Saturday, October 22, 2022

Again, don't believe the hype. JOBS >>>> Inflation. And "inflation" = profiteering

In today's edition of "INFLATION PANIC and why it is BS," I give you this article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel,where Corinne Hess talks to UW-Madison PoliSci/Public Affairs professor Mark Copelovitch, who explains that while pumping up the economy since early 2020 (under both the Trump and Biden Administrations) has definitely raised prices, it also has brought back all the jobs lost when the COVID pandemic broke out.
Stimulus programs including individual checks and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) for small businesses have pushed inflation in the U.S. 2% to 3% higher than it would have been without it, Copelovitch said.

"But the difference is, we've had basically total employment recovery in the United States," he said. "That's part of the discussion that you don't hear that much — was it worth it to have a full recovery?" Copelovitch said. "European countries haven't had a full recovery."

The European Union Inflation Rate is 10.9%.
It really amazes me that we've just shrugged away how we've added 10 million jobs since Joe Biden and Dems took power in DC in January 2021, and cut the US unemployment rate from 6.4% to 3.5% . By comparison, in the same amount of time before the COVID pandemic shut down the economy (June 2018-Feb 2020), the US only added 3.5 million jobs, and only had unemployment go from 4.0% to the same 3.5%.

I'll take higher inflation for 18 months over 5 years of slow job growth coming out of the recession, like we saw in the early 2000s and after the Great Recession "ended" in mid-2009.

Professor Copelovitch points to a recent study that shows almost 2/3 of our recent inflation can be traced to supply-chain issues that will happen when businesses shut down, millions of people DIE from a virus, trade is disrupted, and workers stop accepting bad jobs at crappy pay.

As Professor Copelovich adds in the Journal-Sentinel article, a lot of the reason inflation is perceived as a big deal to worry about is because the media keeps telling us it's a big deal to worry about.
Since January 2021, there have been 12 to 15 articles about inflation for every one on unemployment, Copelovitch said, adding that hearing about a recession and inflation constantly for 18 months has shaped how people are feeling about their current situation.

"There were a tiny number about the unemployment recovery, but a ton about gas prices," Copelovitch said.
And while higher gas prices are annoying, that situation is nowhere near as disruptive as being out of work.

Know what I don't hear enough when inflation is discussed. The biggest inflation of all in the last 18 months - PROFITS.

And why is Katie Porter one of the few Dems talking about this FACT in a time when corporate profits reached an annual rate of $3 TRILLION in the last quarter measured? And why is this not being connected back to the other obscene inflation in 2022 - spending during a midterm election?

Seems like something a whole lot of Americans would agree with, and demand real answers for. And Republicans absolutely do not have any answers for it. Frankly, they don't want this to change at all. It helps them and their oligarch buddies maintain the advantaqge when they can't win on the issues, especially the economy.

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