January 18, 2017

Inflation Surges Above 2%, US Is Doomed

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Well, this is it, boys and girls. We’re doomed:

The Consumer Price Index has breached 2 percent for one month, which means hyperinflation is right around the corner. The Fed must act!

Never mind that the Fed doesn’t care about the CPI and pays attention to the PCE inflation index, which is well below 2 percent. Or that they really pay attention to the core PCE, which is also well below 2 percent. Inflation is always and everywhere ready to devour us.

Sarcasm aside, it is a little odd that the CPI and PCE went in opposite directions in November. I’ll be curious to see if that continues when we get the December PCE numbers.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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