Inflation watch, and a warning from Michael Yon

 

First, since "a picture is worth a thousand words", here's inflation as reflected in the price of gold.  (Click any image for a larger view.)

Makes you think, doesn't it?

Next, the price of Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup from 1898 to date.  It also speaks volumes.

The White House is starting to wake up to inflationary reality.  According to the Daily Mail, it's "quietly met with economists fearing inflation could last YEARS - not months - despite publicly saying it would be a 'temporary bottleneck' after the largest surge in prices in 13 years".

Wolf Richter points out that consumers are going along with the inflationary spiral, and not resisting it - at least in the auto sector.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis.

These enormous profits on a per-vehicle basis document the explosion in prices that dealers were able to get their customers to agree to pay; and they blew away the input cost increases that dealers faced.

And the fact that customers threw decades of training into the wind and just laid down and paid whatever when they didn’t even have to buy a vehicle, and could have just waited a year or two until this craziness blows over, shows just how broken the vehicle market is, and how broken ultimately the customers are. With this kind of attitude that price doesn’t matter, inflation has become ingrained in the mindset.

If enough customers had refused to pay those prices, and just kept driving what they already had, sales would have dropped, and inventories would have built up until dealers start cutting prices and making deals. But that didn’t happen. Customers eagerly played along with the worst outbreak of inflation in four decades.

There's more at the link.

Finally, Michael Yon has some urgent advice that I fully endorse.  He's not just worried about inflation alone, of course - we saw another warning from him earlier this year - but these preparations serve just as well to protect us in a high-inflation environment.

Food prices will continue to rise — 90 percent chance, according to me. Remember that I started beating this drum hard in January 2020 and this proved true just months later.

HIGHLY suggest you stock up on all things you need to stay home for extended periods.

Do NOT tell others you are prepping.

If you live around smart people who are prepared, your risks are much lower. If you live around people who are taking inventory of preppers — YOU are their backup plan.

I use a Berkey water-filter for home, and a Katadyn pocket filter for travel. Prices for both shot up since I started warning in January 2020.

Remember that when water goes out, toilets do not work.

Everyone’s conditions are different. Some live in condos in Manhattan. Others live in distant areas with clear mountain streams, or on islands, in deserts, and so on. Everyone has their own circumstance. Everyone needs food and water.

Stock up on needed medications. I warned of this in January 2020. Much of our pharmaceuticals come from China. After I warned, CCP threatened to cut off America ... Stock up.

. . .

Not end of times. Just stormy weather ahead. We will get through. But being prepared makes things much easier.

. . .

Serious storms ahead.

Again, more at the link.

With all these warning signs flashing everywhere we look, nobody will be able to excuse themselves because "I didn't know!"  It's as plain as the nose on your face.  If we don't prepare, and are caught short, we have only ourselves to blame.  Preparations don't have to involve luxuries, or things we can't afford.  A diet of rice and beans is undoubtedly boring, but it's cheap, and nutritious enough to keep us alive, no matter how tired we may get of it.  You can pile up a year's supply of rice and beans for a family of four for under $200 right now, if you buy in bulk from big-box stores.  In a few months' time, who knows what it'll cost - or whether it'll be available.

Peter