Peter's Blog

Is Corporate Greed Behind High Gas Prices?

There is a meme floating around social media that seems to prove greedy corporations – specifically oil companies – are the root cause of inflation. How does this meme stack up to reality? Short answer — it doesn’t.

Consumer Sentiment at Record Lows as Inflation Empties Wallets

Consumer sentiment plunged to record lows in June. The plummeting consumer sentiment numbers surprised mainstream analysts but they shouldn’t have given Americans are taking a pay cut month after month thanks to red-hot inflation.

Back to Budget Deficits Despite Surging Government Revenue

After running a budget surplus in April thanks to an influx of tax-day tax receipts, the federal government reverted back to running a deficit in May. The budget deficit was $66.22 billion last month, according to the monthly Treasury statement. That raises the current fiscal year deficit to $426.2 billion with four months left to […]

Peak Inflation Was a Fairytale Just Like Transitory Inflation

Inflation wasn’t transitory. And inflation hasn’t peaked. It’s more like peak inflation was transitory.

CBO Does Not Expect Revenue Surge to Last

After running the largest monthly surplus ever in April, the Treasury was back to running deficits in May. The Federal government spent $455B in May and collected $389B in taxes, which resulted in a net deficit of $66B.

Peak Inflation Still Ahead as 97.5% of the CPI is Above the 12-Month Average

The latest seasonally adjusted inflation rate for May came in scorching hot at 0.98% MoM and 8.62% YoY, beating expectations of 0.7% and 8.3% respectively. All prices rose in May with 9 of 11 categories rising faster than the 12-month trend, representing 97.5% of the total CPI.

CPI Day! SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap June 10, 2022

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for May came out this morning. The projection was for another hot headline number but some relief in core CPI. This would seem to indicate we’ve passed peak inflation. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharey explains why “good news” in the CPI data […]

Inflation Tax Costing US Households $433 Per Month

Everybody was thrilled to get stimulus checks in the mail during the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s free money!” many exclaimed. But nothing in life is free. This includes “free” things handed out by the government. So today, you’re paying for those stimmy checks and the government pandemic spending spree.

We Are Hurtling Toward Stagflation

There are a number of signals that the US economy is getting weaker even as inflation gets stronger. In other words, we are hurtling toward stagflation.

Czech Central Bank Plans to Buy A Lot of Gold

The Czech National Bank is about to go on a gold-buying spree. Incoming CNB Governor Ales Michl said he plans to increase the bank’s gold holdings nearly 10-fold during a recent magazine interview.