Not A Rant

TMC is busy today. I think I recently explained what ersatz means, right?

ps. Debt and the Deficit mean squat without inflation. Even Yellen admits that inflation is lower than Fed projections and far short of their goals.

(T)he Fed expects higher gross domestic product growth, a strong labor market and, hence, higher inflation in the coming years. Historically speaking, these trends have always been linked. But in recent years, something has changed. GDP growth now exceeds 2.5 percent annually. The official unemployment rate is at a generational low of 4.1 percent. But inflation? Despite forecasts from every stripe of economist, it simply hasn’t materialized. This past week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation is running at 1.7 percent, lower even than the slow pace that had been expected by the Fed and most economists at the beginning of the year.

That’s in the Washington Post, king of the Debt/Deficit Hawk sissies. Target inflation is 2%, on average, and it has rarely exceeded that even on a monthly basis and never over the course of a year since the Financial Crisis in 2007-8.

(A)lthough the official unemployment rate is low, there are still millions who are underemployed or out of the workforce, and hence the employment outlook in America isn’t quite as rosy as it appears.

True that. Why it suggests “while inflation has not yet returned, it’s only a matter of time, so it’s prudent for the Fed to take action now, gradually, while it can.” is reversion to the WaPo corporate norm.

The End. Period.