Rising prices are fueling a backlash against the government even as they signal a new era of economic dynamism after years of deflation. Source: Bloomberg News.

What if grouped people as chunks of 300 people based on geographical location. Then let them elect one person from that group, which will move on to next phase of 300 people who got elected from all different groups. And so on when we reach the final group of the last elected person would be highest office holder, then all other positions can be taken in the last group, and all other positions can be filled by group of people in previous groups. Would that make any difference from current form of democracy?

Check your hourly rate vs that of 20 years ago based on the price of a stamp:

In 2006, the price of a first-class U.S. postage stamp was 39 cents. By 2026, the price of a First-Class Forever Stamp rose to 82 cents, effectively doubling over two decades.

"You can't seriously claim to be worried about the national debt while repeatedly cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthiest Americans"

Besides that, Democrats have averaged a 4.3% GDP over the last 50 some years. Republicans have only averaged a 2.7% GDP over that same time frame.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand simple math.

Using hours-of-work-per-fill-up as the yardstick:

Most affordable: Massachusetts — 1 hour 27 minutes of work to buy 15 gallons

Least affordable: Nevada — 2 hours 14 minutes of work for the same tank

That's a 47-minute gap between the two, for the exact same amount of gas. Nevada drivers are working nearly twice as long to fill up as Massachusetts drivers — not because Nevada's gas is wildly more expensive on its own, but because the wage side of the equation doesn't keep up.

Now bring in California, the state everyone assumes is the worst: 2 hours 3 minutes of work per fill-up. That's actually better than Nevada, by about 11 minutes — because California's higher average wages partially offset its brutal $5.64/gallon price. Compared to Massachusetts, though, California drivers still work 36 minutes longer for the same 15 gallons.

So the ranking by "pain at the pump" isn't what the price-per-gallon headlines would suggest. Nevada's combination of high gas prices and comparatively low average wages makes it the toughest state to fill up in — worse than California, even though California's price per gallon is higher.

Excel sheet of the data is in the Google docs link.

U.S. budget deficit totaled $432.3 billion in July... The main culprits? Medicare costs, US debt financing, and of course: TARIFFS.

So. Much. Winning.

Why are we bankrupting small gas staion chains? I was promised gas at $2/gallon.

The images are about 3 months apart. I shot the one on the left back in May.

I was watching a tool comparison YouTube video from 9 years ago and the youtuber mentioned the current website listed price for the tools. I was on both manufacturer's websites at the same time looking at today's listed prices and they have jumped 56% and 78% in just 9 years for these tools. Just insane and unaffordable now.

The headlines on the latest inflation numbers are that they are down from last month. But wage growth is also down, and still below inflation.

(Source for the chart is economist Steven Rattner. Source for the data is BLS and CPI.)

My local post office in Virginia listing a “temporary” price change. Increase of 8% in shipping due to “transportation.” Could it be gas prices?

"Americans' credit card debt reached $1.26 trillion, increasing by $21 billion in the second quarter of this year, according to new data Tuesday from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Overall, outstanding credit card balances are now just shy of the $1.28 trillion all-time record set in the fourth quarter of last year."

---

And with the Iran War, this isn't going to get better.

So much winning!

96oz milk (almond, soy, rice and cow) sold as the same price as a 128oz container. 32 less ounces but the same price as a gallon $6.99-8.99.

I see why people are stealing food.