from NEWS9 Live
NYC Parents Outraged Over $14 Waffle Cone Ice Cream: ‘Taking Advantage of Inflation’
by Elizabeth Weibel
Breitbart.com
Parents in New York City were outraged after having to fork over $14 for a waffle cone at an ice cream truck.
Several parents decided to treat their children to ice cream from a pink ice cream truck near Astoria Park in the neighborhood of Queens. However, they paid more than they had intended; one paid $26 for his two children, according to the New York Post.
The ice cream truck reportedly charged $5 in cash for a single cone and $5.99 by credit or debit card. A double cone cost $10 in cash and $10.99 by credit or debit card, while a sundae and milkshake each cost $12 in cash and $12.99 by credit or debit card.
“Some people are taking advantage of inflation,” Henry Fernandez told the outlet, adding that he had given the lady a $20 bill thinking he would “get some change back,” only to end up paying “$26 to treat his two kids” with a small sundae and shake float.
Trump Claims U.S. Inflation is the Worst It’s Ever Been – Here’s Why He’s Wrong
Inflation is the worst it’s ever been in American history, former President Donald Trump falsely claimed this week at a campaign event, also offering up questionable solutions to the very real issue of Americans’ discontent over their weakened spending power.
by Derek Saul
Forbes
What Is Trump’s Plan For Inflation?
Trump’s inflation salves floated Thursday were similarly inconsistent with conventional wisdom, as he said there will be “a lot of cutting” to interest rates should he win another presidential term. The independently run Federal Reserve is already widely expected to bring down rates this year irrespective of election results. Trump also seemingly advocated for deflation, where prices decrease year-over-year, a concept which sounds better in theory than in practice as it can cause recessions as less money flows into the economy, telling the crowd, “We’re going to get rid of inflation…not just where you don’t have inflation, where going to bring those costs down.” Since 1960, the last year in which prices fell on an annual basis was 2009 during the Great Recession. Trump also told his supporters he will cut energy prices “in half,” a measure that would likely be highly unpopular among the oil and energy companies whose employees he counts among his top donors.
Past Inflation is Politicians’ Biggest Present Problem
Inflation is finally getting back under control but voters are still angry about the steep hikes in many prices over the past four years
by Jack M. Mintz
Financial Post
Governments and central banks are clearly winning the war against inflation, which is falling in most countries. Yet the high cost of living dominates polls in many places and politicians are taking heat for it from their electorates. Ask India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, despite winning re-election, lost his parliamentary majority as voters turned against his government over bread-and-butter issues. Or check with U.S. President Joe Biden and the U.K.’s hapless Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, both seeking re-election and both mired in poor polling as voters are angry over inflation and their handling of the economy.
The Dollar and Its Domestic Enemies
by Peter C. Earle
The American Institute for Economic Research
Upping the ante following the initial weaponization of the dollar in 2022, the United States and a number of allied nations have agreed in principle to begin distributing profits on seized Russian assets to Ukraine. Interest payments on securities in which hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Russian foreign exchange reserves were invested, including US, European, and other sovereign bonds, would thus be transferred into a trust account accessible to the Ukrainian government. The US assertion of this undertaking was codified as the Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act, signed into law by President Biden on April 24, 2024.
It is another in a series of unprecedented actions not only intensifying economic pressure on Russia but also signaling a shift in the economic dimension of current geopolitical conflicts. And it raises questions as to whether the entirety of those seized assets might be turned over to Kyiv should their reportedly declining war effort continue to weaken.
The Achilles Heel of the Fiat Money System
by Thorsten Polleit
Mises.org
The fiat money system will not disappear just like that. Any expectations or hopes to that end should be tempered. Yes, the fiat money system could collapse; yet there is a significant likelihood it will persist longer than most people might think. This prolonged existence may come at a cost: a fascist state encroachment on the freedoms of citizens and entrepreneurs would be more profound than most people realize.
Much ink has been spilt about the impending collapse of the international fiat money system. It is a debate that naturally gains momentum in times of crisis—as witnessed in the aftermath of the 2008/9 global financial market debacle or the politically dictated global lockdown crash of 2020/21.
At the same time, however, it is entirely justified to harbor significant concerns regarding the fiat money system. After all, it is plagued by blatant economic and ethical defects.
Inflation’s Strain Remains Gold’s Bane
by Mark Mead Baillie
GoldSeek
We start with inflation. Year-to-date we’ve diligently documented that ’tis nowhere near the Federal Reserve’s sought 2% target. And not that you need be reminded, but with May inflation readings commencing next week, let’s briefly reprise April’s inflation summary as herein presented a week ago. The data speak for themselves:
[…] Now a week hence, Friday’s StateSide jobs report for May had “inflation” written all over it: per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the pace of Hourly Earnings doubled from +0.2% in April to +0.4%; the net increase in Non-Farm Payrolls was the largest year-to-date and incorporates those higher wages; and yet (wait for it…) the rate of Unemployment nonetheless ratcheted higher from 3.9% to 4.0%! How does that happen? Cue the late great Bullet Bill King: “Holy Toledo!”
European Central Bank Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time Since 2019
This was CNBC’s live coverage of the latest European Central Bank monetary policy meeting.
by Jenni Reid
CNBC.com
The European Central Bank on Thursday confirmed a widely anticipated reduction in interest rates at its meeting, despite lingering inflationary pressures in the 20-nation euro zone.
It takes the central bank’s key rate to 3.75%, down from a record 4% where it has been since September 2023.
″Based on an updated assessment of the inflation outlook, the dynamics of underlying inflation and the strength of monetary policy transmission, it is now appropriate to moderate the degree of monetary policy restriction after nine months of holding rates steady,” the ECB Governing Council said in a statement.
In updated macroeconomic projections that will be closely analyzed by investors, ECB staff raised their annual average headline inflation outlook for 2024 to 2.5% from 2.3% previously.
ECB Starts Cutting Rates, but Warns On Inflation
by AFP
Jordan Times
FRANKFURT, Germany — The European Central Bank (ECB) made its first interest rate cut since 2019 Thursday, reducing borrowing costs from record highs, but gave few clues about its next move while warning of continuing inflation pressures.
The key deposit rate was lowered a quarter point to 3.75 per cent, after the central bank had kept borrowing costs on hold since October.
After an unprecedented streak of eurozone rate hikes beginning in mid-2022 to tame runaway energy and food costs, inflation has been slowly coming down towards the ECB’s two-per cent target.
Thursday’s cut, the first since September 2019, will provide a much-needed boost for the beleaguered eurozone economy.
Why Consumers Think Inflation is Still Really High When It’s Not
Economic pessimism is sticky. And when perceptions are at odds with reality, it can have electoral consequences.
by Akshay R. Rao
Star Tribune
The punditry sections of many publications report what appear to be a set of astonishing results from a recent Harris Poll. Half or more Americans believe the U.S. economy is in recession (it is, in fact, growing), the S&P 500 is down (it is up some 25% in the last year) and that unemployment is almost at a 50-year high (it is at a 50-year low). Similarly, perceptions about runaway inflation persist even though inflation has declined dramatically in the last two years. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, this disconnect between perception and reality is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery shrouded in an enigma.
Global PMI Signals Persistent Elevated Selling Price Inflation in May
by Chris Williamson
S&P Global
Average prices charged for goods and services rose worldwide at a slightly increased rate in May, reflecting persistently elevated services price increases combined with accelerating price growth in manufacturing. However, there are signs of rates of inflation cooling in Europe. In the US, the PMI data are consistent with inflation falling closer to the Fed’s target in the coming months.
Persistent global price inflation
Worldwide PMI survey data compiled by S&P Global for J.P. Morgan showed average prices charged for goods and services having risen globally at a marginally increased rate in May. The composite PMI Prices Charged Index edged up from 53.2 in April to 53.3, a level only very marginally below the 53.4 average seen over the past year – a period which has seen the index stuck in a tight range and stubbornly elevated by historical standards. By comparison, this index averaged just 51.2 in the decade preceding the pandemic; a time when global consumer price inflation averaged 2.7%. The recent PMI readings are consistent with global inflation running at roughly 3.5%.