Bidenflation is back, not that it ever went away, with the so-called "core inflation" rate up in March for the third month in a row, according to data just released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.4% in March, making the annual inflation rate 3.5%. That's 0.3 percentage points higher than in February.
Jason Furman, former chair of President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisors, called the increase "very hot" and warned that the "numbers are not kind to the thesis that January was a seasonal anomaly."
Well, yeah. That's what happens when something keeps going up for three months in a row. Washington's expectation was that inflation would go back to cooling off, rather than heating back up.
The inflation numbers are worse than the expectations baked into Wall Street's numbers, too, based on the Dow Jones survey of economists. They're also yet another signal that the Fed won't cut interest rates three times this year, if at all. The markets haven't opened as I'm writing this sentence but I wouldn't be surprised if the Dow and NASDAQ throw conniption fits when they do open.
UPDATE: It's around 1 p.m. Eastern and the Dow and NASDAQ are, indeed wetting the bed. And now, back to the rest of the column as originally written.
Those of us who live and spend (and spend... and spend...) in the real world would like to have a sharp word or two with those expectations.
So how bad are things, really, here in the real world?
Let me tell you another patented VodkaPundit True Story™.
The details are all correct and I haven't even bothered to change the names because none of us were all that innocent.
Thirty-mumble years ago, I might have made a drunken 2 a.m. munchies run to the Safeway in Arcata, Calif., with my best friend, RJ, and the college girl roommates we were dating. RJ, for reasons best left unexplored, picked up a can of Libby's Potted Meat Food Product — and then dared me to read the label.
I can never resist a dare but, this once, I wish I had because "Partially defatted beef fatty tissue" are words seared into my brain to this day.
No, we did not buy or eat any of Libby's Potted Meat Food Product. We weren't that drunk. At 22 and working only part-time, we weren't even that broke.
But in Presidentish Joe Biden's America, canned meats are flying off the shelves like rarely before.
While the New York Post didn't mention Libby's Potted Meat Food Product by name, the paper did report on Tuesday that "demand for cheap canned meats like Spam and Vienna Sausages is surging," according to grocery chain execs.
“Spam is a regular item again,” Bronx grocery store owner Miguel Garcia told The Post. “I’m selling them at a discount now because I’m buying more.” He's even set up showcases at his Foodtown, Keyfood, and Met Foodmarket locations for inexpensive items like Spam, Libby’s Corned Beef, and Chef Boyardee Spaghetti & Meatballs because demand is up 10%.
Garcia said his average sale is now $15, down from $20 at the end of last year because customers are choosing cheaper items.
These are the expectations baked into the shopping habits of everyday Americans after three years of Bidenomics.
Recommended: What the Hell Was Tucker Carlson Thinking?
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