Gang, I'm Not A Happy Camper

I put up today's newsbites post well over an hour ago and so far I haven't placed one newsbite within the comments section.

Another oil price spike... I'm not a happy camper.

Inflation has been coming on for awhile now. It seems as if my "old" predictions concerning the coming stagflation - predictions made back in 2008 - were off by a year... but stagflation certainly seems destined to hit hard this year.

(Folks... as you've hopefully read either in newsbites or independently... if the U.S. government still measured inflation using the same rubric it did in the Carter years... we'd already be officially acknowledging 10% inflation.)

Think of how much more you'll be spending on gasoline this year... how much more you've already spent. Mary and I will no doubt spend thousands more on fuel costs this year as opposed to last year or the year before.

With "regular" gas approaching $4 in frigg'n New Jersey... things aren't looking good.

Food inflation? We're seeing "straight" food inflation as well as the package shrinkage inflation we've been seeing for several years now.

(And folks... remember... the food inflation we as middle class Americans see as annoying - even a cause of distress as we're forced to cut other, less important budget "priorities" from our spending habits - has been enough to push poor parts of the world into revolution. Food inflation kills in the less affluent areas of the globe!)

I could go on and on about cotton prices and how they're impacting clothing costs - something we'll all see before too long - but really, food and fuel are my main concerns. While we're certainly experiencing general price inflation, it's the exploding inflation on the fuel and food shopping we must do week in and week out that really has me worried.

Folks... the economy isn't improving. You know this. Those of you who follow newsbites have the facts and figures thrown in your faces every day. As to those of you who don't follow newsbites regularly... closing your eyes to reality won't change the facts.

One of my best friends - the most competent guy I know - may soon be relying upon unemployment to help support his family - including one son in college. His wife works, but she doesn't bring in the sort of money needed to maintain a household and a lifestyle in the affluent suburbs of New York.

I have another buddy... a highly educated, trained, and skilled professional... who after spending the last few years working more and earning less came to the point where it simply didn't make sense for her to continue as a partner in a law firm.

Then there's Todd. We had a falling out last year, but back then he had been unemployed for many months... and for all I know he's still looking for a position. We're talking a guy who was an up and comer... a Fortune 50 executive prior to taking over top management posts at a series of start-up firms and niche companies. Then the recession hit.

What I'm saying here... the point I'm trying to make... is that whether you judge things by following the news, crunching the numbers, analyzing the trends, or, whether you simply look around you... things here in America are going to hell in a hand basket.

Anyway... sorry if I've bummed anyone out...