The value of a dollar shouldn’t require much math. If you have $1, you have $1, right?
Sort of! The dollar’s value fluctuates over time (inflation) and due to economic conditions (such as tariffs) based on how much you can purchase with that same dollar. Thus a dollar is really a measure of purchasing power. Continue reading
I bought the exact same lunch items for my granddaughter this week – same store, same brands, no special sales last week. Total? Up $10 just a few days ago, from $35 to $45. No bulk buys, no extras, just the usual stuff. How does this even happen?
I know prices have been creeping up, but this feels wild. Are grocery stores just randomly adjusting prices now? Or am I just noticing it more? I used to track my budget loosely, but now I’m thinking I need a spreadsheet just to keep up. Continue reading
China is normally the largest export market for U.S. agricultural products. In a typical year, we sell tens of billions of dollars worth of agricultural products to the Chinese, but now that door has been slammed shut thanks to the extremely high tariffs that China has imposed on U.S. imports. If that door is not reopened very soon, farmers all over the nation will be facing financial ruin due to massive financial losses that are already piling up. This is not a crisis that may or may not arrive someday – THIS is a crisis that is already here!
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Silver has struggled to make meaningful gains despite gold’s sustained rally to fresh all-time highs. But while trade tariffs have muddied the waters and some correlations appear broken, some analysts still see the gray metal making big gains in the coming months. Continue reading
The Trump administration has tried to cultivate a reputation for preferring “Main Street over Wall Street.” Unfortunately, this image is belied by the administration’s renewed push for artificially low interest rates and monetary inflation. By embracing these policies, Trump has put himself squarely in the camp of “Wall Street over Main Street.”
This is because a policy of monetary inflation and low interest rates favors wealthy owners of assets while imposing higher prices and fewer income gains on people of more modest means. The Trump policies of inflation and low interest rates fuels levels of inequality far greater than would exist under relatively free market conditions. This is because the low-interest-rate policy increases disposable income far more rapidly for people at higher income levels than it does for people at lower income levels. Continue reading
The gold price kissed $3,500 last week before backing off. The yellow metal’s price has churned violently up and down $50 to $100 daily. For some gold bugs this price level seemed unimaginable without there being shooting in the streets. It’s the Central banks that are violently depreciating the value of their currencies. Continue reading
Hyundai Motor Company and Johnson & Johnson have launched significant investment initiatives in the U.S. Hyundai plans to invest $20 billion, including building a $5 billion steel plant in Louisiana. Johnson & Johnson plans to increase its U.S. investments by 25% to over $55 billion over the next four years.
President Donald Trump stated, “Money is pouring in. This investment is a clear demonstration that tariffs very strongly work.” Continue reading
U.S. investment under President Donald Trump’s administration has reached more than $5 trillion, and is expected to generate hundreds-of-thousands of jobs, according to an analysis of company announcements and reports from industry experts.
In total, through both domestic and foreign investments from four different countries, various U.S. industries and manufacturers have garnered roughly $5.2 trillion in investments since January 20. In turn, these commitments are estimated to generate at least 451,000 new jobs for Americans. Continue reading
“Extending negotiation delay periods is nothing but a total capitulation to the demands of drug corporation lobbyists,” said one advocate.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order that aims to delay Medicare negotiations for a broad category of prescription drugs, handing the deep-pocketed pharmaceutical industry a major win as it lobbies aggressively against efforts to rein in its pricing power. Continue reading
In 2020, state governments forced many businesses to close their doors temporarily for “15 days to stop the spread”. Fifteen days turned into months, and in the progressive state of California it was longer than a year. Knowing that cutting off people’s ability to work and generate income would have disastrous economic consequences, the government directly and indirectly compensated people to stay home. This created a drop in the productivity of goods and services while the newly found free time and money from the treasury resulted in an increased demand for the limited amount of stock available during the pandemic. As a result, inflation shot up causing a rise in prices. Continue reading
