We are constantly told that the American consumer's balance sheet is in great shape.
See here and here for that.
The mainstream media and Joe Biden's minions claim this because jobs are coming back, the massive slush funds from the government are flowing, and student loan borrowers haven't had to make payments for years.
Isn't it odd then, that consumers are raising credit card and mortgage borrowing rapidly?
Household debt soars at fastest pace in 15 years as credit card use surges, Fed report says
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Could it be that Americans are having to borrow because of high inflation and because real wages have been declining since Biden took office?
It's not just the economy.
The adults in the room at the White House, as their allies call them, and in one-party blue cities, support no-bail laws as well as not prosecuting retail theft if it is below certain thresholds -- $950 in California, for example. They also support and elect district attorneys who let career criminals roam the streets.
I wonder what could go wrong.
The following article is just the tip of the iceberg about that:
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Target: 'Organized retail crime' drove astounding $400 million loss in profits this year
Target reported organized retail theft has cost them $400 million this year alone and just yesterday their CFO said he expected that number to rise by year's end.
According to CNBC:
The chief financial officer of Target Corp. said Wednesday that theft has hurt the retail giant’s gross profit margin.
CFO Michael Fiddelke, speaking during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, said a factor affecting Target’s gross margin is "inventory shortage, or shrink, which is a growing problem facing all retailers."
Retailers use the term "shrink" to describe theft.
"At Target, year to date, incremental shortage has already reduced our gross margin by more than $400 million versus last year, and we expect to reduce our gross margin by more than $600 million for the full year," he said.
...and...
Target said it generated $26.52 billion in total third-quarter revenue, a 3.4% increase from the same period in 2021 when the retail giant reported $25.65 billion. Its net earnings narrowed 52% from $1.49 billion to $712 million.
When retail stores are robbed blind, they are forced to raise prices on everyone else, which causes inflation. Or they may just close stores which takes away choice for consumers and reduces jobs, many in needy neighborhoods.
Could it be that jobs are harder to fill and labor participation rates are lower among some workers because it is much more lucrative to steal if there are essentially no consequences?
The thieves get their stuff for free and in many cases resell the products at a 100% markup.
Most of these thieves certainly don't report their sales and profits, so they don't pay self-employment taxes, nor state and federal income taxes.
Since they don't show income, they probably get free health care, food stamps, housing subsidies, and other benefits.
Joe Biden and his White House crew are now bragging that their policies are bringing inflation rates down.
Inflation percentages were always going to decline naturally because they can't go to infinity when real wages are declining and borrowing hits a ceiling
These so-called adults in the room have set out to destroy industries that produce affordable and reliable energy yet they claim they are not responsible for high inflation while taking credit when price-percentage increases decline.
Here are prices of a few energy products on the day Biden won election and today.
Crude oil $40 per barrel in January 2021, now $84, up over 110% today.
Natural gas: $2.39 in January 2021, now $5.66, up over 130% today.
Retail diesel fuel: $2.39 then, now $5.21, up over 110% today.
Retail gasoline: $2.25 then, now $3.93, up over 110% today.
Energy prices flow through the entire economy and have caused massive price rises.
Even if prices level off, how long would it take for real wages to catch up?
Of course, prices won't level off because the high inflation hasn't caused the adults in the room to reverse their policies to destroy industries that produce energy. Maybe the adults could explain how the U.S is so cold this week and when the northeast is getting record snows if all the things that they say cause warming actually did.
Democrats’ solution to high energy prices is to have people who are already borrowing money to pay bills borrow more to buy expensive, inefficient, impractical cars powered by a highly flammable pollutant.
I wonder why that won’t work.
Democrats want to expand Roe v. Wade to abortion through all nine months but then say we need to make all illegal immigrants legal because we are short of people. Somehow these same people who want more illegals don’t care that we will be short of energy and clearly don’t care about the harm their policies cause. On a side note: Shouldn’t the Democrats pay back the $40 million in contributions that the crypto conman from FTX lost in his ponzi scheme? The only bigger donor to Democrats than that guy is George Soros, a convicted felon in France. Democrats have low standards. My description of crypto currencies is that they are created out of thin air, are backed by thin air, and disappear into thin air. Government policy of keeping interest rates near zero encouraged investors to buy junk assets like crypto currencies. Democrats can take a bow for that, too.