Trying to survive current price increases in housing costs, energy costs, electricity costs, food and fuel costs has forced consumers to reevaluate purchasing decisions.  As consumer demand for non-essential items has collapsed, and as Americans dig deeper into their savings just to sustain current unavoidable expenses, major retailers are now cancelling Christmas inventory orders.

On one hand the leaders of large multinationals must pretend everything is splendid; after all, the only acceptable position they can articulate is to support interest rates being raised because demand is just too darned high.  lololol…  pretending.  But on the other hand – those same retailers are furiously trying to calculate how to avoid being stuck with billions worth of unsold inventory.

RetailWire – Walmart, Target, Macy’s and Kohl’s are among retailers that have recently said they are canceling some orders to better balance inventory levels, a replay of a strategy used at the start of the pandemic.

Other steps retailers are using to clear inventories as spending has slowed on some non-discretionary categories are employing markdowns and packing away products for the following year. The elevated inventory levels also reflect intentional over-buying to mitigate shortages and the easing of supply chain constraints.

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The statistics behind the energy impact upon the German economy, the largest economy in the European Union, are almost unfathomable in scale.  There is no way for the German industrial economy to continue with this level of price pressure.  Stick a fork in the current creation of German industrial products and exports, the inflection point of feasibility for continued production has been crossed.  They are done.

According to release statistics from the German economic ministry, energy prices in August were more than double the same period last year, up 139%.  The monthly increase was more than 20.4% higher than July.  Additionally, producer prices for electricity rose 174.9% compared with August 2021 and by 26.4% in a single month.

This jaw-dropping increase in energy cost has resulted in German manufacturing prices for industrial goods jumping 7.9% in August alone, with a year-over-year increase in the cost to manufacture goods at 45.8%.  That is the highest rate of price increase since Germany began recording their statistics in 1939.

BERLIN, Sept 19 (Reuters) – German producer prices rose in August at their strongest rate since records began both in annual and monthly terms, driven mainly by soaring energy prices, raising the chances that headline inflation will surge even higher.

Producer prices of industrial products increased by 45.8% on the same month last year, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Tuesday. Compared to July 2022, prices rose 7.9%, it added.

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I was asked recently, what I considered to be the biggest problem of the current moment, and how would I describe it to my future self.  My response was, we are living in an era of great pretending, and if you elevate yourself and pause its actually quite interesting to watch.

The pretending issue goes beyond politics, it’s everywhere.  Sure, there was always an era where reality was skewed in favor of one position or another by various groups, people and leaders, where denying the obvious was always odd.  However, this current state of our national and international disposition extends far beyond politics into almost everything.

A person would ordinarily expect to see cultural or social pretending as an outcome of political correctness.  Denying the underlying social construct behind the rules of the urban society has been the norm for several years.  However, the pretending has become so pervasive it has recently extended into finance and economics; places where reality -actual outcomes- used to inoculate facts and figures against pretense.

It is no longer uncommon, heck, it’s become almost standard in this new era, to see CEO’s, CFO’s and even entire boards of directors, maintaining a standard of pretense. It is quite weird to see it happening.

Yes, this era -for a host of reasons- has made delusion somewhat of a norm.

In the social sphere, cultural norms now claim men can have babies, people can choose their gender, labels and pronouns, and everyone else bears the responsibility to conform to the delusion.  While goofy, that part is somewhat a weird cultural phenomenon of this western era.   If we were not pretending people like AOC would have no career opportunities.

In the political sphere, the axiom of politics being downstream from pop culture is perhaps the reason the infection of pretense has overwhelmed congress and the professional bureaucracies of government.  The social pretending has metastasized from the federal level to the state level, and now we see efforts to counteract “wokeism” as a social priority for state and local leaders.   It’s weird to see so much time and effort being exhausted on combatting social pretense at every level.

But the more stunning development comes in the sphere of economics, where factual outcomes of transactions are matters of simple accounting.  A ledger of sales and profits would normally dictate whether a business was successful or failing, and in the bigger picture would show empirical evidence of the financial health of the community of customers who purchase goods and services.

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Arizona Governor candidate Kari Lake and candidate for State AG Abe Hamadeh held a press conference earlier today to outline Lake’s policy proposal to restaff police units and support law enforcement in the state.  {Direct Rumble Link}

The somewhat combative press Q&A begins at 12:30 of the video.  WATCH:

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The governor of uber-liberal Massachusetts has called-up the national guard to cope with the massive influx of several dozen illegal aliens sent to Martha’s Vineyard.

According to local reports 125 soldiers have been dispatched to deal with 50 arriving illegal aliens.  The unlawful migrants will be moved to a military base until the state can figure out what to do.

MASSACHUSETTS – The governor of Massachusetts plans to activate the National Guard as part of the effort to deal with migrants who were flown to Martha’s Vineyard.  Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sent two planes of immigrants to the Massachusetts island on Wednesday.

Gov. Charlie Baker says the state will transport the migrants to a military base on Cape Cod.  He says a new shelter will be set up at Joint Base Cape Cod for approximately 50 migrants.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency will coordinate efforts among state and local officials to provide food, shelter, and essential services. Baker also plans to activate up to 125 members of the Massachusetts National Guard as part of the relief effort. (read more)

50 illegal aliens are transported to deep blue Massachusetts and the governor calls out the national guard.

Meanwhile, 2,000,000 illegal aliens cross into Texas and Arizona and the federal response?

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You know that moment just before the tsunami hits, when the water is pulled out to sea?  Yeah, that.

Media are starting to realize what a destabilizing force ‘food insecurity’ can become as the pre-existing high prices are about to go even higher.

(WASHINGTON, Via The Hill) – […] the five items that have seen the largest year-over-year price increase based on the latest report from the Labor Department, and how much the price has changed: Eggs 39.8%, Margarine: 38.3%, Butter: 24.6%, Flour/prepared flour mixes: 23.3%, Olives, pickles, relish: 19.4%

Many of the items listed in the Consumer Price Index have seen prices rise by more than 15% compared to August 2021. That includes chicken (16.6%), soups (18.5%), cereals (17.4%), and milk (17%).

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Welcome to the new “democratic norms” in the industrialized west as Germany seizes the private assets of Russian owned energy company Rosneft; because oil refining is critical to fuel prices and German has just realized their vulnerability.

Within this new Build Back Better system, driven by the policies of western nations, it appears things are changing quickly.  Democracy or capitalism in Germany is now quickly dispatched, as socialism -state control- becomes the priority.

Heck, I’m old enough to remember when everyone decried China’s authoritarian economic model for doing the exact same thing as Germany (a few months ago).  But, well, we must pretend not to notice these things comrades….

(Reuters) – BERLIN, Sept 16 (Reuters) – Germany took control of a major Russian-owned oil refinery on Friday, risking retaliation from Moscow as Berlin strives to shore up energy supplies and meet its European Union commitment to eliminate Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

The economy ministry said it was putting a unit of Russian oil firm Rosneft (ROSN.MM) under the trusteeship of the industry regulator and taking over the business’ Schwedt refinery, which supplies 90% of Berlin’s fuel.

“This is a far-reaching energy policy decision to protect our country,” Chancellor Olaf Scholz told a news conference to present the government’s plans to put the Schwedt refinery under the control of the Federal Network Agency regulator. (read more)

Who knew economic security was national security?

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The great economic pretending is predicated on denying that major western economies are shrinking because political leaders are collectively destroying cheap and reliable energy production (oil, coal, gas), while simultaneously chasing expensive and [un]sustainable energy development (wind, solar).

The Build Back Better / Green New Deal climate change agenda is destroying every economy based on ‘collectively agreed‘ energy policy.  Energy driven supply side inflation is crushing consumers in every western economy.  Sales and purchases of goods have stopped.  Affording food, fuel and housing is the focus of billions. Yet, denial is everywhere.

It was not that long ago, June 23rd to be precise, when Fedex gave a forward-looking forecast based on existing operational results.  In late June Fedex anticipated a generally stable continuation of business operations.  Here we are, three months later and Fedex business collapsed in the last quarter.  CEO Raj Subramaniam says shipping demand unexpectedly plummeted.  The great economic pretending meets reality.

Keep in mind, about six weeks ago Maersk, the international shipping company that delivers millions of containers of goods all around the world, mostly by ship, said they saw demand and orders plummeting as shipping warehouses were full of unsold goods {link, Aug 3rd}.

[The Fedex Collapse] – […] The company scrapped its forecast for its earnings in its current fiscal year that it had issued less than three months ago. For the three months ended Aug. 31, FedEx now projects adjusted earnings per share of $3.44 and $23.2 billion in revenue. That’s below analysts’ consensus forecast of $5.14 adjusted earnings per share and $23.6 billion in revenue, according to FactSet. (more)

The company is also revising its 2023 financial outlook and said it expects conditions to worsen further in its second quarter. Economists have sparred for months over whether or not the US is heading into a recession. (more)

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In an effort to keep the Daily Open Thread a little more open topic we are going to start a new daily thread for “Presidential Politics”. Please use this thread to post anything relating to the JoeBama Administration and Presidency.

“This is no small thing, to restore a republic after it has fallen into corruption. I have studied history for years and I cannot recall it ever happening. It may be that our task is impossible. Yet, if we do not try then how will we know it can’t be done? And if we do not try, it most certainly won’t be done. The Founders’ Republic, and the larger war for western civilization, will be lost.”

“But I tell you this: We will not go gently into that bloody collectivist good night. Indeed, we will make with our defiance such a sound as ALL history from that day forward will be forced to note, even if they despise us in the writing of it.”

~ Mike Vanderboegh

This thread will refresh daily and appear above the Open Discussion Thread.

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Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name. Thy kingdom come. THY WILL BE DONE, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever and ever. Amen †

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