Timm

BlackRock seems to be doing all right though... https://www.reuters.com/article/us-blackrock-investment-gamestop-idINKBN29W22T "BlackRock Inc, the world’s largest asset manager, could have made gains of about $2.4 billion on its investment in GameStop Corp as retail investors pour money into the video-game retailer’s shares."

Pyramid? Short squeeze? Meme? Hedge fund killer? Black swan? Blip? https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/27/gamestop-three-largest-shareholders-earn-over-2bn-amid-stock-surge

Well, if inflation is your goal, then hiding it and then pushing more money into the economy might work.

You wouldn't really, especially if lending is stagnant. I'm sure Sunak would love a bit of inflation But how would you demonstrate you were doing something to address rapid rises in the cost of the weekly shop?

Stagflation is rising prices, stagnating economy (GDP). Biflation is a term that never really caught on and means different things to different people, but I'm using it to describe a situation where some things are inflating in price and some are deflating. Good point, but it would still be politically difficult to raise taxes and interest rates if the housing market were crashing. Add in falling pension pots and rising food prices...

Yes, and it looks like the policy response will be "wait and see". https://www.ft.com/content/0ca884ee-cdd1-4ef0-ba27-40ed5691f118 But if it's not a blip, that's a hell of a trap to walk into. How do you combat inflation when asset prices are falling? How do you stave off deflation when food prices are rocketing?

This might be a blip, but if not, prices will obviously rise, which means consumption will fall. That means further pressure on businesses, whether or not they import. I'm not sure whether this type of inflation would put pressure on interest rates or government spending / borrowing / printing? If so, we get HPC. For decades, we have got used to deflation in the price of things bought with cash and inflation in the price of things bought with credit. Is Biflation about to tip into reverse? Do we have any idea what to do about that?

Yes indeed. But it also deters / prevents people from escaping the rent trap.

I thought he had that K-Pop smash with the funny dance.

I think he has been rebooted.

Now that is interesting. It might be more difficult to keep a lid on inflation than previously thought. Worse for the UK too, because of the hold ups at customs for accompanied trucks pushing importers towards containers.

This might be self defeating. A small amount now - tick the box, move on, or: People actually notice, start talking about it and then elect a govt that will do it properly?

I wonder if Sunak believes the main function of taxation is to control inflation, not to finance the apparatus of the state? If so, and since we don't have high inflation, why would he raise taxes?

I'm not suggesting smoking tobacco is a good idea! But nicotine (on its own) might help with Covid outcomes. The following is quite balanced, but is over 6 months old. https://www.phc.ox.ac.uk/news/blog/nicotine-therapy-for-coronavirus-the-evidence-is-weak-and-contradictory

Ah sweet summer child. K-Winter is here.