expect prices to go up, they try to
make their purchases before the increases take effect. In so doing, they
increase demand and drive prices up.
For example, when investors expect a commodity - like, say, oil -- to go up,
they buy oil futures. Futures are a contract to buy a certain amount of oil
in the future at an elevated price. They're hoping the price goes up even
more than their contract price. If it does, they can sell their contract
and make a profit.
But by buying the futures, they've already driven up the future cost of oil
and triggered inflation. That's why gasoline prices went up so quickly when
good ole Joe went to war with the oil industry. President Gremlin's
policies convinced everyone that the price of oil was going up, investors
jumped into the futures market, and they drove the price up -- fast.
Average Americans are worried that they may not be able to heat their homes
this winter, but it's been a real party for the big dollar investors -- most
of whom are donors to the Democrats. You don't suppose there's a connection
there, do you?
Is there anything Joe can do to change that investor behavior? There sure
is. He'd simply need to announce that he's opening up drilling, endorse
fracking, and give the green light to pipeline projects. Investors will
expect prices to drop, and they'll bail on the futures market like rats from
a sinking ship. But that would require admitting that Donald Trump was
right. That's not going to happen with this administration. Sorry
Americans, your wallets aren't as important as Joe's pride -- at least not
to Joe.
If there's anything that President Gremlin has failed to do to make
inflation worse, I can't think of it. But then, I'm not an economist. But
know this: The next time President Asterisk assures us that inflation is
only transitory -- it's only as transitory as his administration.
*****************************
John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He
currently writes at the American Free News Network (afnn.us
<https://afnn.us/> ). He can be followed on Facebook
<https://www.facebook.com/prof
greenjeg@gmail.com <file:///C:\Users\JRDel\Downlo
Image: ZeroOne <https://creativecommons.org/l
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