It's Inflation, Stupid - Michael Busler #5324

Summary: We are currently experiencing the highest inflation we’ve seen in about 30 years, and I sit down and chat with Michael Busler to discuss some of the factors that have played into this. This is something that we experienced back in the 70s, and it is likely here to stay. Inflation is manifesting in a number of areas including energy and working wages—fueled by supply chain shortages and people leaving the workforce to receive money from the government. Something has to give, and we must show resistance to increasing prices if we want to avoid further damage to the economy.

Highlights: -Is Build Back Better going to happen? We have inflation, an infrastructure bill, and a lot of other factors -This is the highest inflation we’ve seen in about 30 years -The Biden administration and the Federal Reserve say that it will go away—but this is not necessarily true -They want the price of fossil fuels to increase, and have carried this out by restricting the supply -Energy prices are going to rise in these conditions—manufacturers are also paying more to get energy -Energy inflation is here to stay -Wage inflation is also a major problem—3 million workers left the job market during COVID and are not returning -Businesses had to raise the starting wage of these workers to get them back, and had to raise them for other workers as well -The government has spend $6 million more than they’ve brought in in tax revenue in the last 2 years -These things should not be passed at this time since we’re already in a hole -Even when the supply chain issue is resolved, there are still number of other things causing inflation -We could end up having stagflation, which we haven’t seen since the late 1970s -The 70s was a great time to be a debtor -As long as people keep receiving free money, they start to expect it. This mindset doesn’t help with the labor shortage -Stock prices will usually go up more than the inflation rate -When you see prices go up, don’t automatically pay the..