Munir Moon's Blog: Fed Chair Powell Asked for Inflation and Now He Owns It

     Figure 1 – Harvard/Harris Poll

January 30, 2024 – We find ourselves in an era of disruptive change and innovation, yet our political system remains stubbornly stagnant. In 2024, the prospect of a Gore-Romney ticket for President and Vice President of the United States emerges as a beacon of hope for much-needed political upheaval in Washington, D.C. A Harvard/Harris poll reveals that a staggering 67% of voters from diverse p...

Fig.1 – Consumer Price Index – Federal Reserve of St.Louis

May 30, 2022 – In March 2020, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell (Fed Chair Powell) was concerned that Inflation was not hitting the target of 2%, but falling further. Well, his wish finally came true. Inflation in April 2022 was at 8.3% (Fig.1), the highest in the last 40 years and well above the Fed’s target. However, the Federal Reserve with J. Powell as its chairman, continued to print money and kept interest rates (Fed Funds) to...

January 30, 2021 – The MI generation constitutes the largest and most powerful voting bloc in the United States. Through its voting and economic power, it can transform American laws and corporate policies by engaging in the political process and public deliberations. Best of all, this process is free. The MI generation’s political and economic power will continue to grow as it becomes a larger segment of society as consumers and voters. However, the MI Generation is presented with the numerous...

Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP

September 9, 2020 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom-X must be looking down on us fifty years later wondering if much has changed in America. Racism and discrimination against Blacks is well and alive. Racism has been in America from its beginning and will continue to exist. One of the ways to address racism is for the Black community to take control over its destiny and take care of its own. That will require a focus on Black economic empowerment and...

Photograph: Sue Ogrocki/AP

September 9, 2020 – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom-X must be looking down on us fifty years later wondering if much has changed in America. Racism and discrimination against Blacks is well and alive. Racism has been in America from its beginning and will continue to exist. One of the ways to address racism is for the Black community to take control over its destiny and take care of its own. That will require a focus on Black economic empowerment and self-suffi...

Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom-X must be looking down on us fifty years later wondering if much has changed in America. Racism and discrimination against Blacks is well and alive. Racism has been in America from its beginning and will continue to exist. One of the ways to address racism is for the Black community to take control over its destiny and take care of its own. That will require a focus on Black economic empowerment and self-sufficiency as advocated by Dr. King and Malcom-X. One po...

“The worst of capitalism and socialism”

July 25, 2020 – Health insurance companies have centralized control of how, when, and where a patient will receive medical services. Hospitals charge whatever they consider to be reasonable, regardless of the outcome. Drug companies maintain a virtual monopoly on prescription drug prices and exercise undue power over lawmakers through lobbying. Even Medicare, the largest buyer of health-care services, cannot negotiate better drug prices. The American pub...

“We cannot survive our way out of climate change denial”

June 27, 2020 – The rhetoric of climate change claiming that reducing greenhouse gases is detrimental to job creation and economic growth in the United States negates the fact that there will be no jobs if there is no planet. The Beltway Beast mind-set of having a binary choice of either pollution or jobs ignores the fact that more than 155,000 deaths in 2015 were related to pollution in America. Pollution alone could create lifelong hea...

“There’s nothing like doing things with other people’s money.” President Donald Trump

March 22, 2020 – Every US president since Reagan has added hundreds of billions to the national debt compared to his predecessor. President Trump may top all the previous presidents by having an estimated annual deficit of $1 trillion by 2020 or even sooner. Congress and the White House have been living on the backs of the younger generation since 1980 by continuing to s...

We are a compassionate society that strongly believes in equality and fairness. Such noble principles, however, are notably absent from our tax system, which is regressive rather than progressive, meaning that the effective tax rate decreases as income increases. For example, if one earns less than $113,700 in 2013, she will pay 7.65% in payroll taxes but will pay only 1.45% on any income above that amount.130 In addition, low or middle income families spend a higher percentage of their earn...