I agree. Petrol has inflationary/deflationary characteristics. The petrol dollar is a real thing and the markets are controlled by OPEC. Commodities share similar characteristics, which is why some metals are used as money.
Sure there is still antitrust issues to be vigilant about. I'm gratified that the Biden Admin has been more muscular about it than most Admin's I've been through. But I don't buy the premise that consolidations have gotten so bad that we broke capitalism.
This is a thing too: Projected water levels at the largest and most important artificial freshwater lake that makes passage through the Panama Canal possible are at their lowest in the last five years since the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) began recording data in 1965. For 2024, water levels in March and April at Gatun Lake are projected to be lower than the start of the year, at only 80 feet in March and 79 feet in April. These historically low levels have forced the ACP to reduce daily traffic in the canal from 36 to 24 vessels and limit the allowable draft size. These limitations are affecting energy product carriers, container vessels, and ships transporting grain from the United States. The fall in water levels has been attributed to less rainfall in the Amazon rainforest, which was hit by the worst drought in its recorded history in 2023. The effects of the El Niño climate pattern, which normally causes drought on South America’s Pacific Coast, is likely to also be a main cause of dry conditions in Panama. More broadly, climate change and deforestation in the area are also causing the lake to dry up. https://www.piie.com/research/piie-...-lower-water-levels-imperil-panama-canal-2024
inflation is expansion of the money supply higher prices are always consequence of inflation, but there can be other causes of higher prices as well
OK. Bridge the gap for me Take Corporate Greed out of the Equation How are we having record inflation and record corporate profits at the same time? Theoretically If Cost goes up . .. the prices go up but the profits should stay about the same yet that is not happening Cost goes up 5 cents because of inflation . . .. but by using inflation as a boogeyman . . .. price rises by 25 cents meaning profits rise by 20 cents Rocket River
