Thursday, July 16, 2026
37% of 46 average food prices I track through FRED at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis made new all-time average high prices for the first half of 2026
More than half of the 17 offenders are beef products.
In addition to the 9 beef products, also appearing are beer, wine, chocolate chip cookies, lettuce, tomatoes, white rice, coffee, and orange juice.
Most of the 46 foods tracked are priced near, if not at, their all-time highs in 1H2026, but inflation over time matters when evaluating what's what.
Fresh whole chicken, for example, remains a good value compared with beef.
100% ground beef purchased in the summer of 1984 for $1.31 per pound should cost about $4.22 per pound today, but in reality is about $6.78 on an average basis. You are paying a premium of 61% over inflation when you eat hamburger today.
One whole chicken, however, purchased at an average price of 66-cents per pound in the summer of 1980 should cost about $2.67 per pound today adjusted for inflation, but is only about $2.04. A year ago it was $2.06.
Smart shoppers choose the fricken chicken.
Wednesday, July 15, 2026
Middle East tanker transits July 7-13, 2026 fall sharply to 6 per day in the Strait of Hormuz
SoH: 6.0/day
SoH E: 3.4/day
SoH W: 2.6/day
BAM: 16.7/day
BAM SE: 7.9/day
BAM NW: 8.9/day
New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh says the Fed has no tolerance for high inflation, except for 82% of the time since 1965 when it's been above 2%
The Fed has met its goal of keeping inflation below 2% in only eleven of the last sixty years, which I'm sure was just an accident.
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
ICE suspends murdering people in their cars, still not wearing body cameras despite receiving $75 billion in July 2025, $39 billion last month, and $15 billion in normal appropriations in 2025-2026
Fixed it for ya.
ICE suspends vehicle stops for U.S. immigration enforcement, Reuters sources say
... Maine Senator Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, told reporters that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, leaving questions unanswered about the circumstances surrounding the shooting. ...
The bastards in the Trump administration slow-walk compliance with oversight no different than Obama did. The issues change, but the behavior of the executive remains the same.
He was the Trump-a-TOLLah from 10am Monday until 11am Tuesday
Went over like a lead balloon, as we used to say.
CPI energy inflation averaged 1.2% under Trump I lolol, but 15.7% in June 2026, 19.0% in 2Q2026, and 11.7% in 1H2026
Why did the squirrel cross the road?
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| June 2026 |
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| 2Q2026 |
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| 1H2026 |
The core cpi inflation rate in June 2026 was elevated 32% over Trump's average rate in his first term
Core cpi inflation in June 2026 fell to 2.59% year over year, but rose to 2.73% for the second quarter.
For the first half of 2026 core cpi inflation fell to 2.62%.
The measure averaged 1.96% annually in Trump's first term.
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| June 2026 |
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| 2Q2026 |
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| 1H2026 |
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, whose wealth is his wife's, peddles the myth that the Fed is in control
This country eats, drinks, and sleeps inflation in the post-war . . . at 3.4% since 1948.
It's the cover for the haves to rob the have-nots. The Fed's job is to keep it going, just at a lower level than the 4.4% of the last six years, while telling you that they work for you when they actually work for the banks and the corporations.
From 1871 to 1948 the inflation rate was 0.8%, for most of which time we had sound money . . . until they confiscated it in 1934.
The only true words below are "We don't know".
Warsh promises inflation will be a ‘thing of the past,’ cites benefits of AI investment boom
... "if we get policy right — and we will — the inflation surge of the last five years will be a thing of the past."
... "While monthly price fluctuations are inevitable — especially in an unsettled world — underlying inflation over longer time horizons is determined largely by monetary policy," he said.
... "We don’t know the extent to which the economy will benefit from the AI buildout," he added. "Yet it seems inevitable that what is now called ‘AI investment’ will soon be called just ‘investment.’"
Warsh previously has said he expects an AI productivity boom will prove disinflationary — a premise challenged by some economists as well as his fellow Fed policymakers. ...
Gee, I hope it's not this disinflationary:
The whole world is laughing at Trump's stupid Strait of Hormuz toll proposal, especially Iran
A 20% charge on a fully loaded VLCC is $30 million. Iran is widely believed to be charging less than 2%.
Trump is a buffoon.
Global shipping industry sounds the alarm over Trump’s Hormuz toll plan
... Shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd has said it is “fundamentally wrong” to charge tolls for passage through international waters, regardless of the country in charge.
“Tolls for infrastructure such as the Suez Canal or Panama Canal are different, because they reflect major infrastructure investments,” the firm said in a statement. “That is not the case in the Strait of Hormuz.” ...
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