• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Wholesale prices up 1.6 pct. on steep rise in food

j-mac

j-mac

DP Veteran
Joined
Mar 11, 2009
Messages
41,104
Reaction score
12,202
Location
South Carolina
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Conservative
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. Excluding those volatile categories, inflation was tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February -- double the 0.8 percent rise in the previous month. Outside of food and energy costs, the core index ticked up 0.2 percent, less than January's 0.5 percent rise.

Food prices soared 3.9 percent last month, the biggest gain since November 1974. Most of that increase was due to a sharp rise in vegetable costs, which increased nearly 50 percent. That was the most in almost a year. Meat and dairy products also rose.

Energy prices rose 3.3 percent last month, led by a 3.7 percent increase in gasoline costs.

Wholesale prices up 1.6 pct. on steep rise in food - Yahoo! Finance
Click to expand...


Related, lets jump in the way back machine all the way back to 8 weeks ago....

January 26, 2011

Obama Fails to Address Inflation in State of the Union

President Obama's State of the Union address last night did not make one single mention of inflation, when it is the belief of NIA that massive price inflation (especially food inflation) will become America's top crisis by the end of this calendar year. Obama's speech also failed to mention the Federal Reserve, the Federal Funds Rate being held near 0% for over two years, and the Fed's latest round of $600 billion in quantitative easing. Unless Obama addresses our nation's fiat currency system, nothing else he says has any meaning at all.

After the U.S. lost 8.36 million jobs over a two year period from December of 2007 through December of 2009, our economy has recovered 1.12 million jobs as a result of the Federal Reserve and U.S. government spending $4.6 trillion on bailouts and stimulus programs. That is over $4 million spent for each job created. Instead of bailing out Wall Street and allowing non-productive bankers to receive record bonuses, the U.S. could have sent a check for $550,000 to each middle-class American who lost their job.

National Inflation Association
Click to expand...


Who does this amateur Obama think he is fooling?

j-mac
 
There's not a whole lot that Obama can do about the price of oil. It is what it is.

The US government does have some leverage over the global price of foodstuffs though. Obama should work with Congress to immediately end ethanol subsidies, and gradually phase out all other agricultural subsidies. But that seems unlikely to happen unless, of course, they can manage to sneak the cuts into the annual budget. Too many rural congresspeople love the pork money for their districts.

Anyway, these things aren't true measures of inflation, because they have nothing to do with the monetary supply. Raising the federal funds rate or "addressing our fiat currency system" (is this writer seriously advocating a return to the gold standard?) won't do anything to change the basic supply and demand functions of oil, corn, or whatever else. Actual inflation will most likely be very low for the rest of this year, and so Obama doesn't need to worry too much about it...yet.
 
Last edited:
Kandahar said:
There's not a whole lot that Obama can do about the price of oil. It is what it is.

The US government does have some leverage over the global price of foodstuffs though. Obama should work with Congress to immediately end ethanol subsidies, and gradually phase out all other agricultural subsidies. But that seems unlikely to happen unless, of course, they can manage to sneak the cuts into the annual budget. Too many rural congresspeople love the pork money for their districts.

Anyway, these things aren't true measures of inflation, because they have nothing to do with the monetary supply. Raising the federal funds rate or "addressing our fiat currency system" (is this writer seriously advocating a return to the gold standard?) won't do anything to change the basic supply and demand functions of oil, corn, or whatever else. Actual inflation will most likely be very low for the rest of this year, and so Obama doesn't need to worry too much about it...yet.
Click to expand...


Sure there is.

j-mac
 
I have been warning about this for almost a year and this is only the beginning.

If Obama doesn't end his plans to cause energy prices to go through the roof and California does not stop it's version of Cap and Trade it we are going see much worse prices not just on food but on everything sold and all services.
 
j-mac said:
Related, lets jump in the way back machine all the way back to 8 weeks ago....




Who does this amateur Obama think he is fooling?

j-mac
Click to expand...

You mean other than drilling for oil here and lifting the gulf restrictions?? You mean other than taxing the piss out of gasoline?
 
Councilman said:
I have been warning about this for almost a year and this is only the beginning.

If Obama doesn't end his plans to cause energy prices to go through the roof and California does not stop it's version of Cap and Trade it we are going see much worse prices not just on food but on everything sold and all services.
Click to expand...

The question is....does Obama want to do something about this, or is this the kind of government dependency and oil problem he envisions as good for the country in the long run?
 
Kandahar said:
There's not a whole lot that Obama can do about the price of oil. It is what it is... Anyway, these things aren't true measures of inflation, because they have nothing to do with the monetary supply.
Click to expand...

While there is not much President Obama can do immediately about energy-driven inflation, the absence of a credible energy policy has contributed to sharper price shocks than would otherwise have been the case. A lack of energy supply diversity means less ability to address disruptions concerning a single source of energy. Of course, the national failure to develop a credible energy policy has been longstanding. It is not unique to the Obama Administration. Past energy shocks have quickly been forgotten once the price returned to lower levels.

On the other point, even as the energy price shock is not a monetary phenomenon per se, the Fed can still tighten, if necessary, and have some impact. By tightening, the Fed would slow the economy. Slower economic growth would translate into reduced growth in energy consumption. I don't believe we're at the point where the Fed should immediately tighten, but if crude oil prices remain elevated into the summer, I do believe that the Fed should tighten. During the 1970s, the Fed erred too much on the side of accommodation, especially in the wake of the 1973-75 recession. As a result, inflation expectations became unanchored and the Fed ultimately had to raise interest rates to extremely high levels to finally break the back of inflation. Two economic contractions, including the severe 1981-82 recession followed in rapid succession.
 
Last edited:
donsutherland1 said:
While there is not much President Obama can do immediately about energy-driven inflation, the absence of a credible energy policy has contributed to sharper price shocks than would otherwise have been the case. A lack of energy supply diversity means less ability to address disruptions concerning a single source of energy. Of course, the national failure to develop a credible energy policy has been longstanding. It is not unique to the Obama Administration. Past energy shocks have quickly been forgotten once the price returned to lower levels.

On the other point, even as the energy price shock is not a monetary phenomenon per se, the Fed can still tighten, if necessary, and have some impact. By tightening, the Fed would slow the economy. Slower economic growth would translate into reduced growth in energy consumption. I don't believe we're at the point where the Fed should immediately tighten, but if crude oil prices remain elevated into the summer, I do believe that the Fed should tighten. During the 1970s, the Fed erred too much on the side of accommodation, especially in the wake of the 1973-75 recession. As a result, inflation expectations became unanchored and the Fed ultimately had to raise interest rates to extremely high levels to finally break the back of inflation. Two economic contractions, including the severe 1981-82 recession followed in rapid succession.
Click to expand...

It's not about energy diversity. It's about drilling the damn energy under our feet.
 
Erod said:
It's not about energy diversity. It's about drilling the damn energy under our feet.
Click to expand...

Energy supply diversity is about sources of energy resources and types of energy production. Increased domestic oil production would contribute to greater supply diversity. Increased nuclear power would do so, as well, though there is real risk that an almost hysterical reaction by some in the wake of Japan's earthquake, e.g., those purchasing potassium iodide pills in the U.S., which faces no risk whatsoever at present from Japan's nuclear problems, could further undermine support for that option.
 
And yet the government is burning harvested grain to affect price. It boggles the mind.
 
The rise in food prices is much worse than is indicated. The portions are becoming drastically smaller. For instance, my wife and I used to get packaged Kroger pot roasts at about 5 bucks a package. The portions were enough to feed us both. When we went shopping the other day, I got a couple of packages of the Kroger pot roasts, and they seemed to feel lighter. When I slipped off the outer sleeve to look inside the plastic package underneath, I saw a piece of pot roast that was about 2 inches by 2 inches by an inch and a half in size. That would not even make a decent snack for either of us. I put them back in the display case. I also notice that the Swiss Miss hot chocolate now contains 6 packets instead of 10.

The prices did not rise on these products. The amount of product in both had been drastically reduced. This amounts to a horrendous price increase on both products I have mentioned. We will undoubtedly see many more instances of portion reduction in the days ahead.

People talk about taxes, and the need to lower them, every day. I see scores of threads, right here in this forum, which talk about how overtaxed we are. But rarely do I see any discussion on the worst tax of all - INFLATION. It is the most insidious tax of all. It is hidden to most people, it bilks people out of more money than any other tax, and it affects both rich and poor alike. What you could buy in 1913 not costs about 50 times as much. And now there is another round of inflation taking hold of this country.

It all boils down to a very simple observation. The more money the government prints, the more worthless it becomes.
 
It is absolutely hilarious that people think Obama has anything to do with our current gas prices.
 
Why doesnt Obama enact price controls like Nixon darn it
 
j-mac said:
Sure there is.

j-mac
Click to expand...

Yep. If he announced right now that we were going to start drilling again in the Gulf and we were going to open up ANWR, the prices would drop immediately.
Unfortunately he wants gas high so people will be forced into cars they don't want and mass transit they don't want. It's called a nudge.:poke
 
There's not a whole lot that Obama can do about the price of oil. It is what it is.

There absolutely is, sign an Executive Order to drill EVERYWHERE we can.

Return Speculation Rules to pre 2000 Rules.....IF you purchase Oil Futures, or ANY Futures you MUST be able to have the capability to take the shipment of the Commidity.
 
danarhea said:
The rise in food prices is much worse than is indicated. The portions are becoming drastically smaller. For instance, my wife and I used to get packaged Kroger pot roasts at about 5 bucks a package. The portions were enough to feed us both. When we went shopping the other day, I got a couple of packages of the Kroger pot roasts, and they seemed to feel lighter. When I slipped off the outer sleeve to look inside the plastic package underneath, I saw a piece of pot roast that was about 2 inches by 2 inches by an inch and a half in size. That would not even make a decent snack for either of us. I put them back in the display case. I also notice that the Swiss Miss hot chocolate now contains 6 packets instead of 10.

The prices did not rise on these products. The amount of product in both had been drastically reduced. This amounts to a horrendous price increase on both products I have mentioned. We will undoubtedly see many more instances of portion reduction in the days ahead.

People talk about taxes, and the need to lower them, every day. I see scores of threads, right here in this forum, which talk about how overtaxed we are. But rarely do I see any discussion on the worst tax of all - INFLATION. It is the most insidious tax of all. It is hidden to most people, it bilks people out of more money than any other tax, and it affects both rich and poor alike. What you could buy in 1913 not costs about 50 times as much. And now there is another round of inflation taking hold of this country.

It all boils down to a very simple observation. The more money the government prints, the more worthless it becomes.
Click to expand...

While I agree with the bolded section, you have to understand that this is a global phenomenon. This is not limited to the U.S. There has been poor harvests in the past eight months (especially of wheat) and this is a major cause of the global rise in food prices. We are having a similar problem here in Taiwan and it is happening in many other countries.
 
Barbbtx said:
Yep. If he announced right now that we were going to start drilling again in the Gulf and we were going to open up ANWR, the prices would drop immediately
Click to expand...

No they wouldn't. First of all, there just isn't enough oil there (as a percentage of global oil output) to significantly affect the price, even if we were instantly producing at 100% of capacity. Second of all, even if there was, it would not cause the price to drop immediately, because of the time lag. There is enough uncertainty there that there's no reason to think speculators/hedgers would assume with total certainty that it would ever affect the prices.

The global price of oil is NOT going to be reduced because of the prospect of possibly drilling an insignificant amount of oil five years from now. That's just not how it works in the real world.

(And for the record, I really don't give a damn if they drill in ANWR. But let's not pretend that it's going to immediately affect the oil price, or that the President of the United States has the slightest bit of control over it. Hell, even the Saudi King doesn't have that much control over it.)
 
Last edited:
Ethanol subsidies have been one of the largest (controllable) source of food price increases in the last few years. Granted, the main causes of food price increases are oil price increases and bad weather, but nevertheless the US could significantly reduce the price of corn-based foods, at home and abroad, by getting rid of ethanol subsidies. This is a horrendous policy.
 
Last edited:
danarhea said:
It all boils down to a very simple observation. The more money the government prints, the more worthless it becomes.
Click to expand...

Except there really isn't any inflation right now...at least once you factor out the non-monetary causes like supply drops or demand increases in oil and foodstuffs. Core inflation is hovering very close to 0%, which is actually LOWER than it probably should be.
 
j-mac said:
Related, lets jump in the way back machine all the way back to 8 weeks ago....




Who does this amateur Obama think he is fooling?

j-mac
Click to expand...

:facepalm:

Obama cannot control the price of food prices. Increases in oil (generally) lead to increases in food prices, as the agribusinesses must cover the costs of their oil usage. The main problem with this is that these increasing food prices negatively affect those in the third world, see this and this.
 
today: US Cost of Living Hits Record

bear in mind---the public, due to the massive SLASHING of services going down institutionally at the state level, is also gonna have to pay more simply to keep the same services it knew in times past

worry
 
Amazed said:
There's not a whole lot that Obama can do about the price of oil. It is what it is.

There absolutely is, sign an Executive Order to drill EVERYWHERE we can.

Return Speculation Rules to pre 2000 Rules.....IF you purchase Oil Futures, or ANY Futures you MUST be able to have the capability to take the shipment of the Commidity.
Click to expand...

Increasing the global oil production levels by .5% a decade from now isn't going to get us lower gas prices.
A lot of oil in the ground is not there because those darn environmentalists prevented drilling there, but rather because it's of low quality or difficult to extract and is therefore not economically viable to extract yet.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom