Supply Bottlenecks as an Excuse for Inflation – Investment Watch investmentwatchblog.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from investmentwatchblog.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Daniel Lacalle via Mises
The Federal Reserve and European Central Bank repeat that the recent inflationary spike is “transitory.” The problem is that investors do not buy it.
Inflation is always a monetary phenomenon, and this time is not different. What central banks call transitory effects, and the impact of supply chains are not the real drivers of inflationary pressures. No one can deny certain supply shock impacts, but the correlation and extent of the increase in prices of agricultural and industrial commodities to five-year highs as well as the abrupt rise of nonreplicable goods and services to decade highs have monetary policy to blame. Injecting trillions of liquidity makes more funds chase fewer goods and the rise in the real inflation perceived by citizens is much larger than the official CPI.
Lockdowns and Easy Money Bring a Weak Recovery for Europe – Investment Watch investmentwatchblog.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from investmentwatchblog.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
by Daniel Lacalle via Mises
United States jobless claims have picked up, since the elections and the second wave of coronavirus have slowed down the economic recovery. Uncertainty about tax increases and changes in labor laws, including an increase in the minimum wage, add to the fear of new lockdowns, as employers see the devastating effects of these lockdowns in European employment.
While the United States has been able to recover fast and reduce unemployment to 6.8 percent, the eurozone jobless rate has risen to 8.3 percent before we consider the large number of furloughed employees who remain idle. The second wave of coronavirus in Europe has seen new government-imposed lockdowns and the impact on the economy is already severe. Estimates for the fourth-quarter gross domestic product assume a double-dip recession and another increase in unemployment.