Jitters as US consumer inflation jumps

[spinbaby]

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US consumer prices jumped in January, the government reported Wednesday, a week after Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke warned that inflation remains the central bank's top concern.

The data spooked economists and Wall Street investors who had hoped that receding inflation could set the stage for a Fed rate cut sometime soon.

According to the Labor Department, the consumer price index advanced 0.2 percent last month compared to December on surging food and medical costs.

The "core" CPI rate, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, went up a larger 0.3 percent in January.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/useconomyinflation;_ylt=Au6I533OlB8du8JlrbrlEaUDW7oF

[PA Democrat]

1. Surging medical costs and

all the idiot-in-chief offers are tax cuts that will not help those who are struggling the most to get health care for their families.

[TexasLawyer]

5. 0.8 percent jump in the medical care

"an unexpectedly large 0.8 percent jump in the medical care component -- the largest such reading since August 1991,"

That's huge.

[lovuian]

13. Medical care in America is Out of control

no one can afford that
Nobody except Millionaires

[Doctor_J]

2. I have a feeling the Fed has been printing money to try

to stop the recession. this was bound to happen.

[spinbaby]

3. Can they do that?

?

[HereSince1628]

4. Yes, on something called a printing press.

[spinbaby]

6. Most funds are electronic nowadays, no?

Can they just press a button and make more electronic money? And how does the new money get into the sytem? Does the federal government get to spend the new money? Also isn't there some kind of a formula or rule they have to follow when they issue more money?

[HereSince1628]

10. With the new rules for reporting the money supply it's harder to

know what is going on.

But if the Fed is printing or electronically creating money, it hasn't pushed the interest rate lower. Maybe it's just being sent off-shore to cover interest on t-notes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

8. Not bloody likely.

If they printed money willy nilly it would mean runaway inflation.

The folks running the Fed arent morons and they arent trying to hide something to make Bush look better, either.

So many posters on this board seem to think that. It isnt happening and the market demands and actually receives the transparency needed to keep it from happening. This isnt 1928.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Let's just for a second, put this in real terms. How much does that add up to?

What exactly does an increase of three tenths of a percent in the core Consumer Price Index really mean?

It means that a basket of goods and services from across the economy purchased before the increase that cost $100,000 now costs $100,300. Thats it. Three hundred bucks on a purchase of one hundred thousand.

[BluePatriot]

9. Someone forgot to cook the books again!

No matter how much they change the indexes (yeah...not measuring food and energy..."too volatile" despite its, um, effects on the economy from the bottom up, duh!) the truth will eventually creep in somehow.

[ORDagnabbit]

11. go watch freedom to fascism to begin to understand our "money"

www.freedomtofascism.com

great movie and you'll start to understand the pieces of paper we call "money"

[tnlefty]

12. A belated welcome, ORDagnabbit!

Thanks for this link. :hi: