America Faces No Greater Threat Than Joe Biden and the Democrat Party. Their Assault to Our Borders Is As Great As Their Assault to Free Speech and Free Elections
Thursday, April 11, 2024
BIDENOMICS - THE TRICKLE UP ECONOMICS OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY - Millions of Seniors Can’t Pay Student Loans | Face Losing Social Security
Millions of Seniors Can’t Pay Student Loans | Face Losing Social Security
Prices charged by U.S. producers of goods and services rose by 2.1 percent over the twelve months through March, an increase over the 1.6 percent annual inflation recorded in the previous month.
Despite the increase in the year-over-year inflation, rate, there was some good news in the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ producer price index (PPI) for final demand. The monthly increase slowed to 0.2 percent in March from 0.6 percent in February.
Economists had forecast worse. The year-over-year figure was seen as rising to 2.3 percent and the forecast for the monthly figure was for a 0.3 percent increase.
Core PPI, which excluded food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent, matching the consensus forecast and down from February’s 0.3 percent rise. The annual increase came in at 2.4 percent, just ahead of the expectation for a 2.3 percent rise.
This was the highest annual increase in core PPI since September. The core inflation metric has now climbed for three consecutive months.
So-called “core core” PPI, which excludes a measure of profit margins called trade services as well as food and energy prices, rose 0.2 percent, down from the downwardly revised 0.3 percent gain in the prior month. The 12-month increase rose to 2.8 percent from the downwardly revised 2.7 percent in the prior month. In the first estimate, core core PPI for February was seen as rising 0.4 percent for the month and 2.8 percent for the year.
The services side of the economy is still experiencing a very high rate of inflation. In March, services prices rose 0.3 percent in March compared with February. Compared with March of last year, services prices are up 2.8 percent.
Goods prices declined in March, ticking down 0.1 percent after a sharp rise in February. This was driven by 1.6 decline in energy prices. Food prices jumped 0.8 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, goods prices rose 0.1 percent for the month.
The producer price part of the measure’s name comes from the fact that the price changes are measured from the point of view of the seller of the goods rather than the buyer. That means they do not include sales or excise taxes or government subsidies that go to consumers. Shipping costs that are paid by consumers are also excluded. The prices of imports are not included because those are not received by U.S. producers but by foreign producers.
The final demand part of the measure’s name comes from the fact what is measured is the prices of sales to what are sometimes called end-users. That is, these are not sales of components or materials that are directly employed to create goods and services sold to consumers. These are products sold to customers who are government buyers, household buyers, businesses buying capital goods, and foreign buyers.
In addition the index of final demand goods and services, the government calculates indexes for intermediate demand products. These are goods and services purchased by businesses as inputs to production, excluding capital investments. Intermediate goods can include wood used in home construction, hardware assembled into computers, and wheat that is later processed into food.
Processed goods for intermediate production jumped 1.6 percent in February, the biggest increase since August. In March, however, this was partially reversed, with processed goods for intermediate demand prices falling 0.5 percent. That decline was driven by a 1.5 percent drop in energy. Intermediate food and feeds prices rose for a second consecutive month, with inflation accelerating from 0.3 percent to 0.6 percent. Excluding food and energy prices, prices of processed goods for intermediate demand were down 0.4 percent.
Nolte: Bidenomics Drives Credit Card Delinquencies to Record High
Delinquency rates among American credit card holders are at an all-time high, while at the same time a record number of “active accounts” have “a balance of over $2,000,” according to a Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia report.
We’re more than three years into the Biden presidency, so we all know where the blame lies.
Almost 3.5% of card balances were at least 30 days past due as of the end of December, the Philadelphia Fed said. That’s the highest figure in the data series going back to 2012, and up by about 30 basis points from the previous quarter. The share of debts that are 60 and 90 days late also climbed.
“Stress among cardholders was further underscored in payment behavior, as the share of accounts making minimum payments rose 34 basis points to a series high,” according to the report.
“About 10% of credit-card borrowers now have an account balance that exceeds $5,200, according to the Philadelphia Fed,” Bloomberg continues. “One-quarter of active accounts have a balance of over $2,000 for the first time.”
Credit scores in “the 10th and 25th percentiles of cardholders decreased to their lowest levels since the first quarter of 2020[.]”
There has also been a surge in those making only their minimum payments.
High balances, minimum payments, lower credit scores, record delinquencies… These are terrible signs of what’s happening out in the Real World. To begin with, unless you pay them off every month, credit cards are a sucker’s game — nothing more than legal loan sharking. Forbesreports that the “average credit card interest rate is 27.89%,” and it’s “not unheard of to encounter credit cards with APRs as high as 25% to 30%.”
They might as well call that vig. Good grief, those rates average more than two points per month. So, if you charge $1,000, that’s $20+ per month you are flushing down the toilet in interest.
Only desperate people subject themselves to that kind of abuse, but desperate we are in the Land of Bidenomics, where a corporate loan shark is the only way to make your monthly nut when a gallon of gas and a dozen eggs run about $4.00 each.
Credit cards are the first to go; then people start getting behind on rent, car payments, and the mortgage… Inflation is worsening, which means these interest rates won’t decrease soon. Gas prices just jumped to a national average of $3.63, which means that products and services that utilize energy will also increase in price, and pretty much every product and service utilizes energy.
The only tip I can give to those struggling is to fly to Mexico and then sneak across the border into Biden’s America. Then, you will receive free housing, free healthcare, and pre-paid credit cards worth thousands. When Democrats are in charge, you’ll never get ahead following the rules.
Borrowed Time is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available on Kindle and Audiobook.
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