{"id":80983,"date":"2023-11-18T01:15:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T09:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=80983"},"modified":"2023-12-29T13:57:47","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T21:57:47","slug":"black-coffee-18-nov-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id80983-black-coffee-18-nov-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Food for Thought"},"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

Well … another busy week is behind us. So with that in mind, let’s get this party started …<\/p>\n

If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– George S. Patton<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Another Burger King franchisee – this one with 172 stores – declared bankruptcy<\/a> last week. We say “another” because it’s the third one in recent months. Burger King is struggling with weak sales nationwide, while costs for labor and food have climbed steadily. That’s definitely not<\/strong><\/em> a recipe for business success. Oh, well. I guess people are getting tired of paying $20 for the typical cold burger, soggy fries and a soda – all while waiting ten minutes for their \u201cfast” food. Frankly, it’s hard to believe that there was a time when fast food was cheap, convenient, freshly-cooked, and actually pretty darn good too. Not so much anymore.<\/p>\n

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Maybe Burger King should try this business model.<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, here in California the \u201chelping hand of government\u201d is pouring gasoline on a house fire, as it recently passed a new law that will increase the minimum hourly wage<\/a> at fast food restaurants to $20. Amazing. Apparently, there are no longer any \u201centry level\u201d jobs whose main purpose is to provide pocket change to teenagers and foster a strong work ethic; today, even the lowest-skilled workers are entitled to a \u201cliving wage.\u201d Besides, it\u2019s probably time everyone begins focusing on making healthy great-tasting meals we can make at home because fast food is quickly becoming unaffordable for most people.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a related note, Americans’ inflation expectations for November 2024 is 4.4%, and their 5-10 year inflation expectations rose<\/a> to 3.2%. Optimists. Even so, that’s the highest medium-term inflation expectation since 2011. Overall, lower-income consumers and younger consumers exhibited the strongest declines in sentiment. Oh … and the share of consumers blaming high interest rates for lousy home, vehicle, and durables buying-conditions are at their highest level since 1982. It ain’t all bad news though; according to the latest government CPI data<\/a>, healthcare costs are not just down<\/strong><\/em>, but down sharply. (Insert laugh track here.)<\/em><\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of inflation, US home prices have soared 162% since 2000, while income has only increased 78%. As a result, the average house-price-to-income ratio is now 5.8<\/a> – that’s more than double the 2.6 that many experts recommend. That\u2019s not surprising. What is<\/strong> <\/em>surprising is the falling price of gasoline<\/a> in much of the US – despite the current hostilities in the Middle East. There are only two ways this makes any sense: 1) the US has ended its war on the oil industry and sharply increased domestic production again; or 2) the economy is so bad that consumer demand has collapsed. So … which one would you place your<\/strong><\/em> bet on?<\/p>\n

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Well … it’s good to see some<\/i> companies are still desperately searching for skilled professionals.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Last week\u2019s jobs report was clearly gamed. Thankfully, there are people who dig into the raw data to see what\u2019s really<\/strong><\/em> going on. For instance, macro analyst Peter Schiff\u00a0 that, “All this talk about the revitalization of manufacturing is just a bunch of BS; we lost 35,000 manufacturing jobs<\/a> last month. Those are productive … good-paying jobs. Instead, we’re replacing them with more IRS agents. Last month we added 51,000 government employees to the payroll, but they only produce red tape.\u201d Well \u2026 that\u2019s true for politicians and bureaucrats. But there are<\/strong><\/em> a few people paid by the taxpayers who actually do<\/strong><\/em> have valuable skills …<\/p>\n