Food Prices Rise Again
According to this article on CNBC, food prices continue to rise and the Biden Administration is unsuccessfully trying to stop them by using antitrust laws. The price increase, however, are not caused only by monopolies, but by supply chain disruptions and transportation costs. Plus, any student of history knows that laws controlling prices exacerbate shortages rather than relieve them.
Producer Inflation Rises a Record 8.3 Percent
The prices producers pay for goods and services jumped 8.3 percent between August 2020 and 2121, the most since creation of this data point. Producers either have to absorb the costs, which means lower profits, or pass them on to the consumer in higher prices. Most pick a point in the middle until economic pressures force them to raise consumer prices. Higher producer inflation is a sign that the inflation you and I see in the stores is not going away.
Energy Prices Soar in Europe Foretelling Problems in U.S.
Europe, which relies more heavily than the U.S. on wind power for electricity generation, saw prices soar this weekend as the wind stopped blowing. According to this article, the slowdown “whipsawed through regional energy markets.” The sudden need to start gas and coal plants drove gas costs to all-time highs, which is shocking considering that it is not winter heating season. Electricity prices in the UK, where wind generates a quarter of their electricity, rose to $395 per megawatt hour, more than three times what I am paying.
This is the future we all face if Democrats continue to replace coal and nuclear plants with so-called green energy. The wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine, and even rivers dry up, but you can be sure coal will always burn.
Video of the Day
In this video, rancher Greg Judy talks about how he built his ranching business while working a full-time job at a factory in town. It wasn’t easy working for himself nights and weekends, but by the age of 50, he was living his dream and ranching full time. While Greg tells how he became a rancher, the lessons he learned and the processes he used will work for someone who want to become a homesteader or move out of the city. I hope you will find it inspirational.
