Inflation is no longer in the manic phase. From Wolf Richter at wolfstreet.com:
Food is the exception and pricing levels “continue to be a concern”: Walmart CEO. Sky-high food prices rose further.
What we got today confirms what we’ve seen develop for over a year: Prices of many consumer goods are coming down from their crazy spike, and I mean prices are actually falling, rather than just rising more slowly, as inflation has moved from goods to services, such as insurance and housing. Falling prices are good for consumers, and they boost inflation-adjusted consumer spending and “real” GDP, but they’re not good for companies that sell these goods, though their own input costs are also declining.
Import prices of consumer goods excluding autos – see Walmart, which we’ll get to in a moment – dipped again in October and are now down close to 1% from the peak in May 2022, after the surge, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.
This is what we’re seeing elsewhere in consumer goods: Prices are easing off their sky-high levels, but they’re not plunging, as there is resistance by businesses to cutting their prices, but it’s happening. The drop in import prices of consumer goods reflects part of the input costs for retailers, such as Walmart and Amazon:
The pay-whatever craziness before.
Prices of many goods had spiked in 2020 through at least 2021, and for some goods deep into 2022, fueling the original inflation fire, with stupid inflation in used vehicles of 55% from 2020 through 2021; “stupid” because it was totally unnecessary. Many people – enough people to cause demand to collapse – could have just refused to buy and drive their trade-in for a while longer. But no. They were armed with stimulus checks, PPP money, extra unemployment benefits, spiking gains in their stock and crypto holdings, and what not, and they went out and gleefully paid whatever.
Pay more live worse is part of Brandonomics or the high price of stupid voting.
Local food pantry boxes by the donated clothing bin are now gone before 24 hours pass when they used to last about a week.
Mostly canned goods, mac and cheese, tuna helper, pancake mix, these are of no use to those with no shelter.
Met a grizzled survivor at the dumpster, almost 70 years old and an experienced topographer and dowser who didn’t look a day over 50.
I never look down on anyone and there but for the grace of God go I.
Living the CPUSA (D) dream, yes we can!