Inflation

My reply to James, since he does not allow comments on his blog:

Is the Government lying about inflation ?

No.

It is true that some things have gone up more that 2%, which is the Bank of Canada's target rate. Orange juice is one. I used to buy cans of frozen OJ on sale for a buck. Now I have to steal it from my neighbour. However, other things are cheaper. You can buy a brand new car for $10,000 now. When was the last time you could do that? Electronics always go down in price. Milk never changes much. Frozen dinners, meat, etc.. none of it is changing much.

Inflation is not 12%.

Something that cost $100 in 1964 would cost $690.80 this year, a whopping 590.80 % increase in just 44 years !

That may be, but that's only 4.6% inflation, and that period includes the mid 70's when Trudeau had to implement wage controls to try to rein it in, and interest rates sky rocketed.

I don't care what anyone says, I am keeping a majority of my savings in silver and gold. Over time, they have held their value.

If you take one thing away from this post, let it be this: DO NOT PUT YOUR MONEY IN GOLD AND SILVER! Especially not now! Seriously, you would have to be the Evel Knievel of investors to sink your money in something with a chart like this:

Sure, if you bought gold in 2000 and sold now, you would make out like a bandit. But if you bought gold in 1980 and sold 20 years later you would have lost half your money in nomimal terms, meaning that you would have lost more when taking into account inflation. (A lot more if inflation was 12%).

Sure, take a few thousand bucks and play the market, or shift 10% of your money into bullion if you sniff a recession around the corner, but fer gawd's sake, don't risk what you can't afford to lose.

When inflation happens, it only benefits large companies. Because prices always go up before wages.

Inflation does not benefit (most) companies because it causes interest rates to rise which makes the cost of borrowing more expensive, and all large companies borrow money. Lots of it.

Do prices always go up before wages? It's a chicken and egg thing, but sometimes wages go up more than inflation. Just ask the nurses about that.

Woo hoo! Long weekend. I cut outta work a little early today. I'll have to check out Darcy's Friday Night Blues and Beer selection of tunes a little bit later, because I've got international hockey on the tube right now. Canada up by two after an awsome goal by Green. I've been trying out a few new beers lately, but have gone back to one of my fav's today:


I've got to say that I'm I a pretty upbeat mood, despite all of the devastation in Asia and the fact that killing a hooker nets you only one day in jail (if you beleive the headline). I am formulating some thoughts on Waverly West and will stick them up here soon. There have been some stories lately about the insatiable appetite for housing, which makes me wonder why we can't push through geothermal energy and proper road infrastructure as originally planned. There's more than one way to reach equilibrium in a market, but the little ticky tacky house makers will tell you that there's only one: more quantity.

Anyhow. Enough about that. Time to relax and watch Canada bury the Swedes. Have a good long weekend everybody.

The nail in the coffin

I don't comment much on US politics, but I just want to say that this is the nail in the coffin of Hillary's hopes and dreams (at least for 4 years):

Former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards endorsed Sen. Barack Obama on Wednesday at a campaign event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Edwards will get the VP ticket that he was hoping for, and Obama will get the white middle-class draw that he was looking for. Hillary will get a loan to pay for her campaign bills then take a seat on the bench. 48 hours tops before she calls it quits.

Ugg

Good thing I didn't eat before I read this:

the voice of Free Press columnist Gordon Sinclair Jr. trembled last night when he talked about receiving his latest National Newspaper Award. ... NNA judges lauded Sinclair Jr.'s work for "tugging at his readers' heartstrings with powerfully sensitive columns."

One of the powerfully sensitive columns that earned him the hardware was the column that "brought the battle for the future of Upper Fort Garry, one of Canada's most sacred historic sites, to public attention.." I can't tell you which of his 82 columns on Upper Fort Garry that was, but it really doesn't matter. Let me remind you, dear readers, about what this was all about. THIS is precisely the sacred historic site he was tugging at peoples' heartstrings to save:

That's right, it's a FUCKING PARKING LOT! And thanks to Gordon and the so-called Friends of Upper Fort Garry, that's exactly how it will stay for years to come.

Apparently, the NNA judges were also hoodwinked by Gordon's sappy writing. Or maybe that's what is considered the gold standard in journalism these days: the ability to mislead readers and manufacture a controversy. If that's the case, then Gordo has many more awards in his future because he's been practicing it for so long it's now second nature. Even at the awards ceremony he couldn't turn off the bullshit machine:

He also singled out [with his voice trembling, no doubt] Free Press reader Currie McMillan for contacting him about Upper Fort Garry's precarious future.

Oh ya, Mr. Sinclair: hero for the little guy. Fighting for the cause of an ordinary Joe. 'Cause you know, if it wasn't for Currie McMillan, Gordon never would have known about Upper Fort Garry and the big bad apartment building that was threatening a near-by sacred parking lot.

Vive le Canada Uni

A few weeks ago, I said I was impressed with the new French PM Nicolas Sarkozy. Well, the man has come through again, by sticking his finger in the eye of the Separatists:

In a stirring declaration of love toward Canada, Sarkozy said he would like to "bring together" Canada and La Belle Province. ... "We bring them together so each can understand what we have in common. We will turn toward the future so the future of Canada and France will be the future of two countries that are not only allies, but two friends." [cnews]

He made the statements while attending a D-Day ceremony in Normandy with Michaelle Jean, whom I have no doubt he tried to charm the pants off of when the cameras weren't looking.

Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe (is he still around?) was not a happy camper, which makes me a happy camper. Thank God the days of Charles de Gaulle are behind us. I can hardly wait until the days of the Bloc are a thing of history as well. It won't be long...

Breaking News: We're better than Calgary!

A strange little "Breaking News" article in the on-line edition of the Freep reports in the headline and opening paragraph that "Building permits in Winnipeg rise 3.5%", which was "far better than in Calgary and Edmonton where building permit values fell 45 per cent and 21 per cent respectively." This is true, but a fairly rosy take on a report that could have also started off a number of other ways:

Breaking News: Growth in Saskatewan surpasses Manitoba

The value of building permits in our neighbouring province grew 30% in March to $145m, leapfrogging Manitoba where building permits dropped 6% to $116m.

Breaking News: Winnipeg lagging behind other major cities

Despite modest 3.5% growth in building permit values in March, reaching $74m, Winnipeg is still lagging far behind other cities of similar size including Quebec City ($157m) and Hamilton ($206m) which has seen 85% growth in building permits year over year.

Breaking News: Bored Free Press reporter stumbles across StatsCan web site

A bored-as-hell Free Press reporter resorted to passing off a routine monthly StatsCan report as "Breaking News" Tuesday, when told by his boss to stop playing Mahjong and dig up a story, Dammit.

While building permits in Calgary and Edmonton did in fact drop quite a bit month over month, both cities still dwarf Winnipeg in that area. All I'm saying is, let's not get all excited because a few more stucco houses are going up this month vs. last month.

StatsCan report link

Find your fetish

I discovered a valuable new internet resource today while having my morning coffee:

Do you like piggyplay? Are you into sploshing? Perhaps oral engulfment sounds interesting. Identify your fetish and discover new ones with the Fetish Map:


Feel free to leave a comment to let me know how your new adventures with the missus turned out.

h/t: alfredo