Saturday, March 22, 2014

How Phony Inflation Numbers Mask GDP Weakness

 
Earlier this week, we wrote about how inflation is hidden both by the Feds and by corporations.
 
Why hide inflation? Well for one thing, understating inflation allows you to overstate GDP growth.
 
One of the biggest games played by the bean counters in Washington. in the US is the overstatement of GDP growth by understating inflation.
 
Consider this simple example. Let’s say that the US GDP grew by 10% last year. Now let’s say that inflation also grew by 10%.
 
In this scenario, real inflation adjusted GDP growth was ZERO. However, announcing ZERO GDP growth is a major problem politically.
 
So what do the Feds do? They claim that inflation was just 8%, and BOOM you’ve got 2% GDP growth announced for a year in which real GDP growth was actually zero.
 
This game is played all the time via a metric called the GDP “deflator.” Technically what this is meant to do is remove the effects of inflation from the GDP growth numbers to show what real growth was.
 
However, what it actually ends up being is an accounting gimmick that allows the numbers to overstate GDP growth.
 
By now, we all know that the CPI numbers understate inflation significantly. But the Federal Government uses a GDP deflator that is even lower the CPI.
 
This is like measuring your height in “inches” that are actually centimeters. In reality you’re still the same height, but nominally you look a lot taller.
 
Inflation is a very real problem for the economy and for the US financial system. We’ve been told to believe that it is a necessary evil, but the reality is that it concentrates wealth, weakens the US dollar and raises the cost of living.
 
None of those are beneficial to the US as a whole.
 
Since 2007, the world’s Central Banks have collectively put more than $10 trillion into the financial system since 2008. To put that number into perspective, it’s equal to roughly 15% of global GDP.
 
This kind of money printing is literally unheard of in modern history. And it has set the stage for a roaring wave of inflation to hit the financial system. Indeed, the first signs are already showing up… not in the “official” Government data (which is bogus) but in how those who run businesses around the globe are acting.
 
 
For a FREE Special Report on how to protect your portfolio from inflation, swing by
 
Best Regards
Phoenix Capital Research

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