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🇺🇸 8 Minutes, $1.2 Trillion

🇺🇸 8 Minutes, $1.2 Trillion

Plus, Brazil’s man of the hole.

The Flag America's Newsletter
August 30, 2022

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Good morning, and happy Tuesday! NASA’s moon launch was delayed due to leaking fuel, but the hope is it could spur the creation of new technologies…

Plus, this Amazon tribesman had been living in isolation for over 25 years…

Also, get a jump on your indoor gardening skills with this Flag Find.

FLAG POLLS

📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 45, Disapprove 53 (Rasmussen Reports)

📉 Direction of Country: Right Track 29, Wrong Track 64 (Rasmussen Reports)

🐎 Arizona Senate - Masters vs. Kelly: Kelly 48, Masters 44 (Trafalgar Group)

🐘 Arizona Governor - Lake vs. Hobbs: Hobbs 46, Lake 47 (Trafalgar Group)

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QUICK CLICKS

Failure to Launch, Document Review, Inflation Handout

US: Why is it so hard to fuel NASA's new moon rocket? (Quartz)

US: DOJ says review of seized Trump documents is already done, suggests request for watchdog came too late (CNBC)

US: Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf calls for $2,000 payments to help families ‘survive inflation’ (Fox News)

World: Europe's soaring energy costs push leaders to consider major steps (Axios)

US: Elon Musk's apocalypse warning as he predicts end of mankind - 'this will happen again' (Daily Star)

US: Smoking weed is now more popular than smoking tobacco (CNN)

US: Britney Spears's mom responds after singer's 'pure abuse' claims (Yahoo)

US: Man fatally shot on Hollywood Walk of Fame (CBS)

US: Lizzo Responds To Comedian Aries Spears For Telling Her ‘It’s Treadmill Time’ (Daily Wire)

Sports: Aaron Rodgers thanked Joe Rogan for giving him a treatment 'game plan' when the Packers quarterback got COVID (Insider)

ECONOMY

8 Minutes, $1.2 Trillion

Last Friday Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered remarks at the central bank’s annual policy conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He indicated the Fed will push forward with additional rate hikes amid persistent inflation, even if that causes a recession or upends the job market.

Reporting From the Right: Fed's Powell pledges to combat inflation 'forcefully,' but warns of economic pain ahead (Fox Business)

Reporting from The Left: Warren slams Jerome Powell over interest rate comments: ‘I’m very worried that the Fed is going to tip this economy into recession’ (CNN)

From The Flag: The stock market responded negatively to Powell’s eight-minute speech, with the S&P 500 losing $1.2 trillion. We recently covered the July CPI, which measures inflation, while some worry the recently announced student debt cancellation will cause prices to rise even further. Here’s more from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

With Past Mistakes in Focus, the Fed Drowns out the Political Noise

It’s possible the Federal Reserve chair is learning from the 1970s when Arthur Burns didn’t go far enough to rein in inflation.
Powell’s hawkish comments undermine President Biden’s talking points concerning inflation, a potential recession, and the job market.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren is showing her lack of economic knowledge while complaining about the Fed doing its job.

“What Jerome Powell Can Learn From Arthur Burns” Thomas J. Sargent and William L. Silber, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “History, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said last week in Jackson Hole, Wyo., warns against ‘prematurely loosening’ Fed policy. Has he learned something from Arthur Burns? Burns, who led the Fed from 1970 to 1978, tightened credit to fight inflation early in the 1970s, but then failed to follow through. … (He) ultimately admitted that he failed to rein in the inflationary pressures when he had the opportunity to do so. … Mr. Powell can avoid repeating those errors by restraining credit enough and for long enough. But figuring out what ‘long enough’ means is challenging and depends on how inflation and the economy evolve. And unlike Burns in the 1970s, Mr. Powell has to contend with another challenge: the Fed’s current policy of ‘forward guidance,’ the practice of releasing projections of each committee member’s expected future path.”

“Powell dampens Biden’s rosy view of an improving economy” By Joseph Clark and Dave Boyer, The Washington Times : “Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome H. Powell is throwing cold water on President Biden’s hopes that inflation will fade as a dominant issue in the midterm elections. … Stocks plummeted Friday on Mr. Powell’s sobering message, with all three major indexes losing more than 3%. … Mr. Powell said Fed officials are determined to bring inflation under control with more hikes in the central bank’s benchmark interest rate, a move that will likely discourage growth and spur layoffs. … Runaway price increases have soured most Americans on the economy, even as the unemployment rate has fallen to a half-century low of 3.5%. It has also created political risks for Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats in this fall’s elections, with Republicans denouncing the president’s $1.9 trillion financial support package, approved last year, as having fueled inflation.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: Fake Indian, fake economics: Elizabeth Warren unleashes her economic illiteracy on inflation Monica Showalter, American Thinker

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

The Fed Forecasts Its Hawkish Mindset, Potentially Misses the Mark

The Fed is much more transparent now in comparison to decades ago, but that may be hampering its mission.
This is a clear and definitive message from the central bank indicating it won’t relent in its fight against inflation, although effective policy must follow.
Powell is callously forcing a recession on Americans while choosing to ignore that inflation was caused by supply chain bottlenecks.

“The Fed Chair’s Challenge: Be Clear, but Not Too Certain” Peter Coy, New York Times Opinion: “The Federal Reserve used to be more secretive than a conclave of cardinals. … it didn’t even announce interest rate decisions it had already made until 90 days afterward. … Aren’t things so much better now that Powell’s (many) speeches, testimonies and news conferences are as clear as the pure mountain air of Wyoming? Not everyone thinks so. Transparency is nice, but making the right decisions is even nicer. It’s clear now that the Fed erred by keeping interest rates too low for too long, allowing inflation to get excessively high. … Powell and other policymakers have taken a hawkish line in public, trying to steer the markets away from the impression that the bank is nearly done with interest rate increases. On the other hand, they can’t be too firm about that, because maybe the economy will crack.”

“Powell Must Reinforce His Words With Actions” Bill Dudley, Bloomberg Opinion: “Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has finally delivered his message loud and clear: To get inflation under control, the central bank intends to push interest rates higher, and keep them there longer, than markets had expected. … Powell’s remarks offered a welcome contrast to previous communications, which left markets wondering how far the Fed would be willing to go in its inflation fight. … This time around, there were no qualifications, no waffling about the goal or what the Fed must do to achieve it. … Forecasts were unduly optimistic about slack in the labor market, the speed with which labor-force participation would recover, and the transitory nature of inflation pressures. The new, more inflation-tolerant monetary policy framework didn’t anticipate an extreme inflation overshoot. … Kudos to Powell for clearly laying out his goal and how he intends to get there.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Powell Sides With the Inflation Hawks Robert Kuttner, The American Prospect

FLAG THIS

Uncertainty in the Markets, and Regarding Powell

Polling conducted late last month asked respondents if they hold a favorable opinion toward Fed Chair Jerome Powell. The majority (49%) said they don’t know how they feel, while 22% expressed a favorable opinion, and 29% disapproved (YouGov).

How would you classify your feeling toward Fed Chair Powell?

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

First African American in Space, Stinky Sweat, No Good Deed

On August 30, 1983, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Guion S. Bluford becomes the first African American to travel into space when the space shuttle Challenger lifts off on its third mission. Above is a photograph of Guion aboard Challenger.

NPR: Why stinky sweat is good for you

Domino: A $300, No-Tools Work Surface Does It All in This Brooklyn Home

BBC: Can you delay ageing by refusing to act your age?

Today I Learned Pliny the Elder was a naturalist and author who apparently died trying to mount a boat rescue for victims of the Pompeii disaster.

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