Post by The Great Aztec Joe on Nov 11, 2010 7:02:15 GMT -8
Usually, it's Sarah Palin's frequently incendiary views on foreign policy or social policy that get the "lamestream media" riled up. Now she's dipping her toes into monetary policy as well. At a speech over the weekend, she was critical of the Federal Reserve's plans to buy $600 billion in bonds, warning that it would unleash inflation:
"All this pump priming will come at a serious price. And I mean that literally: everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher. And it's not just groceries. Oil recently hit a six month high, at more than $87 a barrel. The weak dollar -- a direct result of the Fed's decision to dump more dollars onto the market -- is pushing oil prices upward.
Sudeep Reddy of The Wall Street Journal pointed out that Palin didn't seem to be quite up on what's been going on with inflation. In fact, he noted, grocery prices haven't risen that much. "The consumer price index's measure of food and beverages for the first nine months of this year showed average annual inflation of less than 0.6%, the slowest pace on record (since the Labor Department started keeping this measure in 1968)."
Palin then responded to Reddy on Facebook -- saying he must be wrong because another article in The Wall Street Journal from last week bore the headline: "Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies." The article noted that "an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America's supermarkets and restaurants … . Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months."
A few points worth noting on why Palin is wrong. First, she falls into a common debater's trap of misdirection. She pointed to an article talking about something that might happen in the future as evidence to something she said had already happened.
finance.yahoo.com/news/What-Sarah-Palin-Gets-Wrong-dg-3404740444.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
"All this pump priming will come at a serious price. And I mean that literally: everyone who ever goes out shopping for groceries knows that prices have risen significantly over the past year or so. Pump priming would push them even higher. And it's not just groceries. Oil recently hit a six month high, at more than $87 a barrel. The weak dollar -- a direct result of the Fed's decision to dump more dollars onto the market -- is pushing oil prices upward.
Sudeep Reddy of The Wall Street Journal pointed out that Palin didn't seem to be quite up on what's been going on with inflation. In fact, he noted, grocery prices haven't risen that much. "The consumer price index's measure of food and beverages for the first nine months of this year showed average annual inflation of less than 0.6%, the slowest pace on record (since the Labor Department started keeping this measure in 1968)."
Palin then responded to Reddy on Facebook -- saying he must be wrong because another article in The Wall Street Journal from last week bore the headline: "Food Sellers Grit Teeth, Raise Prices: Packagers and Supermarkets Pressured to Pass Along Rising Costs, Even as Consumers Pinch Pennies." The article noted that "an inflationary tide is beginning to ripple through America's supermarkets and restaurants … . Prices of staples including milk, beef, coffee, cocoa and sugar have risen sharply in recent months."
A few points worth noting on why Palin is wrong. First, she falls into a common debater's trap of misdirection. She pointed to an article talking about something that might happen in the future as evidence to something she said had already happened.
finance.yahoo.com/news/What-Sarah-Palin-Gets-Wrong-dg-3404740444.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode=
