patrick.net

That's a Scumbag tax.

Our ecconomy is so fucked up, guys that would normally open a fabrication shop are venturing in to the food business. As a result now I was just thinking yesterday as I drove away with my pick up from Joe Knows Lunch.
A hole in the wall lunch counter, where I paid $8.99 for an 8 inch Italian, that was really two three inch slices. And my $4.00 order of steak fries. I was thinking.... "You know for the $15 plus tip that I paid for a sandwich made of old world peasant lunch meat, I could have gone to Capitol Grill and order the crab cakes. "

Food that's all there is in this admistration, how much money bisness novice can squeeze out of for a food concoction. While China beats the shit out of us in ever tech break through since this fuckstick took office.

But I bet they don't have Tuesday night Lunch Truck and Roach Coach gatherins.

It's amazing that there is an outlet for the author of this article and others like him to write this garbage.

tatupu70 says

write this garbage.

Leave patnetters out of this!

HEY YOU says

Thats a $160% increase since 2001

http://www.cnbc.com/id/42551209
Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure
Tuesday, 12 Apr 2011 | 5:18 PM ET

Inflation, using the reporting methodologies in place before 1980, hit an annual rate of 9.6 percent in February, according to the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter.

Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things. Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse, according to the calculations by the newsletter’s web site, Shadowstats.com.

“While the federal government would have us believe the numbers are rather tame, our own personal gauge leads us to believe inflation is running between 5 percent to 6 percent annually,” wrote Alan Newman in his latest Crosscurrents newsletter that refers to Williams’ statistics.

To be sure, the BLS argues that the changes it has made over the last three decades more accurately reflect a true change in the cost of living. For example, in response to its hedonic adjustments, the BLS web site states, “to measure price change accurately, the CPI must be able to distinguish the portion of price change due to this quality change.

Still, going by recent strong comments from Federal Reserve officials, even members of the central bank must believe inflation is being underreported. Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said in a speech last week that the central bank was reaching a “tipping point” as far as changing its policy so it can react to inflation. Maybe Fisher stumbled across Shadowstats.com. The voting member did, after all, mention Volcker in the same speech.

tatupu70 says

to write this garbage.

Exactly how is this garbage? I mean, if it were just the cost of the food ingredients at grocery store prices one could argue that it maybe only tracks food inflation. But when you figure in the truck and labor costs you are getting in things like gasoline, truck costs, insurance, regulations, advertising, etc, so it's not like it's really that bad of a calculation at all, even if it leaves out a few sectors of the economy.

Would you say the more famous Big Mac index is inaccurate as well?

zzyzzx says

Exactly how is this garbage?

Glad you asked. The author basically took the inflation rate--which is an AVERAGE and said the AVERAGE is wrong because some values are higher than the average!!??!!

I'd say the CPI and the burrito index are measuring two completely different things. And the Big Mac index is as well.

Not to mention his generous use of arbitrary endpoints to dramatize his results.

So what you are really saying is that the dramatic price increases of the tacos are really reflecting the dramatic price increases of the food truck operators Obamacare policy?

Now what would you say is a more accurate measure of inflation? I certainly don't believe the artificially low government calculated numbers,

#inflation #burrito #obamacare #obamasucks

I find it ridiculous that people don't just use their eyes.... You can plainly see that you have much less left over after doing the same things you did 10 years ago, right? How about 20 years ago? Can you feel the difference? Yet, when you look at your salary, even with increases, you seem to have less, today. Do you ever wonder what's going on? I had more disposable income making $30k in the early 1990s living in DC than the kids have now. I can see that. I can see that I had money to live in my own apartment -- by myself, own my own new car, buy groceries, clothes... go out once a week (movies, dinner, dancing). I could afford to live like a grown-up even in my early twenties... And 30-year-old "kids" today have to live at home. But I'm sure inflation is just a fantasy perpetrated by the right.

I'm sure this has nothing to do with your complaints.

That Burrito index seems pretty accurate. OTOH the price oil is half what it was.

zzyzzx says

So what you are really saying is that the dramatic price increases of the tacos are really reflecting the dramatic price increases of the food truck operators Obamacare policy?

Nope. Increases in health care costs have decreased under Obamacare, but I don't think that's a major effect on prices.

1. Food trucks have become much more popular:

http://nrn.com/archive/food-trucks-popularity-still-climbing
http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/food_trucks_popular_pop_up_businesses_are_gaining_traction
https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2013/08/03/food-trucks-surge-popularity-but-also-health-violations-and-suspended-permits/hhvLQnO3QoXNiOoQ9Wu1FO/story.html

More demand = higher prices (at least until supply catches up)

2. Food inflation has been higher than overall inflation.

zzyzzx says

Now what would you say is a more accurate measure of inflation? I certainly don't believe the artificially low government calculated numbers

Well, that's on you. The government numbers are correct.

turtledove says

I find it ridiculous that people don't just use their eyes.... You can plainly see that you have much less left over after doing the same things you did 10 years ago, right? How about 20 years ago? Can you feel the difference? Yet, when you look at your salary, even with increases, you seem to have less, today. Do you ever wonder what's going on? I had more disposable income making $30k in the early 1990s living in DC than the kids have now. I can see that. I can see that I had money to live in my own apartment -- by myself, own my own new car, buy groceries, clothes... go out once a week (movies, dinner, dancing). I could afford to live like a grown-up even in my early twenties... And 30-year-old "kids" today have to live at home. But I'm sure inflation is just a fantasy perpetrated by the right.

You are somewhat correct--you just don't understand what is really going on. Real incomes have been stagnant for 30 years, but it's not due to inflation! All of the productivity gains are going to the 1%. The US economy is growing faster than inflation. Total wages + capital gains is growing much faster than inflation. It's just that 80% of the population doesn't see any of it. The pie keeps growing, but the 1% eats the extra slice every year.

I'm a thinking that in addition to the increase in the money supply we are seeing more inflation lately in restaurants/food truck because of an increase in the wages. After all oil is at historic lows which is the usual culprit in inflation.

46 million Americans on food stamps.

1 out of 4 American children living below federal poverty line.

1 out of 3.7 people in United States receiving one or more direct assistance program subsidies on federal and/or state level (EBT, Aid to Families With Dependent Children; WIC; Medicaid; Medicare; SSI; Social Security; Home Heating/Electricity subsidies, etc, etc.).

54% of Americans receiving more in direct subsidies from government programs at federal and/or state level than they pay in taxes annually.

1/2 of all Americans paying no state or federal income taxes, even among those working, even including FICA (because of offsetting benefits received).

A cost of living/Real Inflation Index (with emphasis on housing costs, medical care, food, tuition, etc.) that is outpacing real wage increases by a 1.3x factor - including among those that make middle class wages and are college educated)-

The U.S. Government deficit spending (i.e. spending more than it receives in revenue) at a rate of 500 billion to 1.2 trillion on an annual basis, consistently, since the early 1970s, in constant (adjusted) dollars.

President Obama will have doubled the "official" government debt from 10 trillion to 20 trillion USD during his 8 years in office (with Republicans barely putting up a fight to Omnibus Spending) - an increase in the "official" debt equal to more than the accumulated increase under all other U.S. presidential administrations combined.

93 million Working-Age Americans not in full or even part-time jobs.

Structural rotting out of the economy whereby middle and working class jobs are being compressed in terms of raw numbers and in real wages, while the parasitic financialization of the economy (Financial Services, Insurance, Real Estate - highly susceptible to volatile demand swings) has literally replaced any semblance of high or medium-wage manufacturing employment.

The U.S. Is well and truly fucked.

Trump is a highly imperfect candidate but is raising these issues and rattling the establishment who are the kinds of people such as Warren Buffet and Mitt Romney who depend on 15% (or lower - see General Electric) effective tax rates while employing a rentier economic model (versus a production and net job creation economic model) that is highly subsidized by transfer tax credits from taxpayers at the state and federal level.

tatupu70 says

You are somewhat correct--you just don't understand what is really going on. Real incomes have been stagnant for 30 years, but it's not due to inflation! All of the productivity gains are going to the 1%. The US economy is growing faster than inflation. Total wages + capital gains is growing much faster than inflation. It's just that 80% of the population doesn't see any of it. The pie keeps growing, but the 1% eats the extra slice every year.

Amazing how many people just can't figure this out.

Ironman says

Because YOU say they have??

Got it!

No, because the source I quoted did.

Ironman says

You're right, I don't. Here's what happens when I go to your link:

Fixed the link.

Ironman says

and here is where their "study" gets taken apart and is incorrect:

There are different methodologies and conflicting results, as I said in my post.

Forbes is hardly an unbiased source, however.

Ironman says

But my link disputes the actual article you posted

Yes, and disputes doesn't equal refutes.