from Forbes Breaking News
Economic Forecast for 2025 and Beyond: Growth with Continued Inflation
by Bill Conerly
Forbes
The economic forecast for 2025 shows growth, but at a slower pace than 2024. Inflation will remain above the Federal Reserve’s target, with President-elect Trump’s policies limiting production while stimulating spending. The greatest risk is not a recession but limited production capability as immigration falls.
Economic Momentum Entering 2025
The United States economy has grown nicely through 2024. The last two quarters in particular grew faster than the long-run average, and the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s GDPNow estimate for the fourth quarter continues the above-average trend. Employment grew every month this year (though we don’t yet have December 2024 data).
Inflation Stress and Concern Remain Elevated Despite Stabilizing Prices
by Anthony Murphy and Isha Parmar
Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas
Despite consumer price inflation falling considerably since peaking in 2022, household inflation-related stress and concern remain elevated, having dropped only slightly.
Although most economists and policymakers tend to focus on the decline in inflation (the change in prices), a large share of households—especially low-income households—remain focused on still-elevated prices and the resulting difficulties paying expenses.
More than four in 10 households (45 percent) reported feeling highly stressed by rising prices in third quarter 2024, little changed from 47 percent in third quarter 2022. The incidence of high concern about anticipated inflation in the upcoming six months remained elevated at 57 percent of households in third quarter 2024 compared with 61 percent in third quarter 2022.
U.S. Homelessness Hits New Record in 2024
by AFP
Breitbart.com
The number of people in the United States experiencing homelessness reached a new record this year, with lingering inflation and high housing prices among likely drivers, a government report said Friday.
An estimated 771,480 people were homeless on a single night in January 2024, rising 18 percent from 2023, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in an annual assessment.
This translates to about 23 in every 10,000 people in the country, home to the world’s biggest economy.
The uptick came as households felt the pressure from housing costs, with the median rent for January 2024 being 20 percent higher than that in January 2021, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Investors Wary of Inflation as Trump Pursues ‘America First’ Policy
by Shruthi Nair
AGBI
“We [the Middle East] need to be much more picky about particular geographies, asset classes and even themes that we favour,” said Ben Powell, chief investment strategist at BlackRock’s Investment Institute, speaking to AGBI at Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
Charted: Starbucks Price Inflation (2014-2024)
by Kayla Zhu
Visual Capitalist
How Have Starbucks Prices Changed Since 2014?
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
Once known for their affordability, fast food prices have climbed steadily over the years, making quick meals and sweet treats considerably less budget-friendly.
A prime example is Starbucks, where the cost of 10 popular menu items has seen a notable rise from 2014 to 2024, as highlighted in this visualization.
The data comes from Finance Buzz and was accessed in May 2024.
FinanceBuzz analyzed menu prices from 2014, 2019, and 2024 for 10 items available consistently across those years, sourcing data from menu price websites, restaurant official sites, and archived records via the Wayback Machine.
A Decade of McFlation
from Zero Hedge
Fast food joints used to be the go-to choice for convenient, budget-friendly meals, but over the years, they’ve becoming increasingly tough on the wallet.
One major franchise that has seen substantial price hikes over the past decade is none other than the Golden Arches. This visualization, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the price increase of 10 McDonald’s menu items from 2014 to 2024.
The data comes from Finance Buzz and was accessed in May 2024.
FinanceBuzz analyzed menu prices from 2014, 2019, and 2024 for 10 items available consistently across those years, sourcing data from menu price websites, restaurant official sites, and archived records via the Wayback Machine. Additional adjustments were made to account for franchise pricing variations.
The Real Inflation Number
by Byron King
Daily Reckoning
What’s happening with inflation?
Allegedly, it’s back down in the 3.5% range, give or take; and to do it right one must give and take quite a bit. That is, again, the government number jockeys shamelessly cook the books, as we see from reviewing a site like ShadowStats.com.
[…] If the government used the same methodology today as it used back in, say, 1980, we’d see a much higher rate of inflation. Instead of the advertised 3.5%, it might be more like 12%. And if you do things like buy a house, rent an apartment, buy a new car, pay insurance premiums, enjoy a top-shelf cut of meat from the grocery store, etc.?
Well, you know what I mean. There’s plenty of sticker shock out there, awaiting the unwary shopper. Still, prices for some things are stable, if not declining.
Make Cars (and Everything Else) Cheap Again
Plus: Superfund is back, Biden signs a lot of laws, MAGA vs. tech Christmas, and more…
by Peter Suderman
Reason.com
Tariff price shock absorbers: In 2019, the average price of a new car in America was less than $40,000. But in the years since the pandemic, prices of new vehicles have risen rapidly. As of October 2024, the average price of a new car was more than $47,000.
Incoming President Donald Trump’s threatened tariffs could raise those prices by nearly $3,000, according to an estimate from Wolfe Research, since the cost of tariffs is likely to be passed on to consumers.
That estimated price hike would be a direct result of Trump’s proposal to erect 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Canada and Mexico. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the additional import taxes would hit low-priced vehicles especially hard, since many auto manufacturers have moved production of less expensive, low-profit-margin vehicles to Mexico.
U.S. Homelessness Hits New Record in 2024
by AFP
Breitbart.com
The number of people in the United States experiencing homelessness reached a new record this year, with lingering inflation and high housing prices among likely drivers, a government report said Friday.
An estimated 771,480 people were homeless on a single night in January 2024, rising 18 percent from 2023, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in an annual assessment.
This translates to about 23 in every 10,000 people in the country, home to the world’s biggest economy.
The uptick came as households felt the pressure from housing costs, with the median rent for January 2024 being 20 percent higher than that in January 2021, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Affordable Care Act & the Inflation of Healthcare
by Lance Roberts
Real Investment Advice
When the Obama Administration first suggested the Affordable Care Act following the Financial Crisis, we argued that the outcome would be substantially higher, not lower, healthcare costs. It is interesting today that economists and the media complain about surging healthcare costs with each inflation report but fail to identify the root cause of that escalation. The chart below tells you almost everything you need to know, but in this blog, we will revisit why the Affordable Care Act failed to make healthcare affordable and some solutions to fix the problem.
[…] When it was conceived, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was hoped to improve healthcare access. At the time, roughly 20 million Americans were uninsured. The bill hoped to lower the rising cost of healthcare in the economy by providing a Government mandate.