January 2011
3 posts
Stagflation anyone?
This combination of still-subdued activity and high raw material prices illustrates a wider truth; that America is no longer the price-setter for these products. Now it is Asia. One of the side-benefits of past US slowdowns was that commodity prices would fall, acting as a tax cut for consumers. But now consumer budgets are being squeezed at a time when unemployment is still high and wage rises...
O' Inflation Where Art Thou?
Leaders in Brazil and other countries complain that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decision to pump $600 billion into the economy promotes commodity inflation and asset bubbles by weakening the dollar. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday the stimulus measure wasn’t adding to inflation. A better-than-expected recovery in the U.S. could fuel inflation by sending a jolt...
Balance of Trade Stats don't tell the whole...
In the case of the iPhone, Messrs. Xing and Detert note that the device was invented in America by an American company, Apple. The components are manufactured, either inside or out of China, by companies based in several other countries. The only part of the entire process that is unambiguously “Chinese” is the final assembly—a process that, in the estimation of Messrs. Xing and...