There was an excellent auction of ten-year treasury debt this week. Not as huge as the shorter term auctions, and the interest rate paid, while lower than anticipated, is still much higher than that on the ten-year debt being rolled over, raising the government’s total interest costs. The auction went off well because investors anticipated that the BLS and the Bidementia administration would continue to fiddle with inflation numbers to try to convince people that stuff hasn’t soared in price since Senile Joe took office. The primary tactic Bidementia used this month was release of oil from strategic reserves to lower gas prices, which accounted for the relatively low inflation reading. And one thing that continues to baffle me is how health insurance and health care prices are calculated. That represents about 20% of the economy and everyone knows that health insurance premiums are going up rapidly, as is the price of health care services and products, like drugs. While BLS has that inflation at 3%, it isn’t close to that, as anyone involved in negotiations with hospitals or familiar with drug prices knows. The whackos just keep using one gimmick after another to construct this house of cards economy that will crash down on all of us eventually. (BLS Data)
