Inflation was a touch below expectations in July, and they are stating it again. President Joe Biden has declared that the economy is at its bottom and that prosperity is within reach.

CNN and other state institutions can tell the story.

The news is causing markets to be more alert than usual. This could be because traders are expecting the Fed to find any excuse to stop interest rate increases.

Since our recent victory over Eastasia, I haven’t seen such a big celebration. Oceania has been at war with Oceania for years. Except if we have always been at war against Eurasia.

It’s difficult to remember what to believe, just like the wonderful economic news.

It’s not all bad, 8.5% is better that the 9.1% annual rate last month. It still adds to the 5.4% increase in “high-class” and “transitory”, which was 5.4% at this time last year.

Inflation will eventually decline, as I stated on Twitter in June

That’s the end of the good news, so it is.

At 5.9%, so-called core inflation is unchanged from last month.

Falling food and gas prices are not something to celebrate. This temporary food price relief is unlikely to last. The full impact of droughts and fertilizer shortages has yet to be felt. A large cull has caused beef prices to drop. Prices will rise because the next herds of cattle will be smaller.

Gas prices are still at $4, which is nearly double what they were when Biden was elected. If his administration does not end its war on domestic oil production, $2.20 gasoline will still be in the rearview mirror.

The real measure of the economy under Biden’s tax-and-spend and borrow-and-regulate regime is take-home pay.

ZeroHedge offers the dreadful chart:

Bidenflation is Inflation

They also noted that the inflation-adjusted weekly salary is “down for an unprecedented 16th consecutive month.”

Biden has been in office only 18 months. Americans have been saved from poverty since Biden signed the American Rescue Act (insert bitter laughter here) into law in March 2021.

While we can debate whether or not the economy is in recession, high inflation, low growth, and mounting debt all indicate stagflation.

We have spent and regulated our ways into this mess. Biden believes that we can get out of it if we spend and regulate more.

Biden’s First Rule of Holes – When in one, get a bigger shovel using other people’s money.

UPDATE: This news is even better than the first one, comrades!

The July inflation rate was actually…

…wait for it…

Zero percent.

These words were spoken out loud by the man who read them. He read the script.

This room is so stale that we are only one Zippo away from a succession crisis.