Bidenomics

[GURPS]

What inflation means for the Big Mac index​

For much of the past two years, economists have argued fiercely about prices. As inflation in America and elsewhere has exceeded central-bank targets, analysts have dissected different components of the cost of living, including the prices of goods, services, energy and rents.

But what about the Big Mac? The iconic McDonald’s burger is an amalgam of rent, electricity and labour, as well as beef, bread and cheese. Its price is therefore indicative of broader inflationary pressures. And because the burger is basically the same wherever you are in the world, its price can also reveal how inflation has changed the relative costliness of different countries.

In America, for example, the median price of a Big Mac has risen by more than 6% to an average of $5.36 in the past two years. (The price tends to be a bit higher in big cities.) According to the theory of purchasing-power parity, when a country’s prices rise, its currency should fall, everything else equal. This stops the country’s prices moving too far out of line with those elsewhere in the world.

Yet the dollar has risen, not fallen, over the past two years against the currencies of most other big economies. A trade-weighted exchange-rate index published by America’s Federal Reserve increased by more than 9% from December 2020 to December 2022. One reason for this is that inflation has also returned to lots of America’s trading partners. Indeed, in many places it is worse. Big Mac prices have risen by 14% over the past two years in the euro area and by 15% in Britain. But the dollar’s rise against the euro and pound has been more than required to offset this inflation gap.

The combination of rising prices and a rising currency threatens to move American prices out of whack with those elsewhere in the world. Two years ago, for example, the Big Mac was 26% cheaper in Japan than America. In principle, this suggests the yen was undervalued and should have risen against the dollar. In fact, the opposite occurred. A Big Mac is now more than 40% cheaper in Japan.

 

[AnthonyJames]

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).

Really, 100w? I just looked at mine and they're 9w, supposedly equal to a 60w incandescent.

 

[Clem72]

Really, 100w? I just looked at mine and they're 9w, supposedly equal to a 60w incandescent.

100w equivalent and I think 200w equivalent. For a time I was trying to find the brightest possible to see if I could replace the fluorescent tube lighting in my workshop.

 

[Kyle]

100w equivalent and I think 200w equivalent. For a time I was trying to find the brightest possible to see if I could replace the fluorescent tube lighting in my workshop.

You mean to say your "brilliance" doesn't light up the whole room?

 

[AnthonyJames]

100w equivalent and I think 200w equivalent. For a time I was trying to find the brightest possible to see if I could replace the fluorescent tube lighting in my workshop.

The information I posted came straight off the box. If you would like to contest it feel free to contact the manufacturer, Newleaf @ www.efi.org/wholesale. I do not represent, nor am I a spokesperson, for Newleaf.

 

[gemma_rae]

You mean to say your "brilliance" doesn't light up the whole room?

Uncle Stanley always said, If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull-ointment.

clammy72 has me on iggy and can't see my post. If you quote me and he sees it, he'll be an old Meamie Head!

 

[Kyle]

Uncle Stanley always said, If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bull-ointment.

clammy72 has me on iggy and can't see my post. If you quote me and he sees it, he'll be an old Meamie Head!

Likely has me on ignore as well.

He’s such a miserable Putz.

 

[jrt_ms1995]

The free SMECO bulbs are only 9W, 60W equivalent, about 800 lumens; not bright enough (imo) for a closet. They don't give away the ones people might actually want.

 

[AnthonyJames]

The free SMECO bulbs are only 9W, 60W equivalent, about 800 lumens; not bright enough (imo) for a closet. They don't give away the ones people might actually want.

Thank you sir. I was beginning to wonder AITA.

(Am I the a-whole?)

 

[Clem72]

The free SMECO bulbs are only 9W, 60W equivalent, about 800 lumens; not bright enough (imo) for a closet. They don't give away the ones people might actually want.

Thank you sir. I was beginning to wonder AITA.

(Am I the a-whole?)

Sorry, thought you were asking about the ones that I purchased myself. I have received free candelabra LEDs (I sure as hell didn't buy them) well as some 100w equivalents. I have been getting these free ones for many years and I also bought the ones from the website when they were heavily subsidizing them, I.E. they would have certain bulbs on for $1 or $2, then once stock was gone they would have a different bulb.

 

[GURPS]

Biden Touts Record On Inflation As Americans Spend Hundreds More Per Month​

 

[GURPS]

You have to hand it to the Biden team. They truly seem to be clueless. Or perhaps they think we are, with the things they try to sell us.

They think the problem isn't Biden, it's just messaging. If Americans just understood Biden and his policies a little better, then we'd truly get what a great guy he is and how wonderful his "plans" are. Of course, the problem is that we do understand his policies--because they are adversely impacting our wallets every single day in so many ways. They're costing us hundreds of dollars more every month--by one count, $709 more a month--and it's not something we will soon forget.

What they did to try to convince us is truly funny. They sent Joe Biden out with a whiteboard on X, trying to explain to us -- the poor benighted folks who just don't get it -- how "Bidenomics" works and why it's a wonderful thing.

"I came to office determined to change the economic direction of this country and to move from trickle-down economics to my middle out, bottom up vision: Bidenomics," Biden said. Yet, even as he tries to get it out, he's slurring his words and he's not even writing it out the whiteboard; they're flashing things on it to help him, and all he's doing is checking boxes. What a low-energy whiteboard.

"Trickle-down economics" was a liberal term used to attack Ronald Reagan back in the 1980s and what Biden says about it is nonsense. They have to make up things because they can't deal with the reality of what a strong economy we had under former President Donald Trump, with low inflation, low unemployment, and energy independence. That reality stands in stark contrast to the mess that Biden has driven us to, but now wants to gussy up and call "Bidenomics."

There are a variety of untrue and misleading things Biden says. He didn't "create" 13 million new jobs -- people returning to work after COVID lockdowns isn't "job creation." Also, he claimed they increased wages when in fact, because of Bidenflation, real wages are down 2.6 percent. There's also been a slowdown in manufacturing, contrary to what Biden said.

But perhaps the biggest untruth is how he talks about how he's making things better for the middle class, when in fact the opposite is true. When you have to pay hundreds more every month, when everything costs more, you aren't helping the middle class; you're increasing the poor and decreasing the middle class. Middle-class people used to be able to buy food and afford their own homes. Now with the increased interest rates and the inflation, that ability has been cut off for many. That's on Biden; he's been horrible for the middle class.

Biden Tries - And Fails - at Using a Whiteboard to Explain 'Bidenomics'

redstate.com

 

[Monello]

 

[GURPS]

That's Bidenomics: American Auto-Giant Blindsides Over 900 Workers with Sudden Layoffs​

General Motors is closing its IT Innovation Center in Chandler, Arizona, cutting 940 jobs.

The closing came as a major shock, ChandlerNews.com reported.

This location will close on Oct. 31, according to KTVK-TV.

“Today’s announcement that GM plans to close its Arizona IT Innovation Center came as a complete surprise,” economic development director Micah Miranda said.

“We’ve recently been working with their local team about higher education partnerships, mentoring, and a promotional video highlighting Chandler’s Price Corridor. With this unfortunate news, we plan to work closely with our workforce development partners to assist with employment opportunities for those impacted,” Miranda said.

 

[GURPS]

Gas rises 63 cents a gallon in 2023 as gloomy data casts doubt on rosy ‘Bidenomics’ tour​

Biden's claims of success may be undercut by important individual numbers, which paint a much more grim picture than just the CPI aggregate. Gas prices, for example, are up almost 20% this year alone at $3.823/gallon, and are 71% higher than three years ago, according to AAA archives.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that during the past 12 months, food costs have risen 4.9%, rent is up 8%, and transportation services are up 9%.

The Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law last year by President Biden and has been heavily touted by the administration has been ineffective in reducing inflation, according to several leading economists. This month, President Biden said the Inflation Reduction Act didn't have much to do with reducing inflation, adding that "I wish I hadn’t called it that" because "It has less to do with reducing inflation than it does providing for alternatives that generate economic growth."

The Tax Foundation said in a recent paper titled "Inflation Reduction Act One Year After Enactment" that "the law’s complicated tax increases on large corporations, particularly the minimum tax on book income, have resulted in extraordinary implementation challenges and taxpayer confusion, with many questions left unresolved. Payments for both the minimum tax and the stock buyback tax are currently on hold until the IRS issues further guidance."

 

[GURPS]

Federal Deficit to Double to $2 Trillion Even as Biden Boasts Deficit-Cutting​

What President Biden failed to mention, however, is that most of the massive deficit drop in 2022 was a one-off, driven by what experts say was a one-time inflation-related explosion in tax revenue and capital gains.

And while the president touted his supposed deficit-slashing accolades, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan organization that seeks to educate the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact, projected that the deficit under the president's watch would double in 2023 to around $2 trillion.

"Deficits are slated to double this year, from $1 trillion up to $2 trillion, when you exclude student debt cancellation," CRFB senior vice president Marc Goldwein said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

 

[SamSpade]

Federal Deficit to Double to $2 Trillion Even as Biden Boasts Deficit-Cutting​

What President Biden failed to mention, however, is that most of the massive deficit drop in 2022 was a one-off, driven by what experts say was a one-time inflation-related explosion in tax revenue and capital gains.

And while the president touted his supposed deficit-slashing accolades, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), a nonpartisan organization that seeks to educate the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact, projected that the deficit under the president's watch would double in 2023 to around $2 trillion.

"Deficits are slated to double this year, from $1 trillion up to $2 trillion, when you exclude student debt cancellation," CRFB senior vice president Marc Goldwein said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Obama did the same - claimed massive deficit reduction AFTER record budgets after the recession. It was still years before his deficit was anywhere NEAR Dubya’s in a typical year.

It’s kind of like, you drink a few beers a day and then for a year you drink a few CASES a day. The next year you drink a case and a half a day; the next just one case, all the while saying see, I’m drinking LESS!

 

[herb749]

Obama did the same - claimed massive deficit reduction AFTER record budgets after the recession. It was still years before his deficit was anywhere NEAR Dubya’s in a typical year.

It’s kind of like, you drink a few beers a day and then for a year you drink a few CASES a day. The next year you drink a case and a half a day; the next just one case, all the while saying see, I’m drinking LESS!

Its like when they say we cut the budget. Yeah they cut 10% off the budget increase.

 

[GURPS]

Its like when they say we cut the budget. Yeah they cut 10% off the budget increase.

yep this is Bidennomics ... we cut the deficit - yeah Covid Spending Ended see we reduced the deficit

 

[GURPS]

Things Have Not Been This Bad Since Biden Was Obama’s Vice President

The last time Americans saw a drop in household income as large as we did last year, Barack Obama was president.

The Census Bureau on Tuesday released its calculations for the change in real median household income for last year. By its calculations, the median income of U.S. households fell in 2022 by 2.3 percent, the worst decline since 2010.

History may not necessarily repeat or even rhyme, but it certainly rings a bell on occasion. The last time household income suffered a decline as large as it did in the second year of Biden’s presidency was in the second year of Biden’s vice presidency.

That’s before taxes. Once you calculate in changes to the taxes paid and subsidies handed out, household income fell 8.8 percent. A lot of the post-tax decline had to do with the lapsing of the Biden administration’s pandemic “rescue” policies—like child tax credits and the super-sized earned income tax credit—that pumped up incomes and contributed to the worst inflation in decades.

The real median earnings of all workers—which includes part-time and full-time workers—declined 2.2 percent. Median earnings of those who worked full-time, year-round fell 1.3 percent.

Breitbart Business Digest: We Haven't Had a Year This Bad Since Obama Was President

The last time household income suffered a decline as large as it did in the second year of Biden's presidency was in the second year of Biden's vice presidency.

www.breitbart.com