Proposed EV Tax Credits = Braindead Economic Policy +Last Thing the Booming EV Industry & EV-Hungry Consumers Need

by Wolf Richter • Sep 13, 2021 • 64 Comments

Everyone loves more free money. But EVs can stand on their own four wheels, so to speak. Let competition force innovation on automakers.

Americans Expect their Earnings to Get Whacked by Red-Hot Inflation, Blow Off Fed’s Sermons about “Temporary”

by Wolf Richter • Sep 13, 2021 • 132 Comments

And those who experienced the 1970s & 1980s inflation as adults expect 6.0% inflation a year from now.

THE WOLF STREET REPORT: What a Collapse of China’s Evergrande Would Mean

by Wolf Richter • Sep 12, 2021 • 137 Comments

China hasn’t bailed out its over-indebted property developers yet, to the shock of foreign investors who’d bought their dollar bonds. Could the forced deleveraging trigger a financial crisis?

Up the Price Pipeline, Inflation Rages at 20%

by Wolf Richter • Sep 10, 2021 • 274 Comments

Producer prices that are input prices for consumer-facing industries are red-hot. But further up the production chain, prices are white-hot.

The Process of Ending Massive Money Printing Has Started

by Wolf Richter • Sep 9, 2021 • 260 Comments

ECB second giant to taper. Bank of Japan already ended QE. Bank of Canada shed 15% of assets. UK, Australia are tapering. New Zealand quit cold turkey

The Everything Shortage & Price Hikes Plastered All Over Fed’s “Beige Book”

by Wolf Richter • Sep 8, 2021 • 180 Comments

“We need lower consumer demand to give supply chains time to catch up… recover efficiency… and break this vicious circle”: CEO of Maersk’s APM Terminals, one of the largest container port operators.

Most Distorted Labor Market Ever: Charts by Sector

by Wolf Richter • Sep 8, 2021 • 198 Comments

Job openings spiked to record 11.7 million, while 12.1 million people still claimed unemployment benefits.

New Vehicle Sales Plunged Further in August amid Inventory Shortages & Production Cuts: Chip Shortage Wreaks Havoc

by Wolf Richter • Sep 7, 2021 • 134 Comments

The average transaction price for new vehicles spikes to $41,000.

Bank of Japan Ends its Massive QE that Started when Abenomics Became Economic Religion of Japan

by Wolf Richter • Sep 7, 2021 • 85 Comments

One of the largest central banks ends QE. End of an era for Japan: Large-scale money printing was one of the three official legs of Abenomics.

“Debt Ceiling Farce 2021”: Treasury General Account Plunges. Let’s See How Close to Zero Congress Will Let it Get this Time

by Wolf Richter • Sep 5, 2021 • 208 Comments

At the current rate of outflows, the out-of-money date is in mid-October. “Extraordinary measures” might extend it into November.

Biggest Strides in Health? Not due to Doctors and Certainly Not Counseling by Doctors

by Michael Gorback, M.D. • Sep 4, 2021 • 266 Comments

I can fuss at overweight people and smokers, but they’re not going to change until they’re ready. As doctor, I had more questions about mattresses than diet.

In States that Ended the Extra $300/Week Unemployment Benefits, People Returned to Work at Over Twice the Rate than in the Other States: Data from the Labor Department

by Wolf Richter • Sep 2, 2021 • 225 Comments

Data about the “Labor Shortage” pile up.

The Monstrous Flow of Free Money and the Shortages

by Wolf Richter • Sep 2, 2021 • 142 Comments

Free money destroyed the pricing mechanism, and demand has soared despite much higher prices.

Enter GreedCare, where the White Coat is Supplanted by the Grey Pinstripe of Corporate Conglomerates

by Michael Gorback, M.D. • Sep 1, 2021 • 228 Comments

The first in my series of articles about how healthcare has become hellcare.

Semiconductor Shortages amid Record Semiconductor Sales? It’s a Mess Out There

by Wolf Richter • Aug 30, 2021 • 138 Comments

The explosion of demand that cannot be filled in the most monstrously overstimulated economy and markets ever.

THE WOLF STREET REPORT: Free Money and the Shortages

by Wolf Richter • Aug 29, 2021 • 151 Comments

Enough consumers, flush with free money, suddenly eager to pay those high prices, particularly for big-ticket items they didn’t have to buy. Magic Mix.

Port Congestion, Spiking Container Rates, Backlogs, Chaos: The Peak Shipping Season from Hell is Here

by Wolf Richter • Aug 28, 2021 • 98 Comments

Getting ready for the holiday selling season.

Flush with Free Money, Americans Spent Heroic Amounts, but Inflation Ate it Up

by Wolf Richter • Aug 28, 2021 • 151 Comments

Pay More, Get Less. Spending on durable goods after inflation down 10% from historic spike. But services surged, pointing to next source of inflation.

Powell Uses 1970s Inflation Spiral to Show How “Temporary” Becomes Persistent, as Fed’s Lowball Inflation Measure “Core PCE” Jumps Most since 1991

by Wolf Richter • Aug 27, 2021 • 101 Comments

His “taper” discussion — tapering starts this year — got all the attention, but his focus was on inflation.

Supreme Court Sacks CDC Eviction Ban

by Wolf Richter • Aug 27, 2021 • 236 Comments

The extra $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits, on top of state UI, were designed to give people enough money to pay rent.

Korea & Iceland Kick off Rate-Hike Cycle in Developed Economies after Shock-and-Awe Rate Hikes in Russia, Brazil

by Wolf Richter • Aug 26, 2021 • 88 Comments

Soaring home prices have become a thorny political issue for Korea’s government, facing a frustrated and angry middle class.

The Most Monstrously Overstimulated Economy & Markets Ever

by Wolf Richter • Aug 25, 2021 • 160 Comments

The Fed will trim back its stimulus, but it’s already too late, and it’ll be too little and too slow.

Mallmageddon: How Far the Value of Four Live Malls, Not Zombie Malls, Collapsed this Summer

by Wolf Richter • Aug 25, 2021 • 112 Comments

Leaving Big Holes in CMBS as mega-landlords, such as Bookfield and Westfield’s owners, walk away.

End of the Era of Voracious Corporate Appetite for Office Space

by Wolf Richter • Aug 24, 2021 • 128 Comments

Formerly temporary, now persistent work-from-home turns into slow-motion nightmare for office landlords.

Home Prices Dip for First Time off Crazy Spike, Price Reductions Surge, Sellers Emerge, House Sales Drop Year-over-Year, Inventories & Supply Keep Rising

by Wolf Richter • Aug 23, 2021 • 209 Comments

“Normalization” or “deceleration,” as this phenomenon is called, is setting in.

THE WOLF STREET REPORT: The Most Monstrously Overstimulated Economy & Markets Ever

by Wolf Richter • Aug 22, 2021 • 153 Comments

The Fed will trim back its stimulus, but it’s already too late, and it’ll be too little and too slow.

No Brick & Mortar Meltdown for Legal Marijuana Retailers

by Wolf Richter • Aug 21, 2021 • 118 Comments

In California, sales at cannabis retailers hit $5.1 billion over the past 12 months.

The Most Splendid Housing Bubbles in Canada Dogged by the Bank of Canada’s End of QE

by Wolf Richter • Aug 20, 2021 • 142 Comments

The housing insanity “softens.”

The Extra $300/Week Unemployment Benefits Encouraged Many to Not Work: Details about the “Labor Shortage” Pile Up

by Wolf Richter • Aug 19, 2021 • 320 Comments

Business owners and hiring managers knew this in their gut for months.

Shortages in Charts: New & Used Vehicle Inventories Collapsed, Supply at Clothing Stores Gets Tight, Food Stores Near Normal

by Wolf Richter • Aug 18, 2021 • 112 Comments

Over-stimulated demand, tangled supply chains: shortages for some, plenty of supply for others.