Via Insty, this little snippet:
The danger for China is deflation could snowball by encouraging households reeling from falling paychecks to cut back on spending, or delay purchases because they expect prices to fall further. Corporate revenues will suffer, stifling investment and leading to further salary cuts and layoffs, bankrupting families and firms.
China? How about right here in the U.S.?
The Fed’s beige book, a survey of economic conditions in the US compiled by the regional Fed banks, suggested that the US economy was slowing. Five out of the 12 Fed districts reported flat or declining economic activity, three more than in May’s survey.
And just for (bitter) laughs:
“Inflation has also fallen faster than expected, hitting 3 per cent in June.”
Tell that to my grocery, fuel and utility bills.
Your last sentence is true and important because it reveals that the left has corrupted government statistics.
It used to be that one could trust numbers, statistics and the like, from government bodies. No more, done, finished, over.
And it’s way worse up here in Canuckistan.
Inflation has been bad here in the USA, as Kim noted, and it has constrained many of us. But we are totally immersed in it and our incomes kinda drift up with inflation also. (Yes, I’m retired and know that doesn’t apply to all of us.) How will our Chinese equivalents do in the face of domestic deflation and international inflation? Their aluminum bars might be cheaper but their soy beans, rice, and wheat have their prices set in the world markets and are rising as domestic Chinese incomes are falling. Mr. Liu, the aluminum salesman in the linked article, may find himself forgoing more than just a extra egg at breakfast.