Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” Is a Grotesque Giveaway to Fossil Fuel Billionaires While Adding $3.3 Trillion to Nation’s Debt
Aren’t Republicans the candidates who got elected promising to bring down the spiraling U.S. debt and annual deficits? Yesterday, the national debt clocked in at $37 trillion as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report showing that President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” would add $3.3 trillion to the national debt over the next decade.
Donald Trump has been a master of Orwell’s reverse-speak throughout his life. So when he labels federal legislation “Beautiful” when it actually gives massive tax breaks to the wealthiest Americans while cutting critical food and health care benefits to the poor and middle class, Americans should finally accept that they have a clear window into the soul and sociopathy of multi-billionaire Donald Trump.
Among the biggest winners, of course, is the fossil fuel industry and the political kingpin of that industry… (Continue to full article)
Price Inflation Hit Multi-Month Highs in July, but Trump Wants More Easy Money
Last week, I noted that in spite of mounting pressure on Fed Chairman Jerome Powell and the FOMC to cut the target policy interest rate, the Fed absolutely should not do it. Although Powell claims that current monetary policy is restrictive, this is not the case. Indeed, following an injection of more than five trillion dollars into the economy since early 2020, the last thing we need is even more Fed intervention in the economy to add even more liquidity. I wrote:
Moreover, if the Fed pushes for lower rates right now—which requires more money creation from the FOMC’s open market operations—then the Fed will be “loosening into inflation.” That is, the Fed will be adopting looser, more inflationary monetary policy at the same time that there is an upward trend in price inflation. Not only are CPI and PPI prices accelerating again, but the US is in the midst of a meltup with the S&P 500 near all-time highs, with gold, crypto, and more all ripping to new highs. This is not an economy with too little liquidity. This is an economy with trillions of dollars from the covid-era mega-inflation still sloshing around the economy.
The Media has been inclined to blame this all on tariffs, but it’s extremely unlikely we’d see such clear upward movement in prices if there were not also excessive liquidity allowing purchasers to continue to bid up prices across the board… (Continue to full article)
da Fingah
Government Statistics Are Always Political
The recent political firefight over Trumps firing of BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer overshadows the underlying question of why we need the BLS at all. Murray Rothbard noted that government statistics provide the main tools for government economic intervention.
So why has this become an issue now?
The obvious answer is that President Trump is a man who cares about headlines and his social media venting about the disastrous job numbers understandably raises the spectre of concern about the “politicalization” of the statistics bureau. The fact that bad jobs data would traditionally be viewed as an asset in his feud with crusade for rate cuts from the Federal Reserve is secondary to his desire to project his vision of a “Golden Age.”…. (Continue to full article)
Fed officials see inflation just around the corner — and think consumers will bear the burden, minutes show
Federal Reserve officials believe inflation from new tariffs is just around the corner, and that American consumers are going to pay the costs, minutes of the Fed’s July meeting show.
“With regard to the outlook for inflation, participants generally expected inflation to increase in the near term,” according to the minutes released Wendesday afternoon.
While there are several theories on why inflation has not risen sharply amid the initial rise in tariff rates, Fed officials think higher costs will eventually hit domestic businesses and said their contacts told them that many companies would have to pass through the costs to their customers.
This puts Fed officials in a dilemma. Tariffs are expected to slow growth, which could damage the labor market. At the same time, they will cause inflation to rise… (Continue to full article)
“To the Moon Alice…”
UBS raises Q2 2026 gold price target to $3,600/oz, sees strongest gold demand since 2011
UBS has raised its Q1 2026 gold price target by $100 to $3,600 per ounce, with the Swiss banking giant now expecting 2025 to see the strongest bullion demand since 2011.
UBS analysts cited persistent U.S. macroeconomic risks, de-dollarization trends, and strong investment demand — especially from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and central banks — as the main factors they see driving gold prices to new all-time highs.
“We see US macro-related risks, questions over Fed independence, worries about fiscal sustainability, and geopolitics underpinning de-dollarization trends and more central bank buying,” they wrote. “In our view, these factors will drive gold prices even higher.”… (Continue to full article)
Are You Drowning Too?: Vegetables Are Up 38.9%, Coffee is Up 25%, And Electricity Prices Are Rising Twice As Fast As Inflation
Do you feel knots in your stomach due to financial stress? If so, you certainly have lots of company. All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the cost of living and prices are rising by double-digit percentages all around us.
There are so many people out there right now that feel like they are “drowning” because no matter how hard they try there simply isn’t enough money for everything. Unfortunately, we are being warned to brace ourselves for even more inflation in the months ahead.
When I heard that the cost of vegetables in the United States had gone up by 40 percent in one month, I thought that there was no way that it could be true.
So I looked it up, and I discovered that the cost of vegetables in the United States didn’t go up by 40 percent in one month.
The real figure was 38.9 percent…… (Continue to full article)
