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NOT MUCH MEANINGFUL ANALYSIS BY ANYONE Axios Economy & Business ... Consumer prices continued to rise quickly in February 
Photo: Gabby Jones/Bloomberg via Getty Images Original article: https://www.axios.com/2023/03/14/february-consumer-price-index-inflation Peter Burgess COMMENTARY I am unimpressed by the analysis of inflation in the USA by the media including this piece. Worse, the core problem goes way beyond the media to almost all the participants in economic analysis including academia, corporate policy makers, politicians and the general public. Very few people have even a rudimentary understanding of how the modern economy functions and how decisions 'ripple' through the system. This gets to be very serious when key players in the system like the Fed Chairman start to use the tools at their disposal with some level of aggression as is the case now with the raising of interest rates from near zero to something that once was considered just about normal. My academic training in economics goes back to Cambridge in the early 1960s. At the time there was considerable focus on the 'business cycle' and the impact business investment had on economic activity. There is little talk of business investment today, but much more about the machinations associated with bank balance sheets ... like 'quantitative easing' for example. Peter Burgess | ||
Economy & Business ... Consumer prices continued to rise quickly in February
Written by Courtenay Brown
Prices continued to rise at a quick pace last month: the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in February, slowing only slightly from the prior month, the government said on Tuesday.
Why it matters: Inflation has dropped from last year's peak, though there are still signs that underlying price pressures continue to run strong — a development that reflects the challenging task ahead for the Federal Reserve.
Fed officials were watching this data release closely, along with other government data, looking for confirmation of whether or not economic activity continued to heat up last month in a way that might force them to raise interest rates more aggressively at its upcoming policy meeting.
But that decision might be complicated by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which forced the Fed to step in with emergency measures to backstop the banking system.
By the numbers: In the 12 months through February, the overall Consumer Price Index rose 6%, compared to 6.4% in January.
Excluding food and energy costs, which can be volatile from month-to-month, the index rose 0.5% last month — quicker than the 0.4% increase in January. Over the year ending in February, this core index increased 5.5%, compared to 5.6% the prior month.
Details: Food, energy, and furniture were among the categories that saw prices rise, while used car and trucks saw prices decline outright over the month.
The shelter index, which includes rental costs, continued to rise swiftly last month: 0.8%, compared to January's 0.7% rise.
The category is weighted heavily in the index — for months, it has put upward pressure on the overall and core index. Private-sector data shows shelter costs have decreased, but that hasn't made it to the official CPI data yet.
Where it stands: The Fed is also closely watching a specific measure of inflation, a core reading of the services sector that excludes shelter.
Officials say that's where inflation might be stickiest because that sector includes businesses most likely to pass along higher labor costs to consumers.
Editor's note: This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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| The text being discussed is available at | https://www.axios.com/2023/03/14/february-consumer-price-index-inflation and |