All That Inflation Talk On CNBC Is Tedious -- February 28, 2023

A reader took exception to my comment that all the talk on inflation on CNBC is tedious.

My reply:

1. You are absolutely correct: we all see things through different filters.

2. I was just taken aback by the CNBC comment today about the high cost of transportation (to me it sounded like just another meme, another cliche). I had just come back from an early morning errand in which I had to drive, couldn't bike or walk (and no public transportation) and saw regular gasoline down to $2.58. That really surprised me, how fast the price of gasoline has dropped. Other readers have told me the price of gasoline is the #1 consumer item that Americans see every day.

3. But the more interesting story, as noted, is how "we all see things through different filters."

4. In addition to my "retirement" filter, my thickest (?) filter that of growing up in Williston -- six kids and my mom had literally "no" money on my dad's meager salary -- and somehow she managed, and managed quite well. So, that's my thickest (?) filter. All six kids are college graduates -- not an inconsequential expense for my parents.

5. My experience growing up in Williston contrasts with the lead story in The WSJ about credit card debt: https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2023/02/credit-card-debt-wsj-february-26-2023.html, at the link scroll down for the "Disney story."

6. At most, we took one vacation a year (to the Black Hills) and some years we didn't even get that vacation.

7. So, yes, inflation is there. But inflation is only one aspect of one's life.

8. Home sales? Home sales jumped by the most since June 2020: https://themilliondollarway.blogspot.com/2023/02/without-comment-home-sales-and.html.

9. I'll post another graphic (sometime this week if the spirit moves me) that helps me put things in perspective.

10. By the way, it seems that every guest on CNBC -- successful CEOs -- today have started to pivot. While typing this CNBC is on in the background. "All" have said that a "recession" looks a lot less likely and inflation has come down significantly since the high-water mark of 9% last summer.

11. But, yes, my perspective -- through my life filters -- are different from others.

12. Oh, I almost forgot -- one of my biggest filters -- living in a very, very pro-growth state and a state that seems to exhibit incredible growth. That has to affect my outlook, compared to living in downtown Detroit. On top of that, I'm living in one of the most vibrant areas of Texas, two (?) miles west of DFW in an area called the Golden Triangle

13. Wow, I can't quit. Another huge filter was my summer job as a college student selling dictionaries door-to-door in a NYC suburb. I have never had a tougher summer .....

14. All those filters affect my perspective on the American economy. And I haven't even gotten to the "active duty military" filters -- but that gets far afield ...

15. Anyway, I'm on way to the pool ...

Later: random thoughts --

• grandparents who lived through the great depresssion
• grandparents who lived through two world wars, a great depression, and the Spanish flu
• parents who lived through one world war, two pandemics (Spanish flu and Covid)
• contemporaries who "lived" through Vietnam, Richard Nixon, and Jimmy Carter
• contemporaries who lived through the high-inflation years, 1974 - 1981 (or whenever they were)
• all this talk of inflation is tedious

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