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Do You Really Understand Inflation?

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This post Do You Really Understand Inflation? appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

Please take aboard these three suppositions:

Supposition 1): An economy’s production of goods increases 12% across one year.

Supposition 2): Its money supply blooms at the identical 12% rate across the same year.

Supposition 3): Demand for goods and supply of goods balance in perfect equilibrium.

Now stack suppositions 1,2 and 3, one upon the other. What should you expect?

You should expect no general increase — or no general decrease — in the price of goods.

That is, all scales should roughly balance. The widget that fetched $10 last year fetches $10 this year.

Here you have the very model of “price stability.”

Now answer this question: What is the inflation rate in our example? Is it zero?

Answer shortly. First, to the scene of an inflation that is very nearly obscene, an inflation flaunting all rational description — the stock market.

A Lull

An overall hush descended upon Wall Street today. A dull affair, by all standards.

The Dow Jones drifted 25 points higher, the S&P six points higher, the Nasdaq 19 points higher.

CNBC, by way of explanation:

Markets may be on hold before the big jobs report on Friday. The U.S. likely added 671,000 nonfarm payrolls in May, up from 266,000 jobs added in the previous month, according to economists polled by Dow Jones.

Inflation fears, and the ways in which the Federal Reserve might respond, have weighed on sentiment recently, although the major averages are still hovering around all-time highs.

Meantime: The 10-year Treasury yield crept 0.024 points backward today, while gold advanced $6 and change.

Bitcoin remains mired in the clutches of schizophrenia. Today it gained $1,638, to $37,712.

But tomorrow awaits, and another potential swing of the psychological pendulum.

To revisit today’s central question…

If goods production and money production both expand at a mirrored 12% rate… and this year’s prices are last year’s prices… what is the inflation rate?

Is the inflation rate zero percent?

Rising Prices Alone Don’t Equal Inflation

Before exposing the answer, we must realize that a rising price is not a synonym for inflation.

It might instead represent a temporary discombobulation.

Consider, for example, lumber prices…

Lumber prices have gone skyshooting over 300% since last April. But have prices overall vaulted over 300% since last April?

They have not. We can largely assign lumber’s grotesque pricing to lockdowns that throttled fresh production.

When twinned with exploding demand to feed a housing boom… the result is a bedlam of rising lumber prices.

Lumber prices should plummet once supply and demand fall back into general equilibrium.

Again: This is not inflation. It is a temporary bugaboo.

Consider an economy with a fixed supply of money. The Federal Reserve has been placed in handcuffs, the United States government thrown from the credit markets.

All goods and services must therefore bid against the existing money stock.

Some prices would rise through the hurly-burly of supply and demand. Others would fall through the same hurly-burly of supply and demand.

If certain prices increase, does this equal inflation?

It does not — if certain prices rise, others must fall. There is no general rising.

But let us return to our question…

Getting Inflation Right

If goods production and money production both expand at a mirrored 12% rate… and this year’s prices are last year’s prices… what is the inflation rate?

Is the inflation rate zero percent?

“That is the correct answer,” you say — “zero percent. The identical widget that went for $10 last year goes for $10 this year. There is no inflation at all.”

Just so. But you have staggered into the trap.

Now come sit down with the facts…

The true inflation rate does not come in at zero percent.

The true inflation rate rather comes in at 12%.

That is because price increases are the consequence of inflation. They are not inflation itself.

To claim inflation is zero in this instance is to mistake the wagon for the draft horse, the shadow for the substance, the child for the parent.

Ludwig von Mises, titan of the “Austrian” economic schoolhouse:

Inflation, as this term was always used everywhere… means increasing the quantity of money and bank notes in circulation and the quantity of bank deposits subject to check. But people today use the term “inflation” to refer to the phenomenon that is an inevitable consequence of inflation, that is the tendency of all prices and wage rates to rise.

This all results in a “deplorable confusion:”

The result of this deplorable confusion is that there is no term left to signify the cause of this rise in prices and wages. There is no longer any word available to signify the phenomenon that has been, up to now, called inflation.

We hazard the monetary authorities delight in the terrible confusion… concealing their tricks behind a dense screen of smoke.

“Look at the consumer price index,” they shout. “We can’t even generate a sustained 2% inflation. How can anyone suggest there’s inflation?”

The Real Inflation Rate

But tie yourself up to the traditional understanding of inflation.

That is, tie yourself up to this definition: “increasing the quantity of money and bank notes in circulation and the quantity of bank deposits subject to check.”

What — then — is the true inflation rate?

The true inflation rate will flabbergast and reel you: Economist Frank Shostak:

So what is the present status of inflation? By popular thinking, represented by the yearly growth rate in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), inflation stood at 2.6% in March, against 1.7% in February and 1.5% in March 2020. However, in terms of money supply, the growth rate of inflation stood at 69.2% in March against 13.4% in March 2020.

A 69.2% inflation rate — if measured with a straight ruler — with an honest ruler.

“Inflate and Die”

Meantime, the federal government is spending delirious amounts of money. Thus it is absorbing precious resources from the private economy.

How then can the private economy build steam? Shostak:

The ability of businesses to grow the economy has weakened further because of massive government spending, which has diverted real savings from businesses toward various nonproductive government projects… Because of this massive fiscal and monetary spending, the pool of real savings — the heart of economic growth — could be in serious trouble…

Bubble activities cannot stand on their own feet; they require support from increases in money supply that divert to them real savings from wealth generators…

Once the pool of real savings starts to decline… because of massive monetary pumping and reckless fiscal policies — various bubble activities will plunge. This, in turn, is likely to result in a large decline in economic activity…

“Inflate or die,” as our co-founder Bill Bonner styles it.

The system requires constant expansion of credit — else the thing comes heaping down.

But the business cannot run on in perpetuity. All lunacies must end, all fevers must break.

Then comes the reckoning, the terrible reckoning — when accounts must be squared, when the bills come due, when the creditors thunder at the door.

“Inflate or die” ends ultimately in “inflate and die”…

Regards,

Brian Maher
Managing Editor, The Daily Reckoning

The post Do You Really Understand Inflation? appeared first on Daily Reckoning.

This story originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning . The Daily Reckoning, offers a uniquely refreshing, perspective on the global economy, investing, gold, stocks and today’s markets. Its been called “the most entertaining read of the day.


Source: https://dailyreckoning.com/do-you-really-understand-inflation/


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    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    Total 2 comments
    • beLIEve

      IT is possible to INVEST in SILVER (a HEDGE against INFLATION) at…….LOW entry CO$T. :idea: :idea:

      LOOK out for…PRE 1965…..AMERICAN dimes, quarters and HALF DOLLAR COINS……their SILVER CONTENT is 90% SILVER. :smile: :idea:

      * * *

      The USA “Debt” Clock is currently LISTING $ILVER @ …..$3,856 per ounce :!: :idea: :idea:

      Take a LOOK at THE….USA Debt Clock……….FAR RIGHT HAND COLUMN UNDER THE HEADING ….DOLLAR to SILVER RATIO NOW. :idea:

      https://usdebtclock.org

      * * *

      The “spot” price of SILVER today is fluctuating around…..$27.83 per ounce. :idea:

      ***
      One of the CHEAPEST/*/BE$T VALUE “forms” of SILVER to BUY is known as……….”JUNK SILVER.” :smile: :idea: :idea:

      ***

      The Ins and Outs of :idea: JUNK SILVER: What to Know and When to Invest :idea:

      BY PROVIDENTMETALS.COM ON JANUARY 23, 2019 FILED UNDER: INVEST IN SILVER

      PRIOR TO…1965, AMERICAN dimes, quarters and half dollar COINS that were circulated through the U.S. market were 90 PERCENT SILVER.

      While the majority of the composition might be a precious metal, they are unfortunately considered to have no numismatic value—i.e., they are of NO VALUE TO A COIN COLLECTOR. :idea:
      It is for this reason that we often hear these pre-1965 silver coins referred to as “JUNK SILVER.” :idea: :smile:

      Yet while these coins are considered to have no numismatic value for coin collectors, THEY ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE TO INVESTORS, as they are bought and sold…

      • beLIEve

        ………APOLOGIES………CORRUPTED POST ABOVE :oops: ………I am having “i$$ue$”……..POSTING comments.

        The “issue” is not….BIN related……..it is “TROLL$”……blocking my access to the internet :!:

        The UNCORRUPTED post is below……….. :smile:

        ***

        IT is possible to INVEST in SILVER (a HEDGE against INFLATION) at…….LOW entry CO$T. :idea: :idea:

        LOOK out for…PRE 1965…..AMERICAN dimes, quarters and HALF DOLLAR COINS……their SILVER CONTENT is 90% SILVER. :smile: :idea:

        * * *

        The USA “Debt” Clock is currently LISTING $ILVER @ …..$3,856 per ounce :!: :idea: :idea:

        Take a LOOK at THE….USA Debt Clock……….FAR RIGHT HAND COLUMN UNDER THE HEADING ….DOLLAR to SILVER RATIO NOW. :idea:

        https://usdebtclock.org

        * * *

        The “spot” price of SILVER today is fluctuating around…..$27.83 per ounce. :idea:

        ***
        One of the CHEAPEST/*/BE$T VALUE “forms” of SILVER to BUY is known as……….”JUNK SILVER.” :smile: :idea: :idea:

        ***

        The Ins and Outs of :idea: JUNK SILVER: What to Know and When to Invest :idea:

        BY PROVIDENTMETALS.COM ON JANUARY 23, 2019 FILED UNDER: INVEST IN SILVER

        PRIOR TO…1965, AMERICAN dimes, quarters and half dollar COINS that were circulated through the U.S. market were 90 PERCENT SILVER.

        While the majority of the composition might be a precious metal, they are unfortunately considered to have no numismatic value—i.e., they are of NO VALUE TO A COIN COLLECTOR. :idea:
        It is for this reason that we often hear these pre-1965 silver coins referred to as “JUNK SILVER.” :idea: :smile:

        Yet while these coins are considered to have no numismatic value for coin collectors, THEY ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE TO INVESTORS, as they are bought and sold in bulk DUE TO the VALUE OF….THEIR SILVER CONTENT. :idea: :smile: :idea:

        https://blog.providentmetals.com/the-ins-and-outs-of-junk-silver-what-to-know-and-when-to-invest.htm#.YBQzqOj7SUl

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