"The Fed ... cannot ... ignore a weakening currency."
Uhm... Over the past ~50 years, the dollar has weakened by a factor of roughly 10.
If you're old enough to remember 1972, think back what stuff cost then. A house. A car. A gallon of gas. A loaf of bread. A gallon of milk. An ounce of silver or gold, or a pound of copper.
The Fed is responsible for this incessant decline in the value of the currency. They just don't want it to happen too quickly.
All fiat currencies are weaker now than before--that's the inevitable consequence of inflation.
With every major economy practicing wholesale currency debasement, the measure of strength that gets watched is how currencies perform in forex markets--and that is the arena where the dollar is notionally "strong", particularly against the euro and the yen, but even against the yuan, having risen sharply since the Fed began raising interest rates.
In what is shaping up as a global economic race to the bottom, the strongest currency is the one that comes in (collapses) last.
"I feel your pain" should be "I caused your pain."
I remember the Carter Administration vividly.
For me, it was an era of amazing productivity, by necessity.
I was working 25 hours a week at the university library (interlibrary loans-lending), around 55-70 hours a week at one or more night clubs, all while going to pharmacy school full time (my dime)!
Eventually I came down with a massive case of mono, me!
I never got sick, just broken from motorcycle accidents.
The doc sat me down to have a discussion about "burning the candle at both ends" and I said "Doc, don't give me that crap."
He said "I'm not, it is just that you are using a f-cking flame thrower!"
I can relate. 60+ hours a week as an armed security officer is how I put myself through college.
The Hell of it is, however, that "I feel your pain" is for them a complete lie. The elites and the experts are not even aware that ordinary people even suffer pain.
They don't grasp that "slowing hiring" means someone doesn't get a job. That "rising unemployment" means people are losing their jobs. That "demand destruction " means people's ability to buy the goods they want and need is restricted.
In most regards, I am a fiscal conservative and a political libertarian. I want to see the Fed shrink the money supply and get inflation under control.
However, I am also keenly aware of the hypocrisy of speaking of such things without acknowledging the human costs.
Many thanks for that. I know you had some 'lean' times!
I remember stealing (borrowing) the gas out of my mom's lawn mower to get to a friend's house because her mom was going to fix something to eat!
When I walked in the door, she confronted me, "I know your mom has food in that house!"
"No mam," I said, she looked at me rather harshly, and I continued, "It has been pretty tough since dad died last year, Wayne (brother) is gone to the Air Force, Mom working at State Environmental Control, I'm working 2 jobs and at the University full time."
I think about those kids now, losing parents/grandparents, siblings, locked down, at least you could still do it (barely) in the mid-70s. With the price of school now, and the incomes available to them, these kids don't have a chance!
I did learn the economic significance of a good all you can eat buffet. Stuff myself silly right after pay day for $5 and then get by on very little the rest of the week.
"The Fed ... cannot ... ignore a weakening currency."
Uhm... Over the past ~50 years, the dollar has weakened by a factor of roughly 10.
If you're old enough to remember 1972, think back what stuff cost then. A house. A car. A gallon of gas. A loaf of bread. A gallon of milk. An ounce of silver or gold, or a pound of copper.
The Fed is responsible for this incessant decline in the value of the currency. They just don't want it to happen too quickly.
All fiat currencies are weaker now than before--that's the inevitable consequence of inflation.
With every major economy practicing wholesale currency debasement, the measure of strength that gets watched is how currencies perform in forex markets--and that is the arena where the dollar is notionally "strong", particularly against the euro and the yen, but even against the yuan, having risen sharply since the Fed began raising interest rates.
In what is shaping up as a global economic race to the bottom, the strongest currency is the one that comes in (collapses) last.
"I feel your pain" should be "I caused your pain."
I remember the Carter Administration vividly.
For me, it was an era of amazing productivity, by necessity.
I was working 25 hours a week at the university library (interlibrary loans-lending), around 55-70 hours a week at one or more night clubs, all while going to pharmacy school full time (my dime)!
Eventually I came down with a massive case of mono, me!
I never got sick, just broken from motorcycle accidents.
The doc sat me down to have a discussion about "burning the candle at both ends" and I said "Doc, don't give me that crap."
He said "I'm not, it is just that you are using a f-cking flame thrower!"
I can relate. 60+ hours a week as an armed security officer is how I put myself through college.
The Hell of it is, however, that "I feel your pain" is for them a complete lie. The elites and the experts are not even aware that ordinary people even suffer pain.
They don't grasp that "slowing hiring" means someone doesn't get a job. That "rising unemployment" means people are losing their jobs. That "demand destruction " means people's ability to buy the goods they want and need is restricted.
In most regards, I am a fiscal conservative and a political libertarian. I want to see the Fed shrink the money supply and get inflation under control.
However, I am also keenly aware of the hypocrisy of speaking of such things without acknowledging the human costs.
Many thanks for that. I know you had some 'lean' times!
I remember stealing (borrowing) the gas out of my mom's lawn mower to get to a friend's house because her mom was going to fix something to eat!
When I walked in the door, she confronted me, "I know your mom has food in that house!"
"No mam," I said, she looked at me rather harshly, and I continued, "It has been pretty tough since dad died last year, Wayne (brother) is gone to the Air Force, Mom working at State Environmental Control, I'm working 2 jobs and at the University full time."
I think about those kids now, losing parents/grandparents, siblings, locked down, at least you could still do it (barely) in the mid-70s. With the price of school now, and the incomes available to them, these kids don't have a chance!
I did learn the economic significance of a good all you can eat buffet. Stuff myself silly right after pay day for $5 and then get by on very little the rest of the week.