Intractable Inflation

by Michael Pento
Pento Portfolio Strategies LLC

The Fed mistakenly believes it can control the rate of inflation with relative ease. While it believes it is far easier to fight a rising rate of inflation than deflation, it is still completely convinced the puppet strings of extant price levels rest firmly in its hands.

To start with, the academics that sit on the FOMC don’t actually know what causes consumer price inflation (CPI)—or at least that don’t want to admit to its actual progenitor. The Fed has been historically wedded to the belief that CPI is related to the unemployment rate. This is known as the Phillips Curve. Phillips curve analysis relies on the belief that inflation comes from a low unemployment rate and that deflation comes from a high level of unemployment. But this logic is both simplistic and specious in nature. Indeed, throughout history, it is commonplace to have a rising rate of unemployment associated with higher rates of inflation and a falling unemployment rate correlated with low rates of inflation.

Continue Reading at PentoPort.com…