Friday, April 1, 2011

Is Inflation Really An Issue?

Consider the following charts.


The above chart is the year over year percentage change in core inflation. It is currently showing one of the lowest readings of the last 40 years.


Above is a chart of total inflation on a YOY basis. Notice that the YOY percentage change is also at very low historical levels.

As I've noted before, the data indicates that manufacturing has the ability to absorb high crude prices, thereby preventing raw material increases from being passed on to consumers.

In short, the data does not support the idea that inflation is anywhere near out of control right now.