Government says Inflation in the U.S. Rose 4.1 Percent in 2007, the Highest Increase in 17 Years

[sabra]

Source: ABC News

GOVERNMENT SAYS INFLATION IN THE U.S. ROSE 4.1 PERCENT IN 2007, THE HIGHEST INCREASE IN 17 YEARS

Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/

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[Uben]

1. Yep

First time since his daddy was in office.

Bushes are bad for America

[rsmith6621]

2. 17 Years Ago....

...ironically....another bush was in the White House..

[mainegreen]

3. 4.1%? Lies by omission.

The inflation you and I experience is much higher.

[raccoon]

7. Yep. Inflation is way understated. nt

[Bonobo]

21. Hell yes!

Health Insurance, Milk, Gas, Eggs, Oil, Electricity -no f-ing way it was 4.1%.

[endarkenment]

4. Government lies about inflation, ignores real costs.

Hey but dvd players are cheaper than ever! Never mind that gas, food, housing, health, tuition etc are rising at 3x the official rate.

[Warpy]

5. Yeah, triple that number and you'll see what most of us

in everyday land of working, gassing up the car, buying groceries, and paying the bills like insurance and lights and heat have seen. Hell, for some of us, you can quadruple it.

Guess where wages have gone.

These pigs are about to learn a very hard lesson: you can stay in business with a low profit margin. You can't stay in business without customers.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

6. Social Security recipients will receive a 2.3% cola screw job this year.

The most vulnerable segment of our society with a median income of less than $17,000 a year this will be very harmful for them. They will be pounded by higher energy and food costs. Shame on our government and fuck the ruling class.

[raccoon]

8. I'm sorry to hear that, but lots of working people don't even get a COLA increase. nt

[hedgehog]

11. Are you buying into the divide and conquer notion? nt

[raccoon]

14. No, I'm just pointing out that not all working people get COLA raises. nt

[hedgehog]

15. That's why we need an automatic increase in the minimum wage . nt

[raccoon]

17. Yes, we do. nt

[CountAllVotes]

23. my friend got a whole $8 more a month

after the Medicare increase was deducted and you are jealous of that $8.00 are you?

:kick:

[peace13]

9. As bad as they say it is the real number would be staggering.

My health insurance alone went up 35% this year and that was after it went up 20% last year, go figure. Gas at $3.19 a gallon multiplied by everything that has to be transported puts the true number somewhere in the clouds. peace, Kim

[spotbird]

22. Does anyone report the real number? nt

[live love laugh]

29. Absolutely. They have a fondness for undercounting when it makes them look bad...

like in Katrina, Iraq and .... inflations and recessions--among other things.

[liberal N proud]

10. And the Republicons will claim that a Republicon president doesn't effect the economy

How many recessions and how many inflationary periods will we have to endure before there is enough proof?

[underpants]

12. Inflation rate is worst in 17 years

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed the inflation rate up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas. Meanwhile, industrial output was flat in December, more evidence of a significant slowdown in the economy.

Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.

In a second report, the Federal Reserve said that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities showed no growth in December, adding to a string of weak economic reports showing that the economy was slowing at the end of last year.

The CPI report showed that the 4.1 percent increase in overall prices was the biggest since a 6.1 percent jump in prices in 1990.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080116/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy

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Clearly this is all a hangover from the Carter administration :sarcasm:

[midlife_mo_Jo]

13. Really sucks.

The price of everything around me is climbing, except the price of my house. I wouldn't mind a little more equity in it. :) (I don't live in an area with very high home prices. )

[Tiberius]

18. Even if you believe the inflation numbers...

... and I personally don't (I think it's much higher) - note the very last sentence of the Yahoo article:

"Workers' wages failed to keep up with the higher inflation. Average weekly earnings, after adjusting for inflation, dropped by 0.9 percent in 2007, the biggest setback since a 1.5 percent fall in 2005."

I wonder what happened to the top 1% of wage earners... something tells me they are still doing very well. The stratification of America continues.

[Orsino]

16. The bill is coming due.

And the Dem majority has ignored it. Let's save a share of the blame for them, too.

[TomClash]

19. This looks like the stagflation of the late 70s

Sluggish growth and higher costs - holding the line on rates in 2006 was just the answer, wasn't it?

[hedgehog]

20. Anybody else here old enough to remember stagflation?

Jimmy Carter got the rap for that, but I always thought it started when Nixon repealed the usury laws and interest rates went out of sight. It takes a while for the effect to really kick in and take hold. What we're seeing now is the effect of Bush's economic policies, right on schedule.

[jaybeat]

24. Daggum, you beat me to it!

Stagflation! I remember it well. It sucked.

Even worse was how Ronnie Boy hoodwinked voters into thinking that cutting taxes on the rich, and government benefits for everyone else (well, except for defense contractors), plus union busting, would somehow "fix" this. Damn we sure can be stupid some times.

Just what we need now, too. Another excuse for the Fedsters to keep interest rates high (since the Fed's #1 duty, according to the Gospel of Greenscum, is to nip inflation in the bud, so as to keep wages from going up and hurting corporate profits), further squeezing people who work for a living. (As opposed to those who make a living off of other people's work.)

Inflation will also screw our trade balance even more, but it might postpone China and the Gulf States from dumping too many dollars, if interest rates go up.

Pick your poison!

[devilgrrl]

25. Inflation Rate Is Worst in 17 Years

Source: Associated Press

Inflation Rate Is Worst in 17 Years
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER (AP Economics Writer)
From Associated Press
January 16, 2008 12:57 PM EST

WASHINGTON - Higher costs for energy and food last year pushed inflation up by the largest amount in 17 years, even though prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas. Meanwhile, industrial output was flat in December, more evidence of a significant slowdown in the economy.

Consumer prices rose by 4.1 percent for all of 2007, up sharply from a 2.5 percent increase in 2006, the Labor Department said Wednesday. Consumers felt the pain when they filled up their gas tanks or shopped for groceries. Prices for both energy and food shot up by the largest amount since 1990.

In a second report, the Federal Reserve said that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities showed no growth in December, adding to a string of weak economic reports showing that the economy was slowing at the end of last year.

That weakness has shown up in the biggest one-month jump in unemployment since the 2001 terrorist attacks and billions of dollars in losses at many of the country's biggest financial institutions. Citigroup Inc. reported Tuesday it had suffered a $10 billion loss for the last three months of 2007, reflecting bad bets on investments backed by subprime mortgages.

Read more: http://enews.earthlink.net/article/top?guid=20080116/478d8f50_3ca6_1552620080116-751894835

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:popcorn:

[qanda]

26. "prices generally remained tame outside of those two areas"

So, if you don't need food or heat you'll be okay.

[Doctor_J]

27. Since no one has any money, who cares what it can buy?

I am trying to think like a Repuke.

[cosmicdot]

28. link to ABC article

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=4142001