The chapter about the CPI (Consumer Price Index) in Who Is Government? edited by Michael Lewis, was interesting and helped me understand what we read and hear about all the time.
I had a general idea of what the CPI means but John Lanchester's explanation of it in the chapter, The Number, made it much more understandable,. As he points out the CPI is an imperfect indicator but gives us a rough idea of how the economy is functioning. Most Americans though have no idea about this concept and its use.
The economy under Biden was doing great, one of the best in the world, but people focused, supposedly, on the "price of eggs" if you believe the pundits, and elected Trump who has trashed the economy with his tariff nonsense. We are in for some very dark days in the coming couple of years due to his and his administration's incompetence.
President Trump has lied to the American public and told them that prices are down when clearly it is the opposite. What happens when the public can no longer trust their elected officials to tell them the truth?
ReplyDeleteTrump's tariff policy is a tax on the American people and is inflationary. The even worst consequence of the tariff nonsense is that Trump keeps changing them, injecting uncertainty crippling the ability to plan business operations with any stability and predictability. It is interesting how the other countries on the planet have reconfigured their business relationships and supply chains to exclude the US because of its unpredictable leadership.
ReplyDeleteIt is becoming apparent that Republican control of government at all levels because of their economic policies and practices is bad for business.