In Fridays news was this update from CNBC:
Inflation rose by 0.4% in April and 4.7% from a year ago, according
to key gauge for the Fed:
Inflation stayed stubbornly high in April, potentially
reinforcing the chances that interest rates could stay higher for
longer, according to a gauge released Friday that the Federal
Reserve follows closely.
The personal consumption expenditures price index, which
measures a variety of goods and services and adjusts for changes in
consumer behaviour, rose by 0.4% for the month excluding food and
energy costs, higher than the 0.3% Dow Jones estimate.
On an annual basis, the gauge increased by 4.7%, 0.1
percentage point higher than expected, the Commerce Department
reported.
Inflation is going up, not down!
The misery olympics
Many years ago, economist Arthur M Okun came up with a Misery
Index by combining inflation with unemployment. Alone, each is a
nuisance. Together, they are, well, misery.
Since then, other economists have added their fillips connecting
interest rates and GDP growth to the index. And then, Steve Hanke
at Johns Hopkins computed the index for the rest of the world, as
well as the US.
This gives us another measure to answer Ed Kochs old question:
how are we doing?
10 years ago, the US was in the 18th positiontrailing
nations in the Far East and Scandinavia. Ireland was in the middle
of the pack, at #45 from the top (out of 89 nations).
In the latest version, the US has slipped down a few notchesbut
not catastrophically. It is still in respectable company along with
France, Russia, Portugal, and Austria, neither good nor bad.
Ireland has moved much higher up. It is now one of the
least-miserable nations in the world along with Switzerland, Japan,
and the Nordic countries.
We have indices of lifespan, GDP/capita, earnings, fatness, and
so forth. By most of these measures, maybe all of them, Ireland has
gone upwhile the US has been failing for many years.
Of course, these numbers are just averages and are frequently
misleading. In a big country such as the US, its hard to
generalise. The quality of life is very different in the hills and
hollows of East Tennessee than it is in the canyons of
Manhattan. And put Warren Buffett in a poor neighbourhood, and
average earnings will shoot up. Statistically, everyone will be
rich.
Silent battles
In Baltimore, many people lead lives that appear to be as
miserable as any on the planet. They have very low incomes based
either on government handouts, petty crime or menial labour.
Neighbourhoods are uglytrashyand dilapidated. There are no sidewalk
cafes. No restaurants. No shops. No artisans. And the schools are
horrible.
Five people were shot in Baltimore on Friday.....