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Ron Baron Thinks Inflation is Higher Than You’ve Been Told
by Al Root
Barron’s
Growth investor Ron Baron believes inflation runs hotter than most people think. He has an idea about what investors should do with that information.
At Friday’s 31st annual Baron Investment Conference at New York City’s Lincoln Center, the firm included a handout “Inflation According to Ron Baron.”
It listed price changes the Octogenarian founder of Baron Capital has experienced over the past 75-plus years for homes, cars, gasoline, college tuition, steaks, and even golf caddy fees. Inflation has averaged roughly 4.5% to 6.5% a year.
Official government statistics peg the inflation rate at about 3.5% over the same span.
Establishment Economists Threaten Trump: Deportations Will Spike Inflation
by Neil Munro
Breitbart.com
Establishment economists are threatening President-elect Donald Trump with a new round of inflation if he restores Americans’ civil right to a secure national border.
But the free market will manage the inflation threat by hiring Americans in place of deported migrants, and by investing in productivity-raising machinery, responded EJ Antoni, an economist at the Heritage Foundation.
“I see no reason why the adjustment would not happen almost immediately,” he told Breitbart News.
In 2017, for example, shortly after Trump first cracked down on migration, meatpacking giant Tysons Food allocated $500 million to begin automating its slaughterhouses and by raising wages many other companies also hired sidelined workers, including ex-convicts, and disabled people.
Voters Blamed Biden and Harris for Rising Costs. Was That Fair? We Asked Economists.
by Daniel de Visé
USA Today
The 2024 election was, to some extent, a referendum on inflation. Voters were mad about higher prices, and they vented their wrath on the Democrats.
Was that fair?
USA TODAY asked economists to ascribe blame for the historic run of inflation, which reached a 40-year peak in mid-2022. Inflation has cooled since then, to an annual rate of 2.6% in October. But prices are higher for good: about 21.4% higher since February 2020, according to an analysis by the personal finance site Bankrate.
Exit polls suggest inflation loomed large in Donald Trump’s triumph at the polls. More than two-thirds of voters said the economy was in bad shape, an ABC News exit poll found. In a CBS News exit poll, three-quarters of voters said inflation was a hardship.
Inflation Ticked Up as Voters Cast Ballots, but Price Growth for Many Basics Holds Steady
Consumer prices inched higher in October as a majority of voters backed a presidential candidate vowing sweeping economic policy changes.
by Rob Wile
NBC News
Price growth ticked higher in October as voters began casting ballots in a presidential election in which economic concerns played a big role.
The consumer price index climbed to 2.6% last month since the same time last year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. That’s a bit hotter than the 2.4% annual rate in September, which was the slowest pace since President Joe Biden’s first full month in office.
“Core” inflation, a measure that excludes volatile food and energy prices, held at 3.3% over the 12 months ending in October, the same level notched in the previous month.
The National Debt Just Hit $36 Trillion. Does Trump Have a Plan to Control It?
It would take nearly $8 trillion in budget cuts merely to stabilize the national debt so it does not grow faster than the economy.
by Eric Boehm
Reason.com
In last week’s elections, Americans rejected the status quo in the federal government and asked Republicans to once again take the reins.
On Friday, the Treasury Department issued another reminder about the cost of doing nothing to change course. The national debt hit $36 trillion—less than four months after surpassing the $35 trillion mark.
Evenly divided, that means every American is now six figures in the red, thanks to the decisions made in Washington, D.C., over the past few decades. The trajectory ahead looks no better. The federal government is on pace to run multitrillion-dollar deficits for the foreseeable future—and that’s the rosy scenario, which assumes no recessions, wars, pandemics, and the like. Measured against the size of the U.S. economy, the debt is approaching the record high set in the final year of World War II. The rising debt means higher annual interest payments that will complicate the federal budget, likely require higher taxes, and make everyone poorer.
Breitbart Business Digest: Democrats Downplayed Inflation and it Cost Them the White House
by John Carney
Breitbart.com
Democrats Refused to Believe Polls Showing People Disliked Biden’s Economy
One of the reasons Democrats were caught off guard by the strength of support for Donald Trump across America is that they underestimated the importance of inflation and economic conditions to voters.
The economy was the leading concern among U.S. registered voters heading into the presidential race, according to Gallup’s polling. In a field of 22 topics, the economy was the sole issue on which a majority—52 percent—of voters indicated that candidates’ stances were “extremely important” in shaping their choice. Voters favored former President Donald Trump over Vice President Kamala Harris by nine points as the candidate more capable of managing the nation’s economic challenges.
Since inflation began climbing in 2021, public confidence in the economy has leaned increasingly pessimistic, as shown in Gallup’s monthly gauge of Americans’ perceptions of the nation’s economic health and future prospects.
Dow Jones Falls After Inflation Data, Powell Speech Looms; Disney Surges On Earnings
by Scott Lehtonen
Investor’s Business Daily
The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major stock indexes traded lower Thursday after an early inflation report, with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell set to speak later in the day. An early winner was Walt Disney (DIS), which jumped on strong earnings results.
After the opening bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, as did the S&P 500. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite also traded down 0.1% in morning trading.
Early Thursday, the 10-year Treasury yield ticked lower to 4.43%. Oil prices rose, as West Texas Intermediate futures traded around $69.15 per barrel.
Among exchange traded funds, the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) fell 0.1%, as did the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) after the open.
Two Firm Inflation Prints Just Made the Fed’s 2025 Rate Cut Path a Lot ‘Murkier’
by Josh Schafer
Yahoo! Finance
October inflation readings out this week have shown little progress toward the Fed’s 2% inflation target, putting into question how deeply the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in 2025.
On Wednesday, the “core” Consumer Price Index (CPI), which strips out the more volatile costs of food and gas, showed prices increased 3.3% for the third consecutive month during October. Then, on Thursday, the “core” Producer Price Index (PPI) revealed prices increased by 3.1% in October, up from 2.8% the month prior and above economist expectations for a 3% increase.
Taken together, the readings are adding to an overall picture of persistent, sticky inflation within the economy.
Is Price Gouging Real? Who’s Doing It? Is it Driving Inflation?
by George Calhoun
Forbes
It has been a hot topic in an election year.
[…] After decades of quiescence, inflation surged in 2021 and 2022. The annualized Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased from about 1.5% to over 9%. The CPI has cooled off since, but prices today are 21% higher overall than before the pandemic.
[…] What caused this painful deviation from stable prices and happy times? Economists have various theories, but one explanation that plays well to the general audience is the idea that “greedy corporations” have engaged in “price gouging” – raising their prices faster than their costs were increasing, or keeping their prices high even as costs come down – squeezing the consumer in a “frenzy of profiteering.”
Is a HELOC or Home Equity Loan Better with Inflation Rising?
by Matt Richardson
CBS News
Inflation is on the rise again. That was the big economic news on Wednesday when the Bureau of Labor Statistics released its latest inflation reading. The October inflation rate moved to 2.6%, up from 2.4% in September, and is now more than half a percentage point above the Federal Reserve’s target 2% goal. While not a step in the right direction, it’s too soon to tell if the rise was an indicator of additional economic pain ahead or a temporary issue to be resolved in the months to come.
That noted, a rise in inflation may give borrowers pause, particularly if they’re considering borrowing from their home equity with a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC). While they operate in similar ways, these products don’t function identically. As such, it’s worth considering which of the two may be better with inflation rising again. Below, we’ll break down what to know.