Asians Raise Prices on Imports: Fed

[OlympicBrian]

"Companies in the Atlanta, Chicago, Kansas City, and San Francisco Districts reported a limited ability to pass through higher input costs to customers given the relative softness in demand. However, some manufacturers in the Boston, Cleveland, Atlanta Districts have announced plans to raise their product prices in the near future. Retailers in Philadelphia and San Francisco noted price increases on selected products imported from Asian countries."

Inflation with no jobs.

http://federalreserve.gov/fomc/beigebook/2010/20101201/default.htm

[toddwv]

1. Wait...hold on a minute. That can't be right.

We are told continuously that high demand = higher prices and lower demand = lower prices.

I guess free markets aren't really all that free.

[OlympicBrian]

2. S-t-a-g-f-l-a-t-i-o-n

Whoa! You're talking economics 101. What do you get when you combine QE2 by the Fed, and globalization (offshoring) by US companies?!?

"In economics, stagflation is the situation when both the inflation rate and the unemployment rate are high. It is a difficult economic condition for a country, because when inflation and economic stagnation are occurring simultaneously, a policy dilemma results because actions that are meant to assist with fighting inflation might worsen economic stagnation and vice versa."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagflation

"Economic theory assumes that capitalists pursuing their individual interests are led to benefit the general welfare of their society by an indivisible hand. But offshoring, or the pursuit of absolute advantage, breaks the connection between the profit motive and the general welfare. The beneficiaries of offshoring are the corporations' shareholders and top executives and the foreign country, the GDP of which rises when its labor is substituted for the corporations' home labor. Every time a corporation offshores its production, it converts domestic GDP into imports. The home economy loses GDP to the foreign country that gains it."
- Paul Craig Roberts, Economist, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, former editor and columnist Wall Street Journal, Businessweek
http://www.creators.com/opinion/paul-craig-roberts/cato-s-trade-report-blinded-by-ideology.html

[katnapped]

3. Pish...there's no inflation

That's what the govermint says and I know they'd NEVER lie :sarcasm:

[OlympicBrian]

4. Another inflation reference buried in the text..."many products"

Third District--Philadelphia
...
"but some contacts reported that foreign suppliers, especially in Asia, have raised the prices of many products being ordered now for delivery next year."

Many?

[OlympicBrian]

5. And another...

Fourth District--Cleveland
"Several manufacturers announced selective product price increases to reflect changes in steel, copper, and agricultural input prices. We heard a few reports that these adjustments are expected to become more widespread in 2011."

[OlympicBrian]

6. And yet one more.

Fifth District--Richmond
"Survey contacts reported that raw materials and finished goods prices rose at a somewhat quicker pace than in our last report."

[OlympicBrian]

7. Sigh, here's another...

Sixth District--Atlanta
"Strong global demand and tight supplies have particularly boosted soybean and cotton prices, recently reaching historic highs."

[OlympicBrian]

8. I gave up, there's so many references to inflation in it nt