Inflation & Devaluation

Bank Of Japan Machinations Crash Into Reality

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Bank Of Japan Machinations Crash Into Reality

The Japanese stock market has become a case study of central-bank manipulations, and of what happens eventually as reality cannot be eliminated forever. What you hear is a giant hissing sound. What you get is capital destruction and wealth transfer.

Fed’s Fisher Hilariously Slams Fiscal-Policy Chaos, Slugs QE, And Throws In Funny Video Spoof of Congress

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Fed’s Fisher Hilariously Slams Fiscal-Policy Chaos, Slugs QE, And Throws In Funny Video Spoof of Congress

Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher is one of the funniest – and most disturbing – voices out there in the sea of equivocating central bankers. But this time, he outdid himself in the dreadfulness of his warning and the humor of his presentation.

Argentine Inflation: It’s Tough When All You Get Is Lies

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Argentine Inflation: It’s Tough When All You Get Is Lies

The issue of inflation is complex everywhere. Official rates are disputed. People can’t reconcile them with what they see at the store. There are different formulas, resulting in different rates, and everyone picks and chooses what suits their needs. But nowhere is the issue as “complex,” infested with lies, and shrouded in obscurity as in Argentina. But 34.9%?

Abenomics Tries To Make Sure Japan Is Going Down Swinging

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Abenomics Tries To Make Sure Japan Is Going Down Swinging

Anecdotal evidence has been piling up. Lamborghini sales hit the highest level in 14 years. Ferrari sales jumped 40%. Luxury retailers forecast fat profits. They ascribed it to Abenomics. “The sudden improvement in the stock market led to a big rise in sales at our department stores for luxury brands,” one of them said. But there is a price to pay.

David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”

I’ve been a fan of David Stockman ever since he got in trouble for speaking the truth as Budget Director under President Reagan. But his new book, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America—what an awesome romp through the economic, financial, and monetary shenanigans of our times!

Lies, Damned Lies, And Banks: Deutsche Bank Caught Again

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Lies, Damned Lies, And Banks: Deutsche Bank Caught Again

Deutsche Bank, long coddled by the German government, is mired in “matters” from Libor rate-rigging to carbon-trading tax-fraud. Now a new “matter” seeped out: the bank had known for years about the impact of commodities speculation on food prices and the havoc it wreaked on people in poor countries. And it lied about it to the German Parliament.

Self-Medicating With Watered-Down Bourbon: An Insidious Inflation

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Self-Medicating With Watered-Down Bourbon: An Insidious Inflation

We’ve had an endless series of products whose ingredients have been cheapened in order to maintain the price. Consumers won’t be able to taste the difference, the theory goes. So, as the horse-meat lasagna scandal in Europe is spiraling beautifully out of control, we’re now getting hit where it hurts: Maker’s Mark is watering down its bourbon.

Corporations Are Begging: We Need More Inflation!

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Corporations Are Begging: We Need More Inflation!

Hasbro, second largest toymaker in the US, confessed it would miss revenue estimates. Christmas wasn’t kind. Despite “double digit growth” in emerging markets, revenues fell by 2% for 2012 and by 3.8% for the quarter. Other corporations are in a similar predicament. But substantive inflation would have covered it up—not that the Fed hasn’t been trying.

Making Heroes of Those Who Slash Jobs

by Wolf Richter •  • 3 Comments

Especially of CEOs who parachute into the executive office. Wall Street’s knee-jerk reaction can be phenomenal. Citigroup’s massacre of 11,000 souls caused its stock to jump. But the same day, we learn that wages adjusted for inflation dropped 1.4% in the third quarter—a continuation of 12 years of declines that has hollowed out the middle class, pushed people into the lower classes, and devastated the poor.

From Horrid To Merely Dismal: Feeling Better About The New Reality

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on From Horrid To Merely Dismal: Feeling Better About The New Reality

The inexplicable American consumer, the strongest creature out there that no one has been able to subdue yet, has come to grips with a new reality, euphemistically called “New Normal,” though it isn’t normal by any means, but dismal. Feeling more upbeat, they nudged up the Consumer Confidence Index to a level not seen since February 2008—a level that caused people to tear their hair out at the time.