Sunday, April 14, 2024

National Economies 4-14-24

Global Inflation is running high in many countries. Economies were affected by war, natural disasters, past 0% interest rates, Covid, money printing, government overspending, supply chain changes, high debt to GDP, economic illiteracy, unnecessary distractions and poor math skills. In a free-market economy inflation is controlled by supply and demand. If supply goes down, prices go up. If supply goes up, prices go down.  

The importance of the economy is critical for developed countries. It requires energy to produce electricity and infrastructure investment. It requires strategic planning to ensure that investments can be repaid and that there will be consumers to purchase what these countries plan to sell. It requires smart leaders who understand economics and resist being distracted. Their plans need to allow families to accumulate generational wealth. Their plans need to seek out high-value commodities. Economies have histories that reveal past mistakes and misfortunes. Citizens need to be aware of their own economic histories to avoid past mistakes.

Undeveloped and failed countries need to ensure that families are able to provide water, food and shelter for themselves. They also need to gage education to their circumstances and prepare the next generation to be motivated to pursue a path forward.

Many poor countries have limitations like low arable land and natural disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanos and tsunamis. These countries need to develop strategies to protect populations and rebuild infrastructure.

Many poor countries have leaders who are not equipped to deal with their circumstances and citizens need to be careful who they elect or allow to govern.

Inflation is highest in the following countries.

Country      %Inflation   Cause

Zimbabwe   284.94      poor math skills

Venezuela   210          poor math skills

Sudan         154.91     protracted breakaway

Turkey         73.13      asleep at the wheel

Argentina    72.37       round 4 of socialism

Sri Lanka    48.19       banning nitrogen

Suriname    47.56       poor math skills

Yemen        43.85       terrorist takeover

Iran             39.99       terrorist takeover

Ethiopia      33.64       protracted rebel breakaway

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/inflation-rate-by-country/#top-inflation-rate-countries-2023

Another list of high inflation was posted earlier.

Turkey         61.36       poor math skills and declining currency

Sierra Leon 54.48       weak Lira and high food costs

Surinam      43.4         poor math skills

Iran             39.2         government subsidies for terrorist groups

Congo         37.6         poor math skills and high food costs

Egypt          35.8         poor math skills and high food costs

Ghana        35.2          poor math skills and high food costs

Cuba          34.14        no oil, no spare parts and no fertilizer

Pakistan     29.2          high oil and food costs

Ethiopia      29.2          civil war and high energy costs

Myanmar    28.58        lower family income and higher prices

Nigeria       27.33        higher food prices

Malawi        26.9         higher food prices

Burundi      26.47        poor math skills and high food prices

Laos           25.83        poor math skills and weak currency

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/20-countries-highest-inflation-2023-144808256.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAACRIY4j_B4TxZhPo3szx3jNTrf3rVEN2viyxsRrQAQEIczu2Xwyo1OWt15CXdPWix7FsPYw_xN1TkdvUjqAaZG_B5qfxoxaj4A40GqE3JrrKd2URV4iFX8O3aTNcMefTanrymu6kAg12WhwribYcmY2xt_d_8_oppHSNeWjeuQoz

In the US, real inflation is over 30%. The cost of living in the US requires average incomes from $30,000 to $42,000 per year. In large cities, the average incomes required are from $60,000 to $84,000. Home ownership is 65.7% and 34.3% are renters. US average rent cost is $1713/mo. or $20,556/yr. 40% of homeowners or 33 million US households have paid off their mortgages.

The high food prices are driven by high energy prices due to lower production of natural gas to produce nitrogen for food production and the higher cost of fuel to run the supply chains.  The Russia Ukraine war lowered wheat production from 33M tons to 21.5M tons.  Several countries also boated too close to the rocks and allowed their currencies to become devalued.  Borrowing costs went up as infrastructure projects continued.  Covid affected the economies of many countries and the US reentry into Climate Change Hoax and fossil fuel curtailment couldn’t have happened at a worse time.

Poorly managed countries took their interest rate to zero and printed too much money. Borrowed money was squandered with stock speculation, failed investments and government spending mis-allocations.

Bidens overspending and his war on oil and natural gas caused production to decrease and that caused energy prices and food prices to increase.  Problems with war and supply chains contributed to inflation. Now these countries have a high debt to GDP and interest rates have increased. Government national debt is now causing taxpayers to pay higher interest rates on their debt.

These problems will have to be solved by increasing the supply of everything that costs too much in order to lower all prices. Those government leaders who caused these problems need to be replaced by leaders who will take the actions needed to increase the supply of everything that is overpriced. The cost of government is too high. The cost of energy is too high. The cost of war is too high.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

 

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