“The American Labor Movement has consistently demonstrated its devotion to the public interest. It is, and has been, good for all America.”
–John F. Kennedy
America’s unions celebrate their archaic past.
October 11, 2024 – Yesterday’s inflation read was “hot” by cumulative standards since 2021.
The rate of increase in inflation is down to pre-pandemic levels. Sure. But it’s still increasing on top of the higher prices reached in each of the past 4 years. How viewers let the financial media get away with reporting inflation is “over” is, umn, mind numbing.
Did the market care?
Of course not.
The Dow and S&P 500 hit another record close yesterday. And by 10:30 this morning, the Dow was ticking toward 43,000. The S&P 500 hundred topped 5,800. And Nasdaq skiffed off 18,300.
General consensus among traders, even if analysts disagree (ahem), the Fed is helping the economy sneak in a soft landing during the election season.
We remain skeptical. And listen to the ol’ timers.
“Once inflation gets started,” Paul Volcker once told us in typically underrated fasion “it’s very hard to stop.” Volcker, you’re no doubt aware, was the Fed chair famous for taming the inflation that plagued the US economy from 1965 to 1982.
We interviewed the gentleman for I.O.U.S.A., our passionate lament about the national debt nearly 20 years ago!
One only need look at the M2 supply of money to understand why inflation is hanging around and likely to continue to plague consumers, savers and other forgotten actors in the economy:
Each dollar printed out of thin air means the last one buys fewer goods. It’s a peculiar and much misunderstood man-made phenomenon economists call “inflation.”
After ticking down ever-so-slightly, the rate of inflation actually started to tick higher in recent months.
Alas, monetary policy is too complicated for the financial media to explain. So traders pick the data points that support their desire to buy stocks. And high frequency trading algorithms push the market higher.
Fun, if you’ve bought in at lower prices.
We forge onward with alternate concerns. What else, we wonder, could cause inflation to reassert itself…
Could is be the persistent misconception that the jobs market is healthy in spite of the Federal government’s election year hiring spree…?
An all out war brewing in the Middle East that could send oil soaring…?
A volatile hurricane season and rebuilding costs that drive building supplies more scarce and expensive…?
Each is a valid input in its own right in the “positive” feedback loop that helps to create higher prices for goods and services. In the 1970s, it was called the wage-price spiral.
Prices go up. Wages go up. Prices go up further. Wages go up…
We’re suspicious and suspect the Fed has given up the fight against inflation too soon. Further, they’ve caved to pressure from folks with ulterior motives than price stability of the nation’s “payment” currency: that little slip of paper in your sock drawer on it with George Washington’s etching on it.
Today, because it’s Friday and a good day for entertainment, we present another input behind today’s “sticky” inflation. Below James Hickman, a clever analyst of history, gives us a tongue-in-cheek aspiration for kids today. Enjoy ~~ Addison
Why I Want My Kids to Grow Up to Become Union Bosses
James Hickman, Schiff Sovereign
Like most kids, I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little. Then a fireman. Then a pirate. Then a movie star.
My parents were pretty traditional so they hoped I would grow up to become a doctor. This is pretty typical; after all, parents just want their kids to be financially secure.
I think about this a lot with my kids— both of whom are extremely young. I give a lot of thought to what their world will look like in 20 years given the seismic geopolitical and macroeconomic shifts taking place.
America’s status as the world’s sole superpower is dwindling before our very eyes. The dollar’s role as the dominant global reserve currency is rapidly waning. And the rise of AI and robotics promises to upend just about every occupation imaginable, including white collar professional jobs which currently require advanced, outrageously expensive university degrees.
As my kids grow and develop, my plan is to focus on developing traits that machines cannot emulate, like genuine creativity, leadership, risk tolerance, big picture thinking, and bold decisiveness.
AI is a powerful tool they should learn to harness. But it will not be their master. After all, there’s a reason Captain Kirk was in charge of the Enterprise and not Spock.
However in terms of what the landscape for jobs or business opportunities might look like in a couple of decades, that’s anyone’s guess. I have no idea what will be the lucrative industries in a world where AI is pervasive.
In fact the only occupation I can think of which will provide absolute financial security is that of a union boss.
I’m totally joking of course. But in all honesty, being a union boss certainly seems to provide a cushy lifestyle these days. And as long as there are delusional leftists in our midst, there will always be fat cat union bosses to steal from their constituents.
For example, on Friday we highlighted that the man in charge of the dockworkers union— which briefly went on strike last week— makes about a million dollar per year, lives in a mansion, and drives a Bentley.
He’s far from alone.
Stacy Davis Gates, the President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), pulls in nearly $300,000 per year.
Despite being in charge of the teacher’s union for Chicago public schools, though, she sends her child to a $16,000 per year private school.
As head of the union, Gates understands where the most important investments are made. The CTU is the largest single contributor to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s campaign fund.
Which is probably why Comrade Mayor Johnson routinely caves to the demands of the teachers union… including their newest demand for another massive (totally unaffordable) pay increase.
Bear in mind that the city has some of the worst performing schools in the country. It’s beyond outrageous.
And the CTU is against school choice; they want kids locked into attending the failing schools in their neighborhood, as opposed to giving parents the option to send their children to better schools elsewhere.
To add insult to injury, the school district already has a massive, bloated budget. The district’s total budget has increased over 97% since 2012. Yet over the same period, test scores in reading, math, and science have plummeted.
In other words, the more money the school district spends, the worse the outcome for the students.
The Chicago Teacher’s Union is totally oblivious to this reality, and they are now demanding more than $10 billion in new incentives and compensation… because they’ve clearly been doing such a great job.
Gates has already given the order to Comrade Mayor Johnson, so the wheels are in motion to bankrupt the city with CTU’s demands, and bankrupt the students’ future.
It’s pretty obvious that Ms. Gates is the one calling the shots in Chicago. Bear in mind, this is not an elected official. She’s a union boss. But she has the Comrade Mayor’s balls in her purse.
Not to be outdone, Gates’s counterpart at the national level is Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)— the second largest teachers union in America.
In 2022, she said that parents concerned about critical race theory and gender ideology in schools were spreading “misinformation,” and added, “This is the way in which wars start.’’
So according to Comrade Randi, being involved and concerned about what your children are being taught in schools is the moral equivalent of Pearl Harbor.
By the way, she makes about $500,000 per year, plus massive benefits and incentives. And she, too, has the ear of some of the most powerful politicians in the country, including President Jill Biden and her husband Joe.
There are so many more examples about the power of union bosses.
I wrote recently about how a steelworkers union boss was able to get Jill & Joe to kneecap a competitor— and eliminate billions of dollars being invested in the distressed American steel industry.
The head of the FTC, Lina “Ghengis” Khan, routinely cites union concerns as she goes after businesses, even though her charter is to protect consumers, not unions.
Is this how you protect democracy? By ignoring consumers, shareholders, parents, and voters, and taking orders from unions?
These types of unelected special interests are exactly what keeps the graft going, why the deficits keep rising, and why the national debt keeps increasing.
America is full of highly paid, out of touch union bosses who steal productivity, distort capitalism, and divert resources to their benefit.
Obviously they lie through their teeth and pretend that it’s all about protecting workers. But if that were true, wouldn’t ‘the workers’ already be so much better off because of all the great deals their unions have made?
Except workers are consistently worse off.
So their union bosses are either totally incompetent… or (and?) they’re totally full of shit and don’t actually care about the workers at all.
Probably both. The union bosses are in it for themselves— for the highly paid, cushy lifestyle where they’re never held accountable for their failures. They rake in absurd salaries and massive union revenue, then use the money to buy politicians.
It’s a horrendous circle where the unions keep corrupt politicians in office, then the corrupt politicians use their power to protect the union bosses.
How ironic that the so-called party of democracy is controlled by unelected, incompetent, corrupt union bosses.
And all this does is add to America’s already gigantic financial problems.
We’ll talk about those more in a couple of days when the Treasury’s annual financial report is published. ~~ James Hickman, Schiff Sovereign
So it goes,
Addison Wiggin,
Grey Swan
P.S. “I’ve been reading with substantial interest your reports since you recently began them,” writes the earnest Dean M. “Factual and timely, I’m waiting to pounce. I’m overweight in cash and am learning all I can about specific moves. Waiting for the hurricane to pass over us tonight to see how much clean-up we need before I can get down to business. Thanks a bunch.”
We’ve urged Dean to check out the recommendations on what to do when he exits his hurricane bunker – reserved for paid members the Grey Swan Investment Fraternity – here.
