The Economics President, Continued
New inflation and consumer confidence numbers.
So, it turns out that when you start a war of choice with no clear exit plan in the region that produces a substantial amount of the world’s energy, you might create inflationary pressures.
Who knew?
In fact, most experts knew, but we apparently do not employ those people anymore.
A lot of regular, minimally informed people knew as well.
But hey, whaddya gonna do?
CNBC Reports: Consumer prices rose 3.3% in March, as energy prices spiked due to Iran conflict.
The consumer price index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.9% for the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 3.3%, pushed by a 10.9% surge in energy costs. Both numbers were in line with the Dow Jones consensus. The annual rate was the highest since April 2024 and up from 2.4% in February.
Huh. I wonder what happened about a month ago?
Meanwhile, also via CNBC: Consumer sentiment hits record low, inflation fears rise amid Iran war.
Consumer confidence plunged to a record low in April as fears mounted over rising energy prices and the broader impact of the Iran war, according to a University of Michigan survey Friday.
The university’s headline index of consumer sentiment tumbled to 47.6, down 10.7% from the March survey to its lowest on record. Current conditions and expectations indexes also saw double-digit monthly declines.
The drop in sentiment coincided with a sharp spike in inflation expectations, with respondents seeing prices up 4.8% in a year from now, a full percentage point rise from the March reading to its highest since August 2025. The one-year outlook in April 2025 was 6.5% following President Donald Trump’s “liberation day” tariff announcement.
Charles Franklin has more here: Second Term Worse than the First.
On April 10, the Michigan survey reported consumer sentiment at 47.6, a record low in polling dating back to 1952. Four of the 5 lowest values ever have come in the last 4 years, with two in the Biden administration in June and July 2022 at 50.0 and 51.5 respectively (at the peak of the inflation surge), and in November 2025 with an index at 51.0, in addition to the current all time low. The 5th lowest index ever was 51.7 in May 1980. In short, despite objective measures of GDP, unemployment and inflation having been far worse in some earlier years, Americans are stunningly sour on the economy,
He provides some recent historical context:
Read the whole thing.
Meanwhile, this is concerning.
It’s all as if electing a man whose resume was built on gaudy marketing schemes, ghost-written books, and a reality TV show to be the leader of the most powerful country in the world was a bad idea.
That is not any where near as bad as electing a stupid, ignorant fellow who happens to be an extreme example of malignant narcissism that is amplified by significantly progressed senile dementia.