Inflation
June 25, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Democrats are making “affordability” one of their main issues for the midterm campaign. Ironically, when Democrats talk about the cost of living they never seem to consider the cost of government. I know how they could make my life more affordable–stop spending so much of my money. The main cost of living issue is the cost of gasoline at the pump. Prices spiked because of the conflict in Iran, and
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May 31, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Democrats have shed oceans of crocodile tears over the plight of the average American, struggling to afford gasoline in the wake of “Trump’s war” against Iran. Never mentioned, of course, is the fact that for more than 20 years, Democrats have been doing all they can to raise, not lower, the price of oil. As with so many issues, Democrats rely on the rest of us suffering from memory loss.
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January 30, 2026 — John Hinderaker
President Trump announced this morning that he is nominating Kevin Warsh as the next Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve: Stephen Moore and his colleagues at the Committee to Unleash Prosperity greeted Warsh’s appointment enthusiastically: He’s a superb choice and one we’ve been pushing for more than a year. Congrats, Mr. President. You hit the bullseye. Unlike the failed tenure of Jerome Powell, Warsh is not
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January 27, 2026 — John Hinderaker
Across the country, Democrats are planning to make the purported “affordability crisis” a centerpiece of their midterm campaign. They hope to pin the cost of living on President Trump, which should be impossible. But when have Democrats ever been tethered to reality? Remember when Democrats made the price of eggs their anti-Trump talking point early in his second term? They aren’t talking about eggs anymore; this chart, from the U.S.Department
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December 21, 2025 — John Hinderaker
This is one of those policy breakthroughs that seem so obvious that one wonders why it didn’t happen a long time ago. The U.S. has had two serious issues with regard to drugs. The first is cost: many foreign countries have imposed pharmaceutical price controls, so that Americans have disproportionately paid for the innovation that benefits everyone. The second is access: we have become much too dependent on other countries,
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December 11, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Democrats have chosen to make “affordability” their theme for the 2026 midterm elections. This is ironic, since the big jump in the cost of living, around 10%, happened during the Biden administration and was the direct result of Biden administration policies. Nothing much has happened since Donald Trump took office 11 months ago; price increases have been modest, in keeping with historic levels. Some prices, like gasoline, have fallen. The
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November 27, 2025 — John Hinderaker
If the Democrats had any good arguments to make, would they make so many bad ones? I don’t think so. A case in point comes from Amy Klobuchar, who is usually regarded as one of the less-dumb Dems. But check this out: Under President Trump, electricity prices are surging — up 11%! — leaving millions behind on their utility bills, with past-due balances at an all-time high. American families deserve
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November 18, 2025 — John Hinderaker
Normally I wouldn’t do anything so facile as to blame inflation on a particular politician, but given that the Democrats are pinning their hopes on hanging the “affordability crisis” around President Trump’s neck, a little historical perspective is in order. Thus, from the Unleash Prosperity Hotline: We went back to January 2020 when the pandemic started. We found that 13.5% of cumulative inflation (prices are 24% higher today) has happened
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October 25, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Gasoline parices are dropping, which is somehow devastatingly bad news for Pres. Trump. The Hill newspaper reports, Gasoline prices have fallen to just over $3 per gallon. That’s good news for consumers and the Trump administration after President Trump promised to bring down prices… Good news for Trump? Wait for it… but it could complicate a “drill, baby drill” agenda. And whether prices will stay low may depend on whether
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October 24, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Last evening, the U.S. Senate adjourned until Monday, guaranteeing that the federal government “shutdown” will extend for a full four weeks. Before they left town, Senators confirmed the fifth federal judge this month, with two more teed up for Monday evening when they return. For his part, Pres. Trump will be off to Asia this weekend. The Hill newspaper reports, President Trump on Friday will travel to Asia for his
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August 12, 2025 — Bill Glahn
You can almost hear the disappointment. From CNBC, Consumer prices rise 2.7% annually in July, less than expected amid tariff worries. “Less than expected.” Well, better luck next month. As always, the U.K. Daily Mail is a little more excitable, reporting, Wall Street stunned as inflation defies odds on tariffs. Some detail, For months, economists have sounded the alarm about runaway prices. The big spike still hasn’t shown up. Inflation
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July 16, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Another blow to the tariff panicans today, from MarketWatch, Wholesale prices are flat in June, PPI shows, and point to muted effect of tariffs on inflation. In this instance, “muted” means none, zero, non-existent. Here “PPI” stands for the producer price index, the wholesale version of the retail consumer price index, CPI. Yesterday, the CPI was published, which led the Wall Street Journal to lead with this Page 1 headline,
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July 15, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Huh, how about that. From The Hill newspaper, The average price for a dozen eggs is now $3.77, another step down from March’s record-high carton costs. The latest numbers mark the third straight month of declining egg prices for American consumers, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) data. Overall, prices ticked up a bit last month for consumers. The U.K. Daily Mail screams, Huge blow to Trump’s economy
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May 26, 2025 — John Hinderaker
1971 was the year when I graduated from college and started law school, so I remember it well. But I had no idea, then, that something momentous was happening that year–something that would shape America’s history, and the world’s, for the next 50 years and more. But what was it? This site has collected a number of charts that illustrate how pivotal 1971 was. Some have to do with inflation,
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May 16, 2025 — Bill Glahn
Democrats and Republicans live in different worlds. But you already knew that. From CNBC, U.S. consumers are becoming increasingly worried that tariffs will lead to higher inflation, according to a University of Michigan survey released Friday. The index of consumer sentiment dropped to 50.8, down from 52.2 in April, in the preliminary reading for May. That is the second-lowest reading on record, behind June 2022. “Increasingly.” Curiously, CNBC also reports, Recent inflation
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May 15, 2025 — Bill Glahn
“Trump’s egg price fiction has suddenly become reality,” blared the CNN headline earlier this week. There’s a lot of that going around, that is Pres. Trump’s former “fictions” belatedly being recognized as reality, all along. CNN reported, For months, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed that egg prices are tumbling. It wasn’t true then, but it’s true now. Egg prices fell 12.7% last month, the biggest monthly decline since 1984,
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March 11, 2025 — John Hinderaker
As someone once said, you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. And apparently you can’t attack President Trump without talking about them, either. Although what Trump had to do with bird flu, or Biden-era regulations that made it more expensive to keep chickens, no one has explained. In any event, Democrats will have to move on to something else: So Democrats will have to come up with something new.
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