More on recent jobs number kerfuffle (the bottom line is, real incomes are down) + our global deflationary spiral means no new competition for monopoly pricing in food and energy

Fewer Nonfarm Employees Now Than December 2000; Unemployment Rate: Some Things Still Don’t Add Up; Obamanomics?

I will stick with what I have said on many occasions “People are dropping out of the labor force at an astounding, almost unbelievable rate, holding the unemployment rate artificially low.”

The reason is not a recount based on the 2010 census, nor is it purely demographics, nor is it Obamanomics. The reason is severe and sustained fundamental economic weakness, coupled with existing purposely-distorted definitions of what constitutes “unemployment”.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock

What people like Barry Ritholtz are overlooking is the impact of virtual currencies like Zynga and FB Credits. FB has 800 mn. people ‘working’ – but for less than $2 day. Does it makes sense to include these people as ‘employed.’ Similarly in the US, the raw data for the numbers of people working or not working is immaterial when you consider the US dollar is losing purchasing power against food and energy costs every day. These price increases by the way are not ‘inflation.’ Inflation is when interest rates and wages are rising. Clearly that is not the case. We are in a powerful deflation of lower interest rates and lower wages. AGW and Peak Oil – and the scarcity of food and energy due to AGW and Peak Oil – are driving up prices for food and energy and the deflationary freezing of credit means that no new competition to replace current food and energy monopolies can exist. Food, energy, Gold and Silver have become hard currencies in a world diving deeper into deflation.

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4 Responses to More on recent jobs number kerfuffle (the bottom line is, real incomes are down) + our global deflationary spiral means no new competition for monopoly pricing in food and energy

Jayme | February 7, 2012 at 8:33 am |

“purposely-distorted definitions”

Too many lies and their companion, fraud.
Dylan | February 7, 2012 at 11:46 am |

“These price increases by the way are not ‘inflation.’ Inflation is when interest rates and wages are rising. Clearly that is not the case. We are in a powerful deflation of lower interest rates and lower wages.”

I thought inflation was simply an increase in the units of currency in circulation. Lower interest rates are going to lead to MORE credit which leads to MORE units in circulation i.e. inflation.
Isn`t deflation simply the opposite of that?

In my view the price increases are a direct consequence of increased currency in circulation. Now how can that be if wages are going down? Because wage induced price increases are a lie spun by the vested interests in order to justify wage-slavery and to cover-up their counterfeiting and siphoning off stolen digits into their own unregulated, offshore accounts.
This stolen wealth is used to speculate on commodity prices driving the prices up. It`s the 1% that cause price increases, not the slaves. AGW and Peak Oil is their EXCUSE for RAPE and PILLAGE by STEALTH. The reason we don`t have hyper increases in prices (yet) is because these stolen digits have not been fully deployed.
Most of the arguments around this inflation/deflation debate are simply semantic. Gold and Silver prices go up in inflation but DOWN in deflation. They are going up now, hence we are in an inflationary environment. People`s cost of living is going up as result of being screwed both ways – wage decrease – price increase what do you call that? Inflation or Deflation? Neither, I call it RAPE.
R. Freiherr von Wackendonk j. Linie | February 7, 2012 at 5:28 pm |

I thought we’re well past college textbook definitions of inflation/deflation. The simple fact is, there is both inflation and deflation working their evils simultaneously.

Ask anyone who’s lived through inflation and they’ll telll you, wages get inflated LAST. In Russia in the 1990′s, a weekly paycheck was in the millions and was NEVER enough to pay for a week’s worth of food. Nevermind other bills. Price hikes exceeded wage hikes continuously, until bank reform and revaluation took place in 1998. And the revaluation took place over a course of TWO days: TWO days to turn over the old worthless crap for new Rubles that showed some signs of stability.

Now, the so-called Progressives fear deflation most, claiming Bruening’s deflation of 1931 was far worse than the Cuno/Streseman inflation of 1923, but that’s probably to salve their insatiable desire for state monetarism over bank monetarism. “Bruening’s deflation gave us Hitler, while Streseman’s inflation gave us wheelbarrows of cash” makes light of the intense trauma inflicted on the middle class, who lost everything overnight. They used the next seven years to scrape together a new living, only to see Bruening’s deflation drag it all down again, albeit slowly.

Inflation or deflation. Its all the same in the end: consumers getting buried.
Dylan | February 7, 2012 at 7:23 pm |

On the contrary, we need to return to the basics. Just because inflation and deflation can occur simultaneously doesn`t invalidate the original definitions. It`s who experiences what that makes all the difference.
Deflation = Decrease in Moolah for the masses (99 %)
Inflation = Increase in Moolah for the elites (1%) who use it to buy up commodities leading to price increases – the consequence of inflation
This wealth differential is what keeps the pyramid intact and always has.

Webster’s 1983 Definition of Inflation
“An increase in the amount of currency in circulation, resulting in a relatively sharp and sudden fall in its value and rise in prices: it may be caused by an increase in the volume of paper money issued or of gold mined, or a relative increase in expenditures as when the supply of goods fails to meet the demand.”

Webster’s 2000 Definition of Inflation
“2) A persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or a persistent decline in the purchasing power of money, caused by an increase in available currency and credit beyond the proportion of available goods and services.”