Bidenomics

[GURPS]

McCarthy quoted a driver from Wichita, Kansas, who told a local news station that the rising prices are “frustrating because anything that cuts into my pocket means less money that I can put away for my retirement, less money I can spend on things I enjoy.”

“So what exactly is President Biden doing to help real Americans like Jeremy?” McCarthy’s blog post asked.

“Instead of unleashing our nation’s energy production to lower prices at the pump, the President is doubling down on the same radical, Green New Deal policies that increased gas prices by 60 percent since he took office,” he continued, adding that Biden has bragged about his efforts to “stop all drilling on the East Coast, and on the West Coast and on the Gulf.”

“But I lost in court. But we’re still pushing very hard,” Biden said in a Weather Channel interview, deeming climate change — a favorite phrase the radical left uses to push their Green New Deal policies — an “existential threat.” Mainstream media outlets have also zeroed in on this narrative, arbitrarily blaming rising gas prices on “climate change.”

McCarthy continued:

We know that energy independence is the core of good economics for America. That’s why we passed the Lower Energy Costs Act, which will make energy more affordable by cutting bureaucratic red tape and strengthen our national security by putting American energy first, rather than dirty gas from our competitors such as China and Russia.

The House Speaker said Biden has done the opposite, bowing to foreign dictators while cutting off energy independence via new regulations and “depleting our nation’s emergency petroleum reserves to their lowest level since the 1980s.” And Americans, he added, are paying the price — literally — for these disastrous policies.

Gas prices rose to an average of $3.828 on Thursday. The average one month ago was $3.543.

“We appear to be at a fork in the road when it comes to which direction gas prices will take – up or down,” AAA spokesman Andrew Gross said.

Kevin McCarthy Blasts Biden for Soaring Gas Prices: 'That’s Bidenomics, Folks'

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is blasting President Biden over the latest bout of soaring gas prices.

www.breitbart.com

 

[Sneakers]

Updated a bedroom a few years back. As part of that, I put in a new door. Not something cheap, solid wood and 12-pane frosted glass, pre-hung. Cost about $750.

Doing some more renovation and there are 2 doors immediately adjacent to the one I replaced a few years back, so I put in an order for the exact same doors, so everything matched.

They now cost $1500 each.

 

[Kyle]

Updated a bedroom a few years back. As part of that, I put in a new door. Not something cheap, solid wood and 12-pane frosted glass, pre-hung. Cost about $750.

Doing some more renovation and there are 2 doors immediately adjacent to the one I replaced a few years back, so I put in an order for the exact same doors, so everything matched.

They now cost $1500 each.

Just remember, Joe says it’s getting better.

 

[herb749]

Updated a bedroom a few years back. As part of that, I put in a new door. Not something cheap, solid wood and 12-pane frosted glass, pre-hung. Cost about $750.

Doing some more renovation and there are 2 doors immediately adjacent to the one I replaced a few years back, so I put in an order for the exact same doors, so everything matched.

They now cost $1500 each.

Prices have either gone up or the package has gotten smaller for the same price. Liberals have accepted these increases as helping the common good. Everyone else knows they have less spending power.

 

[GURPS]

Is Inflation Caused by All the Corporations Just Raising Their Prices at Once?​

If you can sell people on this, not only does it shift the blame from the real primary causes of inflation (the Fed printing more money and government spending), it allows liberals to gain new powers. Next thing you know, there are windfall profits taxes, and price controls on tap designed to get those awful corporations under control.

So, why can this not be true?

Well, to begin with, businesses ALWAYS want to charge as much as possible for their products and services. If I could get people to buy the throw pillows on my couch for a billion dollars each, I’d happily put them on the market for that. Unfortunately, that’s not how things work. To explain, let’s create a theoretical town in the middle of nowhere, 1,000 miles away from everyone else.

[clip]


Gas prices were $2.39 cents per gallon when Joe Biden took office. Today, the average price per gallon is $3.87 cents per gallon. That’s an increase of $1.48 per gallon. Is that caused by inflation or oil companies taking huge profits?


Well, first of all, it’s worth noting that the sheer scale of these businesses makes their profit numbers sound much more impressive than they are when you dig into all the numbers. Here’s an old 2008 quote from then Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson that helps get that point across very nicely:

"I saw someone characterize our profits the other day in terms of $1,400 in profit per second. Well, they also need to understand we paid $4,000 a second in taxes, and we spent $15,000 a second in cost," Tillerson told ABC News' Charles Gibson. "We spend $1 billion a day just running our business. So, this is a business where large numbers are just characteristic of it."

Oil companies are actually NOT one of the more profitable businesses percentage wise:

Only thing is, U.S. energy companies have been among the least profitable firms during the last 10 years, and they’re not the most profitable now, even with oil prices up 60% during the last 12 months, to nearly $100 per barrel.
In 2021, U.S. energy firms were the 10th most profitable sector of the U.S. economy out of 11, according to S&P Global IQ. Energy firms listed in the S&P 500 stock index posted an 8.3% profit margin in 2021. That was below the median for all 11 sectors, which was 10.6%. Financials led with a 25.3% profit margin. Tech was second at 23.2%. Pharmaceutical firms posted a 23.1% margin. The only segment worse than energy was consumer staples, with a 6.6% margin.
...It's true that energy companies have been profitable recently. But that follows several disastrous years that drove many energy firms out of business and left others bleeding cash. Exxon, for instance, notched a profit of $23.6 billion last year. But that followed a gargantuan loss of $22.4 billion in 2020, a year when oil prices crashed so hard they briefly turned negative. Apple, by comparison, earned $94.7 billion in 2021, more than three times Exxon’s profit—and that came after an unbroken string of 11-figure profits going all the way back to 2010.

…Calls for punishing one industry for a short spurt of profitability begin to look inherently ridiculous when the industry is a dog over a longer period of time.

There is debate about how much the oil companies actually make in profit per gallon of gas sold, but most estimates put it at about 7 cents per gallon. Meanwhile, here’s what the government is taking in taxes per gallon.



As you can see, you are paying far more in taxes per gallon of gas than the oil companies are making in profit. They’re not causing inflation. On the contrary, it’s our government spending and printing money that’s behind it (if you want more details, here’s an explainer). If you need even more evidence, just consider that Big Oil is the most prominent industry that’s targeted with this nonsense, but prices are going up almost across the board on everything:

Energy prices surged 7.5% on the month and were up 41.6% on a 12-month basis. The food index increased 1%, while shelter costs, which make up about one-third of the CPI rose 0.6% for the month and were up 5.6% annually. This was the sixth straight month that food at home rose at least 1%.
Rental costs rose 0.8% in June, the largest monthly increase since April 1986, according to the BLS.
...Much of the inflation rise came from gasoline prices, which increased 11.2% on the month and just shy of 60% for the 12-month period. Electricity costs rose 1.7% and 13.7%, respectively. New and used vehicle prices posted respective monthly gains of 0.7% and 1.6%.
Medical-care costs climbed 0.7% on the month, propelled by a 1.9% increase in dental services, the largest monthly rise ever recorded for that sector in data that goes back to 1995.
Airline fares were one of the few areas seeing a decline, falling 1.8% in June though still up 34.1% from a year ago. The meat, poultry, fish, and eggs category also dropped 0.4% for the month but is up 11.7% on an annual basis.

 

[GURPS]

 

[SamSpade]

It drives me crazy when people complain that the price of oil dropping ought to be mirrored by an immediate drop at the pump.

That would work, if the gas in the ground at the gas station were CONTINUALLY being replenished. It's not. He gets deliveries on a schedule - and typically, the gas station earns a more or less fixed - albeit small - percentage of the cost as profit.

If oil last WEEK costs a certain amount, then the price for the gas in the ground today is the cost of the gas the owner paid plus his profit - which is typically more or less - fixed. They can't drop and raise prices based on the price of oil abroad. If gas goes down a quarter - in a week - well he loses money if he charges a quarter less per gallon than he paid last week.

As Joe "explained" - it's pretty simple. There's just an understandable lag time. And the chart - shows that.

 

[vraiblonde]

McCarthy

I'm beyond sick of that guy. Has he done anything since he became Speaker besides go on TV and run his mouth? I see him bitching and moaning but I don't see him pushing back.

It's almost worth it to give Dems a House majority back just to get rid of that worthless scumbag.

 

[GURPS]

It's almost worth it to give Dems a House majority back just to get rid of that worthless scumbag.

You must be enjoying Biden's American ....

 

[Hijinx]

Last week my lawn mower needed ne blades. Last year I pain $38 dollars for 3 new blades. This year the same blades cost $59.dollars.
almost double. I had out a $50 dollar bill to pay for the blades and had to go back and get another ten.
I bought a roast for the Sunday Dinner when the kids came down It was $43 dollars. for one roast. Damn.

The Democrats in Maryland passed an automatic gas tax that raises every year, Isn't that a great idea.?

 

[vraiblonde]

You must be enjoying Biden's American ....

Because it's so different from McCarthy's America....

 

[Clem72]

It drives me crazy when people complain that the price of oil dropping ought to be mirrored by an immediate drop at the pump.

That would work, if the gas in the ground at the gas station were CONTINUALLY being replenished. It's not. He gets deliveries on a schedule - and typically, the gas station earns a more or less fixed - albeit small - percentage of the cost as profit.

If oil last WEEK costs a certain amount, then the price for the gas in the ground today is the cost of the gas the owner paid plus his profit - which is typically more or less - fixed. They can't drop and raise prices based on the price of oil abroad. If gas goes down a quarter - in a week - well he loses money if he charges a quarter less per gallon than he paid last week.

As Joe "explained" - it's pretty simple. There's just an understandable lag time. And the chart - shows that.

I'm not sure where you got the idea that gas station owners only change their prices when they fill their in-ground tanks. Wholesale prices change daily, and retail changes directly follow. And in my almost 5 decades of driving I have witnessed the obvious trend that when wholesale prices rise, the stations immediately increase their prices, but when the wholesale price lowers they more slowly trend down (happy to take profits when available but trying as hard as possible not to sell the current gas for a loss).

Not to mention gas stations try to match prices, and most medium to large stations are getting their tanks filled multiple times a week. So when the prices decrease and the bigger stations like Wawa refill in just a couple of days and change their prices the smaller stations who might sit on their gas for longer are still forced to adjust.

 

[Ken King]

I'm beyond sick of that guy. Has he done anything since he became Speaker besides go on TV and run his mouth? I see him bitching and moaning but I don't see him pushing back.

It's almost worth it to give Dems a House majority back just to get rid of that worthless scumbag.

Not sure what you expect him to do. He appoints committee chairs but, by tradition, he does not sit on any committee or participate in floor debates. The very nature of his position is to be the voice of the House, which is bitching and moaning.

 

[SamSpade]

I'm not sure where you got the idea that gas station owners only change their prices when they fill their in-ground tanks. Wholesale prices change daily, and retail changes directly follow. And in my almost 5 decades of driving I have witnessed the obvious trend that when wholesale prices rise, the stations immediately increase their prices, but when the wholesale price lowers they more slowly trend down (happy to take profits when available but trying as hard as possible not to sell the current gas for a loss).

Not to mention gas stations try to match prices, and most medium to large stations are getting their tanks filled multiple times a week. So when the prices decrease and the bigger stations like Wawa refill in just a couple of days and change their prices the smaller stations who might sit on their gas for longer are still forced to adjust.

No, that also makes sense. When prices for gas JUMP you have to increase prices quickly to afford the next delivery.

It is totally sensible to lower prices slowly and raise them quickly.

 

[AnthonyJames]

I went to buy a 100w light bulb yesterday, instead of a $4 incandescent bulb I had to buy a $12 LED bulb.

Thanks pResident Potato Head.

 

[Sneakers]

instead of a $4 incandescent bulb I had to buy a $12 LED bulb.

A standard single 100w LED at Walmart is $4. A four-pac is under $10.
And last I looked, there were still incandescents on the shelf.

 

[AnthonyJames]

A standard single 100w LED at Walmart is $4. A four-pac is under $10.
And last I looked, there were still incandescents on the shelf.

I was at Giant in La Plata, admitted not the place to go for light bulbs. I really dislike Walmart, but I guess I have no choice. I think I'll try Lowe's first though. Thanks

 

[Clem72]

I went to buy a 100w light bulb yesterday, instead of a $4 incandescent bulb I had to buy a $12 LED bulb.

Thanks pResident Potato Head.

Wow, where are you shopping? They're literally a buck at the dollar stores, 3 or 4 at the big box stores..

Every year smeco will send you a free box full of them along with a low flow shower head (straight into the trash) and other goodies like wifi power sockets or wifi controlled light bulbs.

I must have 100 LED bulbs of various sizes in the basement and I probably paid for 6 of them (the 120 or 200w equivalent ones).

 

[SamSpade]

Bottom line - I pay a LOT more for groceries, a LOT more for gas and a LOT more for electricity. With the POSSIBLE exception of gas - and I don't expect THAT as long as Biden is President - none of those costs will ever come down.

It's no comfort at all to know that, with all the trillions being spent, the very best they can come up with is - it's not going to get WORSE - as FAST.

 

[GURPS]

Our Big Mac index shows how burger prices are changing​

The big mac index was invented by The Economist in 1986 as a lighthearted guide to whether currencies are at their “correct” level. It is based on the theory of purchasing-power parity (PPP), the notion that in the long run exchange rates should move towards the rate that would equalise the prices of an identical basket of goods and services (in this case, a burger) in any two countries.

Burgernomics was never intended as a precise gauge of currency misalignment, merely a tool to make exchange-rate theory more digestible. Yet the Big Mac index has become a global standard, included in several economic textbooks and the subject of dozens of academic studies. For those who take their fast food more seriously, we also calculate a gourmet version of the index.

The GDP-adjusted index addresses the criticism that you would expect average burger prices to be cheaper in poor countries than in rich ones because labour costs are lower. PPP signals where exchange rates should be heading in the long run, as a country like China gets richer, but it says little about today's equilibrium rate. The relationship between prices and GDP per person may be a better guide to the current fair value of a currency.