by James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign

Jamie Dimon is the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, one of the world’s largest banks. And last week he issued a stern warning on the bank’s quarterly earnings call that “multiple inflationary forces” are still lurking.

File that one away under “duh”. It should be completely obvious to just about anyone paying attention to the world that many of the key drivers that rocketed inflation higher are still with us.

The Federal Reserve, of course, desperately wants to pretend that inflation is in the rear-view mirror, never to return. And they keep insisting that the downward trend of inflation justifies their interest rate cuts.

Continue Reading at SchiffSovereign.com…

from CNBC Television

by John Carney
Breitbart.com

Inflation might not be cooling by as much as thought.

The Labor Department’s index of import prices excluding fuel jumped by 0.2 percent in June, partially reversing the 0.3 percent decline in May.

While imports are just a small part of the overall inflation picture, the rise in prices indicates strong demand from consumers that could translate into broader price increases.

Including fuel, the import price index was flat for the month. Wall Street had forecast prices to decline 0.2 percent.

Imported fuel prices fell by a steep one percent in June, following a 0.4 percent increase in the prior month.

Continue Reading at Breitbart.com…

from BNN Bloomberg

Opening night of the Republican National Convention programmed a central issue with a Trumpian twist: “Make America Wealthy Again.”

by Billy Binion
Reason.com

The Republican National Convention (RNC) kicked off on Monday with a song as old as time: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

That quote, which traces back to the early 1990s, came from Democratic strategist James Carville, an adviser on Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign. But in a testament to the staying power of that message, and its resonance across political parties, it reappeared tonight in MAGA form: “Make America Wealthy Again.”

A noble goal. Can the Republican Party deliver?

It would be hard to answer that based on Monday’s program alone, which—as is typical for national political conventions—focused more on platitudes than policy prescriptions.

Continue Reading at Reason.com…

from CP24

In its latest World Economic Outlook update, the International Monetary Fund said “the momentum on global disinflation is slowing, signaling bumps along the path.”

by Hakyung Kim
NBC Washington

The International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday that upside risks to inflation have increased, calling into question the prospect of multiple Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.

In its latest World Economic Outlook update, the IMF said “the momentum on global disinflation is slowing, signaling bumps along the path.” The rise in sequential inflation in the U.S. earlier in 2024 has put it behind other major economies in the quantitative easing path, the report said.

The report comes as traders ramp up bets for a Fed rate cut in September. Per the CME Group’s FedWatch tool, Wall Street has priced in a 100% chance of lower rates at the Sept. 18 meeting. Traders also expect another rate decrease in November.

However, IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Tuesday that one rate cut from the Fed is most appropriate this year, highlighting still-stubborn services and wage inflation as complications to the path to lower inflation.

Continue Reading at NBCWashington.com…

from ANC 24/7

by Sara Chernikoff, Mike Snider
USA Today

Former President Donald J. Trump wants to “make America wealthy once again.” That was the theme for day of one The Republican National Convention. Economic policies, inflation, regulation and trade deals, were the focus of Monday’s speeches, according to the GOP.

Is pay keeping up with inflation? Are Americans on a path to become wealthier? Here’s what we found:

The average hourly wages of employees rose in June compared to a year ago. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that wages grew 3.9% between June 2023 and June 2024, quicker than the rate of inflation. Although the news is beneficial to employees, many Americans still feel the burden of rising costs of living.

Continue Reading at USAToday.com…

from CNBC Television

With the information we have received today, which includes data on employment, inflation, GDP growth, and the outlook for the economy, I see it as likely that policy adjustments will be warranted

by Ann Saphir
Yahoo! Finance

(Reuters) -San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Mary Daly on Thursday said that recent cooler inflation readings are a “relief” and she expects further easing in both price pressures and the labor market to warrant interest rate cuts.

“With the information we have received today, which includes data on employment, inflation, GDP growth, and the outlook for the economy, I see it as likely that policy adjustments, some policy adjustments, will be warranted,” Daly said in a group interview held by phone. “Exactly when that happens and when it would be appropriate to make an adjustment to policy is still unclear.”

With inflation likely to cool further, though with potentially “bumpy” progress, the economy seems to be heading “more or less” to where one or two interest rate cuts this year as projected in the June Fed policymaker forecasts “would be the appropriate path,” she said.

Continue Reading at Finance.Yahoo.com…

from Schwab Network

Powell referenced the idea that central bank policy works with “long and variable lags” to explain why the Fed wouldn’t wait for its target to be hit.

by Jesse Pound
CNBC.com

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that the central bank will not wait until inflation hits 2% to cut interest rates.

Speaking at the Economic Club of Washington D.C., Powell referenced the idea that central bank policy works with “long and variable lags” to explain why the Fed wouldn’t wait for its target to be hit.

“The implication of that is that if you wait until inflation gets all the way down to 2%, you’ve probably waited too long, because the tightening that you’re doing, or the level of tightness that you have, is still having effects which will probably drive inflation below 2%,” Powell said.

Instead, the Fed is looking for “greater confidence” that inflation will return to the 2% level, Powell said.

Continue Reading at CNBC.com…

from Forbes Breaking News

by John Carney
Breitbart.com

Republicans focused their attention on inflation and President Joe Biden’s economy on Monday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The economy, suffering from the worst inflation in four decades, is a key weakness for incumbent President Joe Biden. Surveys show Americans are deeply dissatisfied with Biden’s economic leadership and do not trust his economic agenda to improve their households’ financial situation or the country’s.

“They have imposed what Ronald Reagan called the cruelest tax on the poor: inflation,” said Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) in a speech to the convention. “Today, 65 percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck because the dollar is worth less and less every day.”

Continue Reading at Breitbart.com…

from BNN Bloomberg

by Christopher Rugaber
Yahoo! Finance

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chair Jerome Powell said Monday that the Federal Reserve is becoming more convinced that inflation is headed back to its 2% target and said the Fed would cut rates before the pace of price increases actually reached that point.

“We’ve had three better readings, and if you average them, that’s a pretty good pace,” Powell said of inflation in a question-and-answer question at the Economic Club of Washington. Those figures, he said, “do add somewhat to confidence” that inflation is slowing sustainably.

Powell declined to provide any hints of when the first rate cut would occur. But most economists foresee the first cut occurring in September, and after Powell’s remarks Wall Street traders boosted their expectation that the Fed would reduce its key rate then from its 23-year high. The futures markets expect additional rate cuts in November and December.

Continue Reading at Finance.Yahoo.com…

from CNBC Television

by Lennart Wagemans
Mises.org

Many claim the problem with fractional reserve banking is that it loans money into existence. It does, but under normal circumstances the money created by commercial banks disappears when loans are repaid or defaulted on, which therefore doesn’t create a permanent inflation of the money supply. Government intervention, however, converts temporary money into permanent money through bailouts like TARP. They purchase loans that would have been defaulted on, preventing the evaporation of credit. When banks hold loans that are at risk of default, they face having to write them off, which would remove this part of the money supply. Bailouts turn such disappearing credit into permanent money, in effect giving banks free money.

Without government bailouts, banks would be unwilling to make loans that are unlikely to be repaid, thus limiting their willingness to loan large amounts of money into existence. This would keep the money supply more stable. At any time, some part of the money in existence would still be destined for removal through repayment, this proportion would somewhat fluctuate with economic conditions, and the temporary money would be indistinguishable from other money until a loan is repaid, but new money would not continually get loaned into existence.

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from WPRI