The Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released the August review [DATA HERE] of producer prices for last month.  August rose 0.7% with cumulative results now showing an 8.3% increase in prices; the largest year-over-year jump in prices for final demand products in the history of tracking. The prior record was July with 7.8%.

Inflation is skyrocketing for consumer goods at all levels of production: Origination (commodity/raw material), Intermediate (Mfr/Wholesale) and Final products (retail).

In part, the extreme upward cost pressure from escalating fuel and energy costs are accumulating throughout the supply chain and surfacing in the prices of the finished products. We are all witnessing this in the prices at stores; especially in the quick turning products, like groceries (fast turn consumable goods), which reflect price increases the fastest.

Final demand prices moved up 0.7 percent in August, 1.0 percent in July and 1.0 percent in June. The year-over-year inflation rate on final demand products now stands at 8.3%.

MEDIA – […] “The data comes amid heightened inflation fears fed by supply chain issues, a shortage of various consumer and producer goods and heightened demand related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Federal Reserve officials expect inflationary pressures to ease through the year, but they have remained stubbornly persistent, with Friday’s numbers indicating that the trend likely will continue.

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The U.S. Census Department releases retail sales data today showing a strong contraction in consumer spending for July [MSM LINK].  The out-of-touch financial pundits were looking for a 0.3% decline; however, the drop was four times greater with a contraction of 1.1% in spending.

“The slide in retail sales comes after Friday’s preliminary consumer sentiment report from the University of Michigan showed one of the largest drops on record, leading some strategists and economists to warn of downside risk to the sales data.” (link)

This should not be unexpected for those who read here.  Massive price inflation on essential goods is eating up wages.  Food, fuel and energy price increases are changing consumer spending habits.  Non-essential purchases have stopped….. they haven’t slowed, they have stopped. ←Emphasize this because it is not showing up yet in the data lag.

The data reflects that auto sales were the primary contributor to the decline in spending (-4.3%).  This should make sense to people because auto purchases are the largest general consumer purchase outside of home purchasing.

When purchase decisions are made by families; and food and fuel prices are skyrocketing; replacing a vehicle is not essential.  Auto sales are a key indicator of consumer confidence and income.

Overall inflation is the primary driver.  Real wages are declining (wages – inflation), and disposable income is dropping quickly.  Americans need to start talking very deliberately about what is about to happen.  CTH predicted this and has been walking through the visible outcomes as each set of new data surfaces {SEARCH BOX}.  Nothing happening right now is unforeseen or not easily understandable.

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CTH has said repeatedly the road to serfdom is cemented with the catch-phrase “a service driven economy.”  The June jobs report from the Bureau of Labor statistics [BLS LINK]  highlights the JoeBama economic policy exactly that way.

Approximately 850,000 jobs were gained in June; however, simultaneously the number of long-term unemployed increased by 233,000 to the current state of four million.

While we should expect to see the leisure and hospitality industries as well as education rebounding from the various COVID-19 shutdowns, and indeed they did ( +343,000 and +155,000 respectively), manufacturing was flat (+11,000), and construction was down -7,000.  The details inside the data are not as great as the top-line would presume.

CTH looks at alternative data connected to the overall economy; empirical data and sector specific trends inside industry.  The biggest domestic issue is inflation, stunningly large increases in prices for fast-turn consumer goods like food and fuel.  Inflation is one of the primary reasons we have stated home values and home sales have peaked on a MACRO level despite the massive amount of real estate investment purchasing underway by financial institutions.

When we look at durable good production, we focus on the primary drivers of higher cost middle-class or working class products.  Seeing construction jobs decline by 7,000 at the same time real-estate values are increasing only points to the problem of working class not being able to afford new home purchases.  In the real estate sector this is unsustainable; it is simply a matter of math, income stability and wages.

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You’ve likely seen mentions of inflation popping up amid some MSM discussions. Without a doubt you have seen significant price jumps at your local supermarket.

The reason is simple, JoeBama’s economic policies are beneficial to the multinationals, crushing to the domestic U.S. economy and driving massive increases in prices in a variety of sectors.  As a consequence the leftist financial media (almost all financial media) are churning out deflection points, but if you understand the background you can predictably see the cause and effect.

USA Today –  From tortillas to cornbread, some of your favorite corn-based dishes may go up in price late this summer.  Corn has been leading the rally among grain commodities, rising more than 30% in 2021, according to MarketWatch. (more)

NOTE: Wheat, corn and soybeans are the foundation of the U.S. food supply. They are primarily used as ingredients in processed foods, oils, and are fed to the cattle, hogs, and poultry that supply meat and eggs for the American diet.  When those grain harvests go up in price the downstream increase in price is far reaching.

Remember, there is no such thing as a “commodity” market in the free market sense of the word.  Those commodity markets are now “controlled markets“, and fully under the control of massive multinational agricultural corporations.

[…]  “Americans should definitely expect an eventual rise in prices later in the year,” says Moya. “The surge with grain prices should not immediately be visible at supermarkets, since retailers absorb the initial increase. (But) eventually, the margin pressure will be too big and probably at some point late in the summer, Americans will start to take notice to some increases on grocery shelves.” (more)

Many Americans are recently awake to the singular ideology that surrounds DC politics.  The UniParty political fraud also applies to our political economy. However, just like the election, understanding the deception in modern economics means understanding previous false and promoted assumptions.

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The federal reserve has announced they will support the economic agenda of the Biden administration by allowing rapid inflation.  The FED is trying to provide cover for JoeBama’s economic plan.  The era when the FED could impact inflation is long past.  However, the Joe Biden policy impact will be clear, immediate and concise.  The U.S. middle-class and blue-collar worker are about to be crushed under rising prices for consumable products.

Increases in inflation hit the working class (Main St) much harder than the investment class (Wall St) and financial elites.  Factually the multinationals benefit from U.S. inflation as it puts pressure on domestic companies to ship their manufacturing overseas.  Wall Street likes that.  This dynamic has been an issue not-discussed by the financial media for decades.   First, the Reuters article (when you see “commodity prices” think about the term “consumables”):

REUTERS – The U.S. Federal Reserve has signaled it will tolerate faster inflation for a time to cement the post-pandemic recovery and boost employment, but the side effect is likely to be a faster rise in commodity prices.

[…]  After its latest meeting on Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee confirmed it will seek to achieve the *twin objectives of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2% over the longer run.

[*NOTE: in the new era of global economics these two are mutually exclusive.  The FED is intentionally ignoring this point.]

[…] The committee noted price rises have been running persistently below target, so it aims to achieve inflation moderately above 2% for some time to make up the shortfall and anchor expectations at around the 2% level.

[…]  The plan is to run the economy hot to achieve faster job gains, especially among disadvantaged groups that are marginally attached to the labour force, before shifting back to inflation control later in the cycle.

But the resulting pressure on global supply chains while the Fed pursues employment increases is likely to generate significantly quicker price rises for raw materials and a range of manufactured items. (read more)

This perspective is fundamentally false and based on assumptions that are decades old economic arguments.  The reality of what will happen is exactly the opposite on the employment front.

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The counter-group to the leftist Lawfare team, organized by Stephen Miller, is called “America First Legal.”   Today the Miller group filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration for racial discrimination against farmers and ranchers in the COVID relief bill.

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, America First Legal (AFL) filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas to stop the Biden Administration from administering a program created by Congress in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 that discriminates against American citizen farmers and ranchers based upon their race. Specifically, Sections 1005 and 1006 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 provide benefits to farmers and ranchers, but excludes many potential beneficiaries based solely upon their ethnicity or race.

AFL President Stephen Miller issued the following statement:

America First Legal opposes discrimination in all forms. We hold fast to the immortal words of Martin Luther King Jr. that Americans “should not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” These soul-stirring words are now inscribed onto the heart of every American. And they flow directly from the Declaration of Independence’s recognition that all men are created equal. And they are embodied by AFL’s founding charter. MLK’s vision is fundamental to our democracy, in which all citizens are equal both in front of the law and in the eyes of their Creator. For this reason, AFL is filing a lawsuit today against the Biden Administration to prevent it from administering programs created under the American Rescue Plan Act that discriminate against American farmers and ranchers based upon the basis of race. As Chief Justice John Roberts plainly avowed, “[T]he way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” With today’s lawsuit against the Biden Administration, AFL makes clear that it will defend MLK’s vision, our Constitutional order, and the civil rights of all citizens.

The Constitution forbids government action that discriminates based upon race. Yet the Biden Administration’s Department of Agriculture—aided by the new Congress—is actively engaging in outright racial discrimination. While Congress is permitted to provide loan forgiveness and certain additional benefits to farmers and ranchers, Americans of all races and ethnicities must have the opportunity to receive them. (read more)

The Bureau of Labor Statistics highlights some alarming inflation numbers today [Link Here] that are unfortunately, not unexpected…. unless you are a liberally trained economist (most of them) and so the results are surprisingly “unexpected”.    But the actual JoeBama-nomic policy is even worse because wages increased less than inflation increased, so real wages (actual purchasing power) decreased.  That spells trouble, Trouble.

Middle-class wage earners already know this problem; you are seeing it at the gas pumps and at the grocery store.  Fuel prices are rapidly increasing and the amount of inflation in the ‘at home’ food industry (grocery store) is even more concerning.

Let me first walk through the data and then provide some forward analysis with tips to help you offset what is about to hit.

First, it is important to know that BLS price survey data lags actual prices as felt today.  The prices you are seeing today/tommorrow at the store and gas pump will not show up in the rolled-up data for over a month….  So the data released today is unfortunately far behind what you are witnessing in real time.

Gas prices rose last month by 9.1%.  The year-over-year inflation number is an alarming 2.6 percent last month.  Keep in mind that retail grocery prices are not in the inflation number, and they generally follow the same price index as fuel; so it is safe to say monthly grocery store price increases are in the 8 to 10 percent range.

Part of the reason gas and food track together is fuel and energy prices are the #2 cost within the food sector.  With packaging prices increasing; with fuel prices and distribution costs increasing; with energy prices increasing; all costs associated with food production, processing, delivery, warehousing and distribution, all end up in the final price at the grocery store.

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One of the bigger issues never fully grasped by many Americans was President Donald Trump’s restraint in relation to the power of the federal government under the guise of COVID-19 action.  No president in our lifetime was ever more reluctant to weaponize the opportunity to expand government; Donald Trump stood the gap.

CTH warned since last summer of the ramifications if a leftist group used COVID-19 to expand federal power over peoples lives and livelihoods.  Today, JoeBama’s team has unleashed a series of TEN EXECUTIVE ORDERS fully weaponizing the opportunity.

(1) Executive order on COVID worker Safety, weaponized Dept of Labor, OSHA.  Literally word-for-word what CTH predicted.   [Predictions HERE and HERE]

(2) Executive order on COVID school safety, weaponized the Dept of Education. Leverages federal funds, grants.  Supports the education labor union effort. Exactly as expected.

(3) Executive order creating COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force.  Weaponizing the HHS takeover; the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Education, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Again, exactly as predicted.

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There are a lot of masks dropping this week.  There is a great deal of new sunlight upon the professional and institutional republican politicians that hold office.  There is a great deal of information this week highlighting establishment opposition against the presidency of Donald Trump. It is valuable to understand what lies at the heart of this opposition.

CTH can get down in the weeds of each specific issue to discuss the motives and intents (we will, and do), but the big picture MUST remain at the forefront of understanding. If we lose track of the big picture, the weeds are overwhelming.

…“It must be remembered that there is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than a new system. For the initiator has the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institution and merely lukewarm defenders in those who gain by the new ones.”

~ Niccolò Machiavelli

♦POTUS Trump was disrupting the global order of things in order to protect and preserve the shrinking interests of the U.S. He was fighting, almost single-handed, at the threshold of the abyss. Our interests, our position, is zero-sum. His DC opposition seeks to repel and retain the status-quo. They want to return to full economic control over the U.S.

In these economic endeavors President Trump was disrupting decades of financial schemes established to use the U.S. as a host for their endeavors. President Trump was confronting multinational corporations and the global constructs of economic systems that were put in place to the detriment of the host (USA) ie YOU. There are trillions at stake; it is all about the economics; everything else is chaff and countermeasures.

Familiar faces, perhaps faces you previously thought were decent, are now revealing their alignment with larger entities that are our abusers. In an effort to awaken the victim to the cycle of self-destructive codependent behavior, allow me to cue an audio visual example from March 2018 and U.S. Senator John Thune. WATCH:

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For well over a decade CTH has battled the outlook of the intellectual conservatives who pontificate from high-brow perches in/around their beltway interests. Indeed, the fallacy of their outlook is entirely why CTH exists as a gathering place for common sense, actual truth and discovery of political purposes, cutting through the guise of ‘The UniParty’.

That said, this tweet is representative of their current NRO-minded status:

Allow me to retort… from the common sense perspective.

The Biden campaign has not hidden their goals and aspirations. These are not stupid people.  They are scheming, conniving, ever-planning, ever-manipulating & Machiavellian members within the political system, lusting for power, influence and cocktail party affluence.

The Biden “agenda” per se’, has nothing whatsoever to do with a legislative roadmap. Their larger objective is to use the power of the executive to rule over the proles by working around the commonly known “representatives” of government.  If you doubt that approach remind yourself that 2009 Obamacare was opposed by 76% of the electorate.

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