"Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."
"The dog did nothing in the night-time."
"That was the curious incident."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, "Silver Blaze"
Over the past few weeks (Months? Years? Goodness how the time slips away), Justice and I have gone on at some length as to how, when and why Washington's loose fiscal habits will inevitably induce inflation.
And yet, recent headlines would seem to put the lie to this concept. Washington reports that despite all the billions in stimulus monies it has been pumping out, wholesale prices only rose some 0.2% in April, while consumer prices rose a mere 0.1%.
Needless to say, the Fed jumped all over this ostensible lack of inflation at its most recent FOMC meeting, claiming that there was no reason whatsoever to raise target interest rates above their current range (0% to 0.25%).
Something doesn't quite add up. If the murderer is in the house, why isn't the dog barking?
Because the murderer is coming, but he's not quite here yet.
How Can You Tell When a Politician Is Lying?
Earlier this year, state governors across the country told Washington that if they didn't pony up some serious cash, they would have to start doing the kind of stuff that seriously ticks off voters, like firing cops, teachers and ambulance drivers.
We're not just talking old-line rust belt states either. For years, big, rich states (with lots and lots of voters) like California and New York had been living high on the hog off income and property taxes.
Washington begged them not to act in such a precipitous (read as unpopular) fashion. "Keep those teachers and firefighters on the job, and we'll send you whopping big stimulus checks." With that IOU under their belts, both Washington and the governors immediately called press conferences to brag about how many voters' jobs they had just saved!
You'd think that anyone who has successfully run for statewide office would know the difference between reality and a politician's promise.
Going for Broke
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