{"id":81078,"date":"2023-11-25T01:15:13","date_gmt":"2023-11-25T09:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=81078"},"modified":"2023-11-28T12:27:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-28T20:27:37","slug":"black-coffee-25-nov-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id81078-black-coffee-25-nov-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Suspicious Minds"},"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

I hope everybody had a wonderful week. And with that, let’s get right to this week’s commentary, shall we?<\/p>\n

The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody has decided not to see.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Ayn Rand<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? The post office expected to turn a profit this year – but they lost $6.5 billion instead<\/a>. This is especially surprising considering the additional revenue the USPS picked up as a result of the UPS drivers strike earlier this year. The biggest hit to the USPS’s bottom line was a $920 million decrease in revenue from marketing mail. It turns out that businesses reduced the amount of junk mail they sent out this year due to sharply rising costs of ink and paper. Then again, the post office isn’t the only one with problems …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, compared with every other government program the USPS is practically a model for efficiency – which means the great majority of America’s National Debt has been wasted. Frankly, it’s hard to believe that, just three short years ago, the US was grappling with “only” $23 trillion in national debt. Now, that figure will soon surpass $34 trillion<\/a>. Not that anyone in Congress is listening. Or the mainstream media for that matter …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> You’d think that for $34 trillion, we would get federal bureaucrats who could accurately calculate inflation. As macro analyst Chris Martenson points out, according to the government’s latest CPI figures, food inflation is running at “only” 3.2% year-over-year – which would mean the typical $200 grocery bill last year is barely $6 higher today at $206.40<\/a>. Heh. Does that sound even remotely<\/strong><\/em> close to your<\/strong><\/em> personal experience? It certainly doesn’t jive with ours; conservatively, our grocery bill is at least<\/strong><\/em> 20% higher than last year. And not just because we buy a lot of pricey Parmigiano Reggiano cheese either …<\/p>\n