Re: Yikes! Diesel $4.50/gallon

I guess gasoline was cheaper in Kalamazoo at times than the national
average.  We moved to western Montana in 1973 from Kalamazoo, and the
price of gas at the little general store on the highway was 36.9,
which seemed high, and it was there that my wife, who was working at a
local cafe, started hearing that gas was going to go to $1 a gallon!

Gold was $35 an ounce until around that time too.  As you know, it's
over $1000 an ounce now.

So we probably should be framing this discussion in terms of the value
of the dollar.  I think the total U.S. indebtedness right now is
something like $49 trillion, up from $11 trillion at the start of
Reaganism, so crank up the printing presses and launch the
helicopters!  Was it Bernanke who suggested we could avoid a repeat of
the Depression by dropping bales of cash from helicopters to make sure
the economy kept afloat?

They better use semi trailers or print large bills if they want to
distribute $49 trillion.  Or maybe boxcars.  I personally would prefer
electronic direct deposit, in case you're listening Big Brother.

I just ordered "Bad Money" by Kevin Phillips yesterday.  It's an
analysis of how the books have been cooked to overestimate growth and
underestimate inflation for so long that you just can't trust the
numbers.  He argues that Social Security checks are 70% less than they
should be because of manipulations like taking food, fuel and housing
out of the inflation calculations.

When you remove fuel, housing and food from the inflation figures and
they skyrocket, it distorts growth numbers, so you can have negative
growth in reality but "no recession" officially.  That seems to be the
situation we are experiencing now.
Phillips has an article in the May issue of Harper's Magazine
outlining the arguments from his new book.