The consumer price index accelerated at a faster-than-expected pace in March, pushing inflation higher and likely dashing hopes that the Federal Reserve will be able to cut interest rates anytime soon. The CPI, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the economy, rose 0.4% for the month, putting the 12-month inflation rate at 3.5%, or 0.3 percentage point higher than in February, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a 0.3% gain and a 3.4% year-over-year level. Excluding volatile food and energy components, core CPI also accelerated 0.4% on a monthly basis while rising 3.8% from a year ago, compared with respective estimates for 0.3% and 3.7%. read more
China has adopted some of the same misinformation tactics that Russia used ahead of the 2016 election, researchers and government officials say. read more
Disney and the state of Florida agreed to end litigation in state court over a special tourism district containing the entertainment giant. read more
A recent study by researchers at The Ohio State University has uncovered a startling disparity in the impact of "deaths of despair" across racial lines in the United States. read more
The 2024 Global E-waste Monitor (GEM) [PDF] was prepared by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). The report reveals that annual generation of e-waste -- discarded devices with a plug or battery -- is growing at a rate of 2.6 million metric tons per year (a metric ton is equivalent to roughly 2,204.62 pounds -- all units in this story are metric) and is expected to reach 82 million tons by 2030, from 62 million tons in 2022. Those 62 million tons, the report suggests, would fill 1.55 million 40-ton trucks, which would roughly encircle the equator -- if you parked them end-to-end and paved the relevant oceans. And that's to say nothing of the economic consequences of taking so many trucks out of service and disrupting global shipping routes with an equatorial parking structure, so let's not.
Most Americans Aren't Buying Biden's Misleading Narrative That the Economy Is Getting Better
"The economy is growing, unemployment is low, wages are up, and inflation is down. However, the American people remain grumpy about the state of the economy. This puzzle was just investigated by four economists. They found that people often know that something is wrong even if statistics don't reflect the problem. In this case, people are perceiving that inflation is still, in fact, high.
For months now, Americans have been told that inflation's downward trend, from almost 9 percent annually to around 3 percent, should make them feel good about the economy. But it isn't working. A recent Gallup poll found that 63 percent say the state of the economy is getting worse and 45 percent think it's already "poor." One reason, many have speculated, is that while the rate at which prices are rising might have slowed considerably, prices remain very high. Food and rent in particular are still expensive. These prices are felt everyday by Americans when they pay for their housing and go to the supermarket."
They are pretty fast! What's the fastest land animal in the world? An Ethiopian chicken being chased by an Ethiopian.
The second fastest? An Ethiopian chasing a bread truck!
Bonus Ethiopian joke ... How do you spell Ethiopian in Ethiopia?
E-T-O-P-A
(Lord forgive me and bless the hobbits in Flores.)
#54 | POSTED BY DONNERBOY AT 2024-04-10 12:03 PM | FLAG:
That's fast, but it's not Outrun-The-Radio fast.