Very interesting that the data from this article f New High: 93% Say They're Paying More for Groceries Than A Year Ago ties confidence in the Federal Reserve keeping inflation under control to high food prices being paid by the consumer. There are few key places the consumer notices inflation and food is one of them. Is there a correlation between the recent history of Quntitative Easing and what the consumer experience is at the grocery store?
Key quote regarding the data is this..
Prior to the latest survey, overall confidence in the Fed to handle inflation and interest rates ranged from a low of 32% to a high of 41%. The number who hold no confidence at all is now at its highest level in nearly two years.
This lack of confidence stems partly from the fact that 93% of adults report paying more for groceries now than they did a year ago, the highest finding to date. Only four percent (4%) say they’re not paying more for groceries now compared to a year ago. Prior to the latest results, the number that said they are paying more for groceries ranged from low of 75% in April 2010 to a high of 91% in May of this year.
What makes this even more fascinating is not only are we paying more, we are paying more for less as the NY Times article called Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags details.
So people are paying higher prices but the Fed doesn't recognized that and thus people have little confidence in the Fed controlling inflation, not surprising. Maybe if the Fed adjusted the definition of core inflation people would actually trust what that are saying.
Trust comes from people needing to feel they are being told the truth but it one looks deep enough that is not the case as the NY Times article On Economy, Raw Data Gets a Grain of Salttoday illustrates. A great site for tracking the information or better yet misinformation coming from our government is shadowstats.com
So maybe the goldbugs at zerohedge are right, if the sheeple ever wake up it will good to be long on pitchforks, torch sticks, ammo and precious metals.