However I DEFNINTELY think that the reduced cost of gasoline resulting from it should be backed out of CPI.
Companies do such things with GAAP accounting.
The BLS does such things with “seasonal adjustments.”
I think it is deceptive to lower the appearance of inflation by selling off something we will later refill. Adjustments to the reported-numbers should be made and they are not. (Oh boy!!! Nerd fight!!)
From second article
Feb 13 (Reuters) - The Biden administration said on Monday it is selling 26 million barrels of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, a release that had been mandated by Congress in previous years.
The U.S. Department of Energy had considered cancelling the fiscal year 2023 sale of the 26 million barrels after the Biden administration last year sold a record 180 million barrels from the reserve. But such a cancellation would have required Congress to act.
We are draining the last of the SPR and exhausting stocks of ammunition, yet we are trying to provoke WW3 in the Pacific and Europe simultaneously. What kind of stupid is that?
Ukraine’s ammunition shortages were “acute”, a senior western intelligence official told the Financial Times, adding that the speed of western supplies would be critical to the outcome of Russia’s attempt to regain the initiative in the war.
Kyiv’s forces are estimated to be firing more than 5,000 artillery rounds every day — equal to a smaller European country’s orders in an entire year in peacetime. Russia is estimated to be firing four times that amount each day as it seeks to gain territory in the east of the country and deploy tens of thousands of newly trained conscripts in the war. Ukraine Short On Ammo With Russia Gaining, Despite West's Billions, Stoltenberg Admits | ZeroHedge
Even the Pentagon is admitting that a negotiated settlement in Ukraine is in America’s best interest. The US has drained the SPR to support NATO sanctions against Russia, but the sanctions have hurt NATO countries far more than they have hurt Russia.
Continued escalation is the Anti-American spew. What is good for war-crazed neocons and elements of the military-industrial complex is not necessarily good for America.
Uh no.
That ws from a thread about a Rand Opinion.
I can post an opinion form CATO and form Brookings.
Should Inc falsely call them Pentagon opinions too?
What how about one from the Communist Party USA.
If they come up with an opinion can I call that an Pentagon opinion?
That is what you did.
You see, the problem with having an anti-American opinion like yours is that you have to fabricate evidence because there is zero truthful evidence to support your ideas.
The SPR was drained to give cover to the Biden administration politically. That is an act that this country will pay for later at higher prices to refill the reserve, but lets not confuse it directly with Ukraine. It is a political act.
Agreed.
I am not categorically opposed to selling from the SPR now. (I am against it but I’d need more information before getting on my high horse.)
I DO however think that folks at the BLS should not pretend they don’t see this when reporting CPI numbers and folks at the Fed should not pretend they don’t see it when they decide on interest rates.
Not exactly.
Food and energy are in CPI but (for two reasons) they are not in the “core” CPI.
The Fed might be right to focus on core CPI . . . but lately even that is not working out so well for them so J Powell has coined a new term.
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wait for it
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“Super core” CPI.
LOL (I am not making this up.)
I understand that they have altered the CPI calculation to give more weight to housing. Of course, many retired people have paid up housing and this is not an expense for them. Now if we are nearing the top of the housing bubble again, expect housing prices to go down.
Actually, an ingenious way to put social security “on the chopping block” while claiming that is what others want to do.
Rand is the leading think tank connected to the Pentagon, and even they say a negotiated interest is in America’s best interest. Mindlessly continuing escalation is anti-American at this point.
Continuing to draw down the SPR to support the NATO proxy war is risking permanent damage to the caverns used in the facility. Consider recent information demanded by a Republican Senator and Congressman:
Please describe all damage and increased maintenance requirements, including well remediation, cavern closure, and both pipeline and pump replacements, that has occurred as a result of the drawdown.
Have any SPR caverns collapsed or been closed temporarily or permanently as a result of the recent drawdowns? Does the Biden administration intend to close down any caverns or sites as a result of the SPR’s depletion? If so, which ones and over what time period? Barrasso, Rodgers Press DOE about Damage Caused by Biden’s SPR Drawdown - U.S. S...
