In response to an FT article by Sam fleming on 10th July 2015, entitled 'Yellen reiterates case for 2015 rate rise'
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b84f43e0-2720-11e5-bd83-71cb60e8f08c.html#ixzz3fW7p6OwT
Dear America
Things are not quite as peachy as we'd like, part one:
"The number of people working part time because they couldn’t get a full-time post was also higher than it would be in a full-employment economy, Ms Yellen added. “While the labour market has improved, it still has not fully recovered,” she argued"
Translation - we've lost a few hundred thousand folks in manufacturing and the fracking industry but we've got lots of new night-time bar-tenders, who flip burgers during the day. Our clever way of measuring things mean that these guys count twice...gee it's great when you can kill two birds with one stone
Things are not quite as peachy as we'd like, part two:
"Progress on inflation had been slower, Ms Yellen said. The low level of core inflation reflected the high dollar, which has pushed down imported goods prices, as well as oil price declines. “In all, however, these downward pressures seem to be abating, and the effects of these transitory factors are expected to fall out of measures of inflation by early next year"
Translation - We've managed to take most of the things that are going up in price out of the CPI figures because we know that people prefer to eat iPad enhancements. We've also noticed that part-time workers with two jobs just love to spend their spare time taking advantage of their gas bonus by driving around shops comparing prices...and off the record, our programme of statistical austerity is working very well for the government because it means that they can keep inflation linked benefits down
But some things are really peachy:
"Firmer home prices and stock market values were pushing up households’ net worth, which should also support spending"
Translation - our efforts to juice markets to create the illusory wealth effect are working just fine...off the record we'd really like to thank China for making our own market meddling activities look subtle by comparison, and for giving us further cover in our quest to have everyone rely on the government for everything. We love socialism when it's run by capitalists, or is it capitalism when it's run by socialists...I can never remember which is which...
Love Janet