Tuesday, January 13, 2026
Food at home inflation was 2.4% year over year in Dec 2025, and there has still been no food deflation like there was in 2009 or 2016 to relieve the have-nots of America
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| food at home inflation 2.4% yoy |
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| food inflation 3.1% yoy |
Mark Zandi: Missing data from October and November combined with tariffs means inflation is still probably higher than it appears, closer to 3% year over year rather than 2.6%
From the story here:
... “The bottom line is, I think inflation is still uncomfortably high,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s. “Inflation for staples, necessities, remains elevated.” ...
Tariffs levied by President Donald Trump have put upward pressure on the inflation rate, Zandi said. ...
“I think were it not for the tariffs, we would have been back to target already,” Zandi said. “But tariffs have pushed up inflation a little over half a [percentage] point.” ...
Overall, the headline inflation rate is higher than it appears on paper, Zandi said. The record-long government shutdown, which ran from Oct. 1 to Nov. 12, prevented federal statisticians from collecting typical inflation data in October. Without that data, the BLS assumed that no price increases had taken place during the month for most categories of goods and services, Zandi said. Moody’s estimates the annual CPI inflation rate would be around 3% if that data were included, he said. ...
Overall CPI inflation, not seasonally adjusted, came in at 2.7% year over year in December 2025, while core CPI inflation was lower at 2.6% in today's report:
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| overall |
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| core |
Monday, January 12, 2026
Former Fed Chairs finally stand up for Powell in public
Greenspan, Bernanke, and Yellen say Trump using ‘prosecutorial attacks’ to undermine Fed
... “The reported criminal inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell is an unprecedented attempt to use prosecutorial attacks to undermine that independence,” a statement backed by more than a dozen signatories said.
“This is how monetary policy is made in emerging markets with weak institutions, with highly negative consequences for inflation and the functioning of their economies more broadly,” it continued. “It has no place in the United States whose greatest strength is the rule of law, which is at the foundation of our economic success.” ...
“The Federal Reserve’s independence and the public’s perception of that independence are critical for economic performance, including achieving the goals Congress has set for the Federal Reserve of stable prices, maximum employment, and moderate long-term interest rates,” the statement said. ...
Mad King Ludwig's disgusting vendetta against Jerome Powell escalates into DOJ criminal probe of Fed Chair's oversight of building renovations
What this really is is Mad King Ludwig's builder's envy. He thinks he should be in charge of the literal remaking of every Washington edifice, just as he thinks he should be in charge of everything else, including interest rates.
Powell's term expires on May 15, but the lunatic we put in charge of the country just can't let Powell fade away without picking this disgusting fight over nothing.
The Department of Justice should be ashamed of itself, but like most MAGAts, it is incapable of shame.
Watch here.
Sunday, January 11, 2026
Hey Look! Labor's Share of Business Income has never been LOWER than under our lord and saviour, king and high muckety muck, Uniparty Poopulist President Donald J. Trump
The Golden Age . . . for business, not for you.
3Q2025, updated Jan 8, 2026:
If Trump had any true populist balls, he'd push for permanent 10% credit card interest rate caps
... Independent U.S. Sen Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a fierce Trump critic, and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, a Republican, have previously introduced bipartisan legislation to cap credit card interest rates at 10% for five years. This bill explicitly directs credit card companies to limit rates as part of broader consumer relief legislation.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida have also introduced a bill in the House to cap credit card interest rates at 10%, reflecting cross-aisle interest in addressing high rates. ...
ExxonMobil tells Trump that Venezuela is uninvestable [sic], Trump stiffs ConocoPhillips, Chevron, already there, is ready to go go go
What the Big Oil executives told Trump about investing in Venezuela
... “We’ve had our assets seized there twice, and so you can imagine to re-enter a third time would require some pretty significant changes from what we’ve historically seen here,” Woods told Trump at the White House. “If we look at the legal and commercial constructs and frameworks in place today in Venezuela today, it’s uninvestable.” ...
ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance congratulated Trump on ousting former President Nicolás Maduro. He said the banking sector will need to help restructure Venezuela’s debt and provide billions of dollars in financing for the restore [sic] the country’s infrastructure. ... Trump told the Conoco CEO that the U.S. government is not looking at recovering the assets the company lost during the 2007 nationalization.
“We’re not going to look at what people lost in the past, because that was their fault,” Trump said. “That was a different president. You’re going to make a lot of money, but we’re not going to go back.” ...
Vice Chairman Mark Nelson said Chevron has a way forward to rapidly ramp up its production, which currently stands at about 240,000 barrels per day.
“We have a path forward here very shortly to be able to increase our liftings from those joint ventures 100% essentially effective immediately,” Nelson told Trump. “We are also able to increase our production within our own disciplined investment schemes by about 50% just in the next 18 to 24 months.” ...
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