{"id":70449,"date":"2022-01-01T00:45:47","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T08:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=70449"},"modified":"2022-01-05T09:18:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-05T17:18:59","slug":"black-coffee-1-jan-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id70449-black-coffee-1-jan-2022.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Running to Stand Still"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

Happy New Year! I’ve got a hangover to attend to, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

You have to run as fast as you can just to stay where you are. So if you want to get anywhere, you’ll have to run much faster.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Lewis Carroll<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Data from Q3 shows American private-sector workers saw their pay improve by 4.6%<\/a> year-over-year (YoY). Now for the punchline: If you believe the latest CPI figures, that means those same workers actually saw their purchasing power decline<\/em><\/strong> over the past year by at least 2.3%. But considering how understated government inflation statistics are, the standard-of-living decline is almost certainly far bigger than that. Hopefully, our government overlords will put an end to this inflation by listening to the media hacks who are now calling for price controls. Oh, wait …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, there is no better example of the disconnect between wages and prices than the housing market. October home prices in America’s 20 largest cities rose 18.4% YoY<\/a>, slowing from the 19.09% YoY gain in September – even so, that’s still faster acceleration than the peak of the last housing bubble in 2005. Oh … and in case you’re wondering: Phoenix, Tampa, and Miami reported the highest year-over-year gains among 20 cities surveyed. Then again, looks can often be deceiving:<\/p>\n