🇺🇸 Hike Five

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Good morning, and happy Thursday! After telling the kids video games would rot their minds, it turns out research now says this about dementia…

Plus, Trump and Biden in the same 60 minutes snippet? The internet remains undefeated...

Also, Noom wants to help you embrace the psychology behind a healthier lifestyle…

FLAG POLLS

📉 Biden Job Approval: Approve 46, Disapprove 52 (Politico/Morning Consult)

📉 Direction of Country: Wrong Track 33, Right Track 67 (Politico/Morning Consult)

🐎 2022 Generic Congress Vote: Democrats 45, Republicans 40 (Economist/YouGov)

🐎 2022 Generic Congress Vote: Democrats 46, Republicans 41 (Politico/Morning Consult)

TRENDING

Left: Why this New York lawsuit is really going to anger Donald Trump (CNN)

Left: Trump's Endorsements Could Doom GOP’s Chance To Retake Congress (Huffington Post)

Left: Trump donors think they're giving to "save America," but they're paying Trump's legal bills (Salon)

Right: Weeks before election, DeSantis proposes slew of family-friendly tax breaks while slamming Dems over inflation (Fox News)

Right: McConnell Abandons Arizona Senate Race To Maintain A GOP He Can Control (The Federalist)

Right: Next to K-12 pandemic relief, Biden’s rationale for loan forgiveness doesn’t add up (Washington Examiner)

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QUICK CLICKS

Biden at the UN, Recessionary Fears, Trump Lawsuit

US: 5 takeaways from Biden's speech to the world (POLITICO) + It Sure Sounds Like Biden Wants World War Over Ukraine (Daily Wire)

US: Fed goes big with latest rate hike; Powell vows to 'keep at it' (Reuters) + Gundlach says the Fed should slow down rate hikes because it is pushing the economy into a recession (CNBC)

US: New York AG Letitia James files $250M lawsuit against Trump for defrauding lenders, others (ABC News) + Trump Loses It Over New York Lawsuit, Calls Letitia James ‘Racist’ (Rolling Stone)

World: Two U.S. veterans released by Russian-backed forces in prisoner swap (Axios)

US: Fauci's admission about his 'draconian' lockdowns and the negative impact on schoolchildren (Fox News)

Sports: Robert Sarver says he's starting process to sell NBA's Phoenix Suns, WNBA's Phoenix Mercury (ESPN) + LeBron James celebrates after Robert Sarver announces plan to sell Suns, Mercury (Yahoo Sports)

Business: Elon Musk blasts Robert Reich as ‘idiot, liar’ for saying self-made billionaires are ‘myth’ (NY Post)

Weather: Why is Puerto Rico so vulnerable to blackouts? (The Hill)

World: Iran's Regime May Finally Have Gone Too Far (Newsweek)

US: Revealed: US Military Bought Mass Monitoring Tool That Includes Internet Browsing, Email Data (VICE)

Tech: TikTok’s BeReal clone app is gaining traction outside the US (The Verge)

ECONOMY

Hike Five

Amid soaring inflation the Federal Reserve hiked its target rate by 0.75% yesterday. This marked the central bank’s fifth rate hike of the year and the third straight 75-basis-point hike.

Reporting from the Left: Fed rate hike could add $2.1 trillion to federal deficits, new analysis finds (Yahoo Finance)

Reporting from the Right: Fed makes another jumbo interest rate boost. Is it affecting inflation? (Deseret News)

From The Flag: The Fed has been upping its federal funds benchmark rate in a bid to slow inflation, as it guides what banks and lending institutions charge each other for overnight deposits. In essence interest rates determine the price of money, in the form of mortgages, credit cards, and auto loans.

In the past we’ve covered the impact of rising mortgage rates, how the Fed’s perceived willingness to fight inflation has affected the stock market, and when price increases seemed to level off slightly in August. Here’s some of the latest commentary from both sides.

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

The Government Is Failing on Inflation, and Americans Are Suffering

• President Biden and the entire Federal Government has failed to achieve price stability – which is a major part of its job.

• Its difficult to unwind inflation once its started, and the Biden administration has competing priorities in regard to the economy.

• Inflation is not a passing political phenomenon but a persistent and destructive force.

“The Inflation Election” James Freeman, Wall Street Journal Opinion: “American consumers have had just about all the Biden-style ‘inflation reduction’ they can stand as food prices continue to soar. By devaluing our currency Washington has given U.S. workers a pay cut of nearly 3% in real terms over the past year. … Mr. Biden’s inflation is making workers poorer. … Thank goodness the Federal Reserve has finally begun to address its most important responsibility. But the president has stubbornly refused to help, accelerating implementation of his poisonous policy mix of federal spending to fuel demand plus heightened tax and regulatory burdens to discourage supply. Too many dollars, not enough productive work. … When Mr. Biden came into office during the first quarter of 2021 the economy was growing at a robust real annual rate of 6.3% while inflation was low. … The darkest moments of inflation in four decades have occurred entirely on his watch, and are largely of his own making.”

“Why inflation is so tough to tame” Peter Morici, MarketWatch Opinion: “Too much money will continue to chase too few goods for a long time. On the supply side, White House oil and gas policies and green energy policies are a classic example of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. Biden is pulling out all the stops to encourage more green energy—windmills and solar panels—and to boost U.S. sourcing for the relevant equipment to foster greater energy security. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 doubles down on those green policies and does provide for more leasing on federal lands for oil and gas development. However, to say it will fight inflation is false advertising. EVs are already scarce, and further subsidizing purchases will boost demand and exacerbate shortages, increase dealer prices and add to the cauldron of inflationary pressures from workers’ outsize expectations.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: The Damage Inflation Does George Leef, National Review

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

What the Fed Is Looking For, and What History Has To Say

• In order to slow its rate hikes campaign, the Fed needs to see consistent action on prices and consumer expectations.

• Central banks often note the importance of being independent from political pressures, yet they seem to rely on each other at the same time.

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues are failing to learn from history by encouraging what will be a damaging recession.

“3 things the Fed needs to see before it stops hiking rates” Joseph H. Davis, CNN Business Opinion: “Flexible prices… it likely will want to see three to six months of sustained deceleration in flexible prices, which apply to goods and services that can rise or fall in cost quickly. These include things like food, energy, and cars and trucks. … Sticky prices… Once policymakers are comfortable with the direction of flexible prices, they will want to make sure that sticky prices are also heading back toward their target. … Sticky prices apply largely to services like rents and medical care. They don’t tend to change as much or as quickly … Inflation expectations… (these) are key because they affect consumer and business spending and investment decisions that drive the economy. … Given my belief that the Fed will want to see signs of success in its campaign on three fronts… it could be a while before policymakers declare victory in their campaign against inflation.”

“The Era of the Global Central Bank May Have Arrived” Daniel Moss, Bloomberg: “We are experiencing one of the most synchronized bouts of monetary and fiscal tightening in the past five decades, according to the World Bank. While the Federal Reserve may steal the show… rates will almost certainly march higher in coming days in places as diverse as the UK, Indonesia, the Philippines and Norway. Earlier this month, the European Central Bank pulled off its first 75 basis-point jump, and left the door open for more. Sweden’s Riksbank shocked markets Tuesday by lifting its main rate by a full percentage point. … A rallying cry for fans of central banks, whenever politicians make noises about rates, is to protect autonomy at almost any cost. But what about central banks being independent of each other, especially the Fed? The impact of the whole may be more consequential — and keenly felt — than the sum of the parts.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Deflation — Not Inflation — Is the Real Concern David Blanchflower, POLITICO Opinion

FLAG THIS

Worried About a Recession, and Grading the Fed’s Performance

Polling conducted last month asked respondents how confident they were in the Federal Reserve and its ability to effectively fight inflation.

Asked if the central bank can help avoid a recession, 40% said they were “not at all” confident, while 33% expressed “a little” bit of confidence.

The same poll asked what level of trust respondents had in the Fed’s ability to fight inflation: just 13% expressed a high level of confidence, while 38% admitted they had none (YouGov).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Friends Debuts, A Whale's Mind, Pepto-Donuts

On September 22, 1994, the television sitcom Friends, about six young adults living in New York City, debuted on NBC. The show, which featured a group of relatively unknown actors, went on to become a huge hit and air for 10 seasons.

Hakai Magazine: In the Mind of a Whale

Smithsonian Magazine: These 18th-Century Shoes Underscore the Contradictions of the Age of Enlightenment

Inc.: 7 Brutal Truths About Leadership Not Too Many People Want to Hear

Today I Learned a donut shop in Portland, Oregon, was told by the FDA to stop adding medicine to food because it included Nyquil and Pepto-Bismol in its donuts.