Price of Powder & Primers in Perspective

[41cal]

Protecting the environment is a good thing. However, it cannot be accomplished when only North America and Western Europe are the only ones participating. WE cannot begin to offset the pollution generated by China, India, Russia and other 3rd world countries. Until the whole world is participating equally, everybody is just spinning their wheels. Don't expect China, India and Russia to get in the game and help. Therefore, we will not succeed and they will drag us down to their level.

We are onl

Protecting the environment is a good thing. However, it cannot be accomplished when only North America and Western Europe are the only ones participating. WE cannot begin to offset the pollution generated by China, India, Russia and other 3rd world countries. Until the whole world is participating equally, everybody is just spinning their wheels. Don't expect China, India and Russia to get in the game and help. Therefore, we will not succeed and they will drag us down to their level.

Exactly,
We are only 4 percent of the worlds population!!

 

[ebb]

^^^^^^ I watched a you tube yesterday of a guy that has built custom ships to clean the ocean. he still does this but has also started catching garbage at the mouth of a river in Thailand that he claims is the worst source of pollution in the world. he has built a barrier that attaches to land on both sides of the river and the current pulls it down stream in a V shape to a boat that collects it. Looked pretty ingenious to me.

 

[ronsatspokane]

Inflation is simply the inflating of the money supply by the government, by definition.

Prices rise and fall for other reasons many of which you name.

Inflation always results in an increase in price.

Not sure where you are finding your definition but it is only half accurate. Inflation need not be driven by government at all. Currently it is in our economy both on the demand side and the supply side. However, absence of a good or service can can result in inflation as can "irrational exuberance" (coined by Alan Greenspan). If you want to see one of the most extreme examples of Irrational Exuberance driving inflation of a particular good, check out the Tulip Fever which started around 1634 and ended in a heap a number of years later. That is an example that has held up over time in the higher level collage economics class I attended in years past.

 

[chkunz]

Not sure where you are finding your definition but it is only half accurate. Inflation need not be driven by government at all. Currently it is in our economy both on the demand side and the supply side. However, absence of a good or service can can result in inflation as can "irrational exuberance" (coined by Alan Greenspan). If you want to see one of the most extreme examples of Irrational Exuberance driving inflation of a particular good, check out the Tulip Fever which started around 1634 and ended in a heap a number of years later. That is an example that has held up over time in the higher level collage economics class I attended in years past.

You keep using the term "inflation" incorrectly. Inflation is the inflating of the money supply by the government. Increase in price is not inflation, it is the result of inflation. Look up the definition of inflation in a good dictionary (not from some liberal higher-level collage textbook). I understand that most people who talk about inflation do not understand this but that still does not make it right.

 

[dryhumor]

Might not be inflation. Might be a “correction” similar to what the stock market does.

 

[Turpentine]

Protecting the environment is a good thing. However, it cannot be accomplished when only North America and Western Europe are the only ones participating. WE cannot begin to offset the pollution generated by China, India, Russia and other 3rd world countries. Until the whole world is participating equally, everybody is just spinning their wheels. Don't expect China, India and Russia to get in the game and help. Therefore, we will not succeed and they will drag us down to their level.

Weren't we at one time procuring oil, having it shipped to India to be refined because refining it here was too dirty, hazardous to our own environment, then having it shipped back here for us to use. Kind of a double standard I think. Anyway I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

 

[dryhumor]

Weren't we at one time procuring oil, having it shipped to India to be refined because refining it here was too dirty, hazardous to our own environment, then having it shipped back here for us to use. Kind of a double standard I think. Anyway I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

Remember BRAC? 1980s base realignment and closure. The US has always needed additional refining capacity. Those closed bases, in several cases, had docking facilities, tanks, piping, and a skilled local workforce. In some cases there was already a degree of soil contamination. Coulda shoulda woulda probably worked out to create some additional refining capacity using those base.

Just sayin.

 

[seymour fish]

because US was paying Saudis in gold?

French demanded and received a nice chunk before it was shut down

 

[cmysix]

Wow 50% of adults have less than $500 in savings. I wonder if they ever thought about a emergency.

yes I have, what am I supposed to do if it takes everything I make to live?, mind you the house I live in cost me $52,000 in 2012, so don't say "maybe your living above your means". Some of us have been afforded wonderful lives, some of us have not.

 

[jxb]

Maybe this tells that story better:
View attachment 1567795

Yeah people that whine about the Fed needing to cut rates sooner than later really don't get the big picture. As this shows since 1980ish they have done a really good job keeping inflation and deflation in check. It's painful, but as we still see today people just want to spend spend spend and that's the cause of inflation. When supply chains dried up during covid if everyone would have simply only purchased what they needed vs what they wanted we would not have seen the inflation we did. At the same time more than half the working population got huge wage increases relative to what they were making (very little) and what did all those people do with that money, they of course spent it. Then there was the giveaway of our tax $ during covid to help prop up businesses. It all added up to what we see now. Everything is about supply and demand, want lower inflation spend less, but not too much less or you risk deflation. Since people can't grasp the concepts they use the interest rate for force people into less spending. Low interest rates are the carrot to spend more, high are the stick.

As for Millennials and Gen Z, when was the last time you saw one without a $1000 phone <2yrs old, a foo foo coffee, eating out or ordering delivery all the time, taking uber everywhere, etc... Their problem isn't the amount of money they make, it's their poor spending habits. Poor work habits of many compounds their problems, or will as it catches up to them.

Those that make <$30k/yr can't be expected to save anything, it's all ate up in mortgage or rent plus other monthly expenses regardless how well they budget.

Those making say $50k/yr might be able to save some, but to do so they would otherwise be living hand to mouth and on a very tight budget.

Those making more than say $80k/yr really have no excuse not to save, they could if they simply managed their money better.

I've been in all these groups over my lifetime, I still remember the first time I went to the market and didn't pay the slightest attention to what the bill would be. No trying to add up the cost as I shopped, then worrying I'd be short at the register and have to put something back. Best day ever.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

Weren't we at one time procuring oil, having it shipped to India to be refined because refining it here was too dirty, hazardous to our own environment, then having it shipped back here for us to use. Kind of a double standard I think. Anyway I'm pretty sure I read that somewhere.

The market price for crude, like most commodities is worldwide. Producing more anywhere, affects the market price but yes, the cost to the end user has other causes to that effect, as you mention, for example.

 

[Kracken McGraw]

Yeah people that whine about the Fed needing to cut rates sooner than later really don't get the big picture. As this shows since 1980ish they have done a really good job keeping inflation and deflation in check. It's painful, but as we still see today people just want to spend spend spend and that's the cause of inflation. When supply chains dried up during covid if everyone would have simply only purchased what they needed vs what they wanted we would not have seen the inflation we did. At the same time more than half the working population got huge wage increases relative to what they were making (very little) and what did all those people do with that money, they of course spent it. Then there was the giveaway of our tax $ during covid to help prop up businesses. It all added up to what we see now. Everything is about supply and demand, want lower inflation spend less, but not too much less or you risk deflation. Since people can't grasp the concepts they use the interest rate for force people into less spending. Low interest rates are the carrot to spend more, high are the stick.

As for Millennials and Gen Z, when was the last time you saw one without a $1000 phone <2yrs old, a foo foo coffee, eating out or ordering delivery all the time, taking uber everywhere, etc... Their problem isn't the amount of money they make, it's their poor spending habits. Poor work habits of many compounds their problems, or will as it catches up to them.

Those that make <$30k/yr can't be expected to save anything, it's all ate up in mortgage or rent plus other monthly expenses regardless how well they budget.

Those making say $50k/yr might be able to save some, but to do so they would otherwise be living hand to mouth and on a very tight budget.

Those making more than say $80k/yr really have no excuse not to save, they could if they simply managed their money better.

I've been in all these groups over my lifetime, I still remember the first time I went to the market and didn't pay the slightest attention to what the bill would be. No trying to add up the cost as I shopped, then worrying I'd be short at the register and have to put something back. Best day ever.

Very well said.

 

[ronsatspokane]

You keep using the term "inflation" incorrectly. Inflation is the inflating of the money supply by the government. Increase in price is not inflation, it is the result of inflation. Look up the definition of inflation in a good dictionary (not from some liberal higher-level collage textbook). I understand that most people who talk about inflation do not understand this but that still does not make it right.

Here is the Oxford definition:

noun: inflation

1. 1.
   the action of inflating something or the condition of being inflated.
   "the inflation of a balloon"
   • Astronomy
     (in some theories of cosmology) a very brief exponential expansion of the universe postulated to have interrupted the standard linear expansion shortly after the Big Bang.
2. 2.
   Economics
   a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money.
   "policies aimed at controlling inflation"
   

IMF definition:

Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country.

As I said, you are half right in many circumstances. But, you may be completely wrong. Inflation does not require government. I think what you have latched onto is a definition targeted at neophytes. If you still disagree you are welcome to argue with the professors I had during 4 years of college economic and any other economist you can corner.

 

[jonbearman]

I saw yesterday that overall food is up 73 percent since Joe took the helm.

 

[JFrank]

No, the president does not control grocery prices

Grocery retailers choose how much to charge for the food they sell and take into account economic factors, known as market forces, that affect prices.

www.verifythis.com

How Much Does the President Control Gas Prices?

Although gas prices, especially where they sit now, are often assumed to be a force of political influence, they are actually governed by economic drivers and basic laws of supply and demand. So no,...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[chkunz]

Here is the Oxford definition:

noun: inflation

1. 1.
   the action of inflating something or the condition of being inflated.
   "the inflation of a balloon"
   • Astronomy
     (in some theories of cosmology) a very brief exponential expansion of the universe postulated to have interrupted the standard linear expansion shortly after the Big Bang.
2. 2.
   Economics
   a general increase in prices and fall in the purchasing value of money.
   "policies aimed at controlling inflation"

IMF definition:

Inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a given period of time. Inflation is typically a broad measure, such as the overall increase in prices or the increase in the cost of living in a country.

As I said, you are half right in many circumstances. But, you may be completely wrong. Inflation does not require government. I think what you have latched onto is a definition targeted at neophytes. If you still disagree you are welcome to argue with the professors I had during 4 years of college economic and any other economist you can corner.

My 60 year old Webster's dictionary defines inflation as "Disproportionate and relative sharp and sudden increase in the quantity of money or credit or both relative to goods and services for purchase. Inflation always produces a rise in the price level"

Some other noted economists that I will reference, unfortunately they are no longer living:
Adam Smith, Milton and Rose Freedman and Harry Browne will do.

I have no respect for the current typical, liberal college economist professors that teach the failed Keynesian economics theory. That is how we have reached the point where we are.

Our government can tax us in two ways, a tax or fee that is visible up front like sales tax, income tax etc or they can go behind the curtain and "print" more money so people will not know what they are doing. That is how we have run up a 37 trillion dollar debt and are adding to it at another 2 trillion per year.

 

[jxb]

Anyone that is honest with themselves would know that we would have seen what has happened regardless of which administration was in office. Just as what we will see over the next five years has little to do with who will be in office. What will change this is some outside influence that pushes multiple things past the tipping point.

As for food and other prices, here food prices have recovered quite well, certainly not up 73%, but more like 30-50% based on our shopping. Beef and pork are down to nearly before 2020, chicken was very low until just recently and that's likely due to bird flu and needing to cull so many birds due to it. Fruits are about the same as pre 2020, vegetables however are up. Dry goods however are up 50-100% depending what you're getting. Much of these increases are tied right back to wage increases, you can't raise the wage of basically everyone in the service sector without feeling it in the prices of the goods and services they provide. More than 50% of the working population is in this sector in one way or another so it's a huge number of people and companies simply pass increased costs on to the consumer. Think about all the places you shop, I'd be willing to bet that most or all of them saw substantial wage increases for the majority of their worker, the lowest paid folks. The truely sad part in is the result of doing those wage increases, while at first they had more cash to get by, it wasn't long before everyone raised prices to offset those wage increases. So much so that in many cases those same low pay workers now actually have much less buying power than they did before those wage increases. So who benefitted? The rich and very much so.

 

[Larry Koch]

My observation, the folks that live from pay check to pay check. Always have money for smokes and alcohol.

 

[rebs]

One of the more unreported inflationary figures is the cost of doing business in the manufacturing industries.

At our Machine Shop, we have seen the cost of the bar stock that we use to make propellor shafts, rudder stocks, coupling blanks and not blanks from has gone up as much as 45% since Covid/Biden.
The cost of the stainless steel submerged arc welding wire we use has gone up on average 50% since Covid/Biden.
Tooling cost have gone up even more. So has the cost of insurance, labor, shipping, and just unlocking the doors and turning the lights on.

You rarely hear any news about this.

As for the old days, my wife and I bought our first “nice” house in 1976, we got a 9% VA Loan as considered ourselves lucky. We lived in that house for 47 years.

As for other interest rates, in 1982 we bought a new Cadillac Elderado and I can remember the salesman informing us of the great news, we could get GMAC financing at ONLY. 15%.

By the way, when we moved up to tomball 3 1/2 years ago, before everything went crazy, I got a VA loan for 3.2%.

I was under the impression that a veteran could only get one VA home loan, am I wrong ?

 

[Bc'z]

Anyone that is honest with themselves would know that we would have seen what has happened regardless of which administration was in office. Just as what we will see over the next five years has little to do with who will be in office. What will change this is some outside influence that pushes multiple things past the tipping point.

As for food and other prices, here food prices have recovered quite well, certainly not up 73%, but more like 30-50% based on our shopping. Beef and pork are down to nearly before 2020, chicken was very low until just recently and that's likely due to bird flu and needing to cull so many birds due to it. Fruits are about the same as pre 2020, vegetables however are up. Dry goods however are up 50-100% depending what you're getting. Much of these increases are tied right back to wage increases, you can't raise the wage of basically everyone in the service sector without feeling it in the prices of the goods and services they provide. More than 50% of the working population is in this sector in one way or another so it's a huge number of people and companies simply pass increased costs on to the consumer. Think about all the places you shop, I'd be willing to bet that most or all of them saw substantial wage increases for the majority of their worker, the lowest paid folks. The truely sad part in is the result of doing those wage increases, while at first they had more cash to get by, it wasn't long before everyone raised prices to offset those wage increases. So much so that in many cases those same low pay workers now actually have much less buying power than they did before those wage increases. So who benefitted? The rich and very much so.

Thank you!!
This coupled with that invisible terrorist Covid, shutting down supply chains limiting availability of virtually everything from raw materials to finished goods globally.
The scary/funny part is a lot of people think this happened overnight, when the reality is its a long game being played out to bring on globalization.