Inflation

A year ago, many economists were predicting a recession in 2023. It didn’t happen, and inflation has fallen sharply. The consensus outlook is a bit rosier, arguing that 2024 will also avoid a downturn. But a recession delayed is not one denied, economist Elliot Eisenberg argued before a large crowd of Denver area real estate agents gathered Thursday morning for the Denver Metro Association of Realtors Economic Summit. “Nothing is awful, but I do think that we get a recession,” said Eisenberg, who doubled down after his…

Tennesee State Capitol – Photo by Ron Cogswell on Flickr Tennessee has started the process of hiking its EV registration fee from $100 to $274 per year and beyond, aiming to continue hiking the fees in perpetuity, further increasing the disproportionately high taxes paid by EVs in the state as compared to gas cars. We’ve covered many times before how misguided these taxes are, not least of which because they are a cynical lobbying ploy by the oil industry to disadvantage a better…

The Maersk Sentosa container ship sails southbound to exit the Suez Canal in Suez, Egypt, on Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023.Stringer | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAttacks on ships in the Red Sea continue to push ocean freight rates higher, triggering warnings of inflation and delayed goods. To avoid strikes by Iran-backed Houthi militants based in Yemen, carriers have already diverted more than $200 billion in trade over the past several weeks away from the crucial Middle East trade route, which, along with the Suez Canal, connects…

Pedestrians carrying Nike and Allbirds shopping bags in the SoHo neighborhood of New York on Oct. 24, 2021.Nina Westervelt | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesAfter years of unbridled consumer spending on everything from home improvement to dream vacations, some companies are now finding the limits of their pricing power.Shipping giant FedEx last week said customers have shied away from speedier, pricier shipping options. Airlines including Southwest discounted off-peak fares in the fall. The likes of Target and Cheerios maker…

Leaders in Colorado school districts are trying to solve a big problem: They want to attract and retain teachers, bus drivers and other educators, but the state’s high cost of living keeps outpacing employees’ wages even after administrators dole out raises. So now they’re entering the housing market themselves. Districts are building tiny homes, becoming landlords and partnering with developers so that they can find ways to either lease housing to their employees at below-market rates or make homeownership possible for…

Coloradan taxpayers can each expect an extra $800 back when they file their state income tax returns early next year, state officials said Wednesday. The refund is based on revenue collected above the cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, or TABOR, the state constitutional amendment passed by voters in 1992 to limit the growth of government. Unlike in 2022, when taxpayers received a check in the mail, people will collect the money through their tax filings in the form of higher refunds or reduced tax bills. Overall,…

The tide turned against inflation.Artificial intelligence went mainstream — for good or ill. Labor unions capitalized on their growing might to win more generous pay and benefits. Elon Musk renamed and rebranded the social media platform Twitter, removed guardrails against phony or obscene posts and ranted profanely when advertisers fled in droves.The American housing market, straining under the weight of heavy mortgage rates, took a wallop.And Taylor Swift's concert tour scaled such stratospheric heights that she…

Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 28.20 per cent in November from 27.33 per cent in the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Friday. The statistics office said the November 2023 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.87 per cent points when compared to the October 2023 headline inflation rate. The NBS said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.73 per cent points higher compared to the rate recorded in November 2022, which was 21.47 per cent. “This shows…

Gasoline prices dropped by nearly a fifth between September and November and meat and poultry prices fell by 6.7% in metro Denver, leading to the first bi-monthly decline in consumer inflation in 14 months, according to an update Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Between September and November, prices in Denver fell by 0.34%. This was the first two-month period of deflation since September of last year,” said Cole Anderson, a research analyst with the Common Sense Institute, in an emailed report. The…

Electric vehicles, both new and used, remain more expensive than comparable models that are gasoline-powered. But the gap is closing rapidly. After skyrocketing during the pandemic, used car prices across the board are softening, with the average annual decline running 3.6% in Denver and 5.1% nationally as of October, according to a study from online car shopping site iSeeCars. For used electric vehicles (EVs), prices are down by about a third nationally in the past year. And if that trend continues, it is only a matter…