The Good Ole Days Are Back!!?

 

Image by confused_me from Pixabay

Not really, but the PCE headline of highest inflation in 30 years, conjured back to a time 30 years ago when the PCE was the lowest it had been in awhile. It's all about the point of view or context or whatever.

A rational point of view...

Justice Kavanaugh tested positive for covid and is asymptomatic. Which brings me to why I am posting here. My old haunts have become so hateful and divided, some are wishing him the most horrible things. There are clearly some things far worse than Covid, imo.

United Kingdom...

The U.K is still experiencing petrol shortages and is still saying there is plenty of Petrol and to stop hoarding and purchase normally. Never mind the public had been purchasing normally, when the shortages began and nothing has really been changed.

Glad I live in a country where the leaders are always on the lookout for their citizens' best interest. ROFLMAO, c'mon... everyone could use a good laugh.

Debt Ceiling...

I read where Janet Yellen is proposing elimination of the "debt ceiling". May as well, as it always gets raised after much haggling back and forth. I get the idea of limiting increased debt, but each party drags their feet when the other is in power, etc. All in all, the debt just keeps on rapidly rising.

Problems with gas...

I see where China has ordered their energy companies to get supplies at any cost. At some point that has to be passed on to the customers, or the government (banks, etc) is stepping in to assist at any cost. It may not be passed on to the Chinese public, but likely to exporters. I wonder who that would be? Look out!

In addition, I read the price of natural gas is akin to $190 a barrel of oil, before this mad dash by China. Those kind of numbers would put a serious crimp in the economy, imo. How can coal prices be nearly double anything over the past 10 years, if we are moving away from coal? Oh wait... the Global consumption of Coal is not slated to start dropping until around 2030. So much for those Climate Change targets.

I owe, I owe, so off to work I go...

The U.S. International Net Position was released by the Federal Reserve. It ain't good...

It has rapidly deteriorated since last quarter. This can't end well. Of course I won't end well either, it is just which doesn't end well first. WHEW!!!

Not a lot else comes to mind and it is Friday afternoon. Back in to good old days meant the weekend was nigh. It's just another day for an old retired guy. BUT I was 30 years younger, 30 years ago and that is better than where I am now. Ugh!

Another Month Gone By.

How time flies...Here it is the last day of September.

Completed the weekly curbside grocery thing, which begins on Wednesday with Walmart and concludes on Thursday with Kroger. There are certain things that are only from one or the other. Then there are the things that maybe Walmart doesn't currently have and Kroger does. 

The pantries are full and it is down to replacement items and the perishables. I suspect I am not the only hoarder of pantry items, as they seem to be more difficult to order. Is it due to hoarding or due to supply chain issues.

Everything is blamed on supply chain issues and we are told to buy normally, as there are plenty of supplies. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of something, then the news of that shortage, then hoarding that exacerbates the shortage and then the politicos telling us to buy normally.

I seem to recall that scenario playing out in the U.K. recently and currently on going. People were buying petrol (gas, gasoline) normally and forecourts (gas stations) started running out of petrol. 

The forecourts running out due to lack of lorry (truck) drivers splashed across the news groups and predictably... the surge was on. Naturally the politicos admonished everyone for hoarding petrol, while simultaneously acknowledging the shortage of lorry drivers, while advising people to purchase normally. Normally is what caused some of those forecourts to run out of petrol in the first place... exposing a system problem. 

Naturally the Petrol lorry driver shortage morphed into acknowledgement of an overall lorry driver shortage across damn near everything. Ooops... that item out of stock and awaiting the next lorry delivery became something more worrying. No surprise really.

It has become almost normal for nothing to happen until a crisis occurs. When that crisis is resolved everyone seems to pat themselves on the back and then sit idly by until the next crisis. I understand the political gain from managing a crisis vs preventing a crisis. 

No one notices the crisis prevention activity or the individuals involved in preventing a crisis. Generally, they are disregarded. Oh but those people that get involved in resolving a crisis are to be revered. Never are they punished for their role in allowing the crisis to arise.

In any such case, we currently have a supply chain crisis in the U.S. It is actually multiple crises over a great swath of transportation systems. All of which are quite willing to deflect blame to others as to how the crisis began. Thus, at some point in the future, all will be resolved and people will claim their labor produced this magnificent resolution. 

Of course any reflection will be smoothed over and any attempt to determine the cause while it is still on going will be deflected with... "now is not the time to place blame, that can come later".

Has anyone ever lived long enough to see that "later"? Later is always at some point in time, when those crisis management types have moved on, etc. Which is too late.

So kudos to those that prevent crises and manage to keep my hoarding pantry full. To all those that are working diligently, behind to scenes to keep things going.