On April 12th of, 2022, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the annual US inflation rate had reached a record high of 8.5%, a level not seen since December 1981. This level of rapid price increase is being felt all over the nation and even in Europe. Those with low incomes are having the hardest time adjusting to the rapidly increasing cost of living, as is often the case. But working families across the nation are also being forced to adapt and change in order to cope with rising prices. This has impacted every corner of our society, from gas to prices at the grocery store. Adjusting to this level of inflation hasn’t been easy, and here is how some families are looking … [Read more...]
Why Inflation Affects Various Individuals Differently
The cause and effect are both commonly called "inflation" which can cause some confusion. Typically, "Inflation" is defined as "an increase in the cost of a basket of goods over time". Technically this should be called "Price Inflation" which is often the result of "Monetary Inflation". As we have discussed in "What is Inflation", monetary inflation can also be referred to simply as "inflation." Inflation is a common phenomenon that affects millions of households every year. Let's look at how it affects various types of individuals. Inflation and Income A fixed income combined with rising prices decreases the ability of people to purchase the same number of goods. As inflation … [Read more...]
Agflation- What is it?
Agflation, is a relatively new term coined by analysts at Merrill Lynch in 2007. Back then rising demand for agricultural products started driving up prices. Agflation is simply a combining of the words agriculture as in "agricultural commodities" and the word inflation. Inflation is commonly used to mean an increase in prices (although it originally meant an increase in the money supply which eventually resulted in an increase in prices). So agflation is simply an increase in the prices of agricultural products. But agflation is not the result of an increase in the money supply like typical inflation, but rather it is simply a result of supply and demand factors. In 2000, the world wide … [Read more...]
What is the Economy Usually Doing When Gold Goes Up?
Traditionally when does Gold rise and when does it fall? What economic indicators predict gold prices? In this article Robert Prechter looks at the economy and Gold Prices. ~ editor By EWI President Robert Prechter ...If gold isn’t going up when the economy is contracting, when is it going up? Table 4 (see chart on p. 24 of this free Club EWI report ~ editor) answers the question: All the huge gains in gold have come while the economy was expanding. This is true of the three most dramatic gold gains of the past century: (1) Congress changed the official price of gold from $20.67 to $35 per ounce in 1934, during an economic expansion. The gain against the dollar was 69 … [Read more...]
