Technical quirk lowers US inflation: WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/economy/housing/despite-record-home-prices-housing-is-about-to-drag-inflation-down-53f196dd . Housing costs are a major part of the inflation index. Affordability is rising in many metropolitan areas because people are migrating out. In other words, when people move to a less expensive place to live, inflation goes down. But that’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, which is a basic feature of most measurements over time.
Still, if this holds true and other inflation components do not change (big “if”), inflation will drop during 2024, the Fed can declare victory and move to reduce rates. Generally speaking, managing the economy on measurement quirks seems like a terrible idea.
Experts expect housing prices to continue to rise in 2024: https://www.aol.com/housing-market-going-crash-experts-053033650.html . As mentioned above, measurement quirks are not desirable. Here is direct evidence that the housing inflation estimator is misbehaving.
WSJ: Senate works on US border deal: https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/senate-negotiators-race-to-craft-border-deal-frameworkby-sunday-3d98b2e8 .
Israeli troops kill 3 shirtless hostages waving white flag: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/3-hostages-killed-in-gaza-by-israeli-troops-were-shirtless-and-waving-a-white-flag-official-says . This tragic result makes no sense. It certainly appears to be, Shoot first, ask questions later. More: https://abcnews.go.com/International/3-israeli-hostages-killed-idf-troops-unbearable-tragedy/story?id=105714690 . WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/israel-and-qatar-explore-revival-of-deal-for-gaza-hostages-ff7af151 .
Orange Julius, America’s Disgrace, burnishes his Hitler credentials: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-repeats-poisoning-blood-anti-immigrant-remark-2023-12-16/ . What a disgusting pig OJ is …
And speaking of disgusting pigs, Alex Jones: https://apnews.com/article/alex-jones-sandy-hook-shooting-bankruptcy-b8e8377dcc45df5f2938ff547228328f . Jones ate up over $1 million in annual expenses this year. Now, 5% interest on $1.5 billion is $75 million. So Jones offers to pay about 9 months of interest in total on the judgment over 10 years to settle this judgment. Go fish, Alex. I fully expect the court to liquidate this pile of garbage.
WSJ: Carbon removal efforts advance: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/climate-environment/carbon-removal-credits-climate-startups-investments-4aa3ca70 .
College football bowl picks: https://www.sportingnews.com/us/ncaa-football/news/college-football-bowl-picks-predictions-2023-24/1cdda9b8702fd8cc378e3331 .