The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Told you so, XXXVI: US *core* inflation surges past Fed target (ping @mattcowgill)

There is no hiding from this data, Paul Krugman. Even the Fed's preferred core inflation measure is now running at a pace well above its 1.7% to 2%  target--and this is in an environment where growth is weak! From UBS overnight:

"Inflation continues to rise, more QE even less likely now: The core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) deflator jumped by 0.3% m/m or 1.2% y/y. On a three month annualized basis this series is now running at 2.2%(versus 0.3% pre-QE2). 2.2% is above the Fed’s implicit target range (from the central tendency forecast) of 1.7-2.0% and also suggests continued increases in the year-over-year rate are likely going forward. The headline deflator is running at 2.5% y/y (was up 0.2% m/m despite a 1.2% m/m drop in energy prices) although the ongoing decline in energy prices should limit further gains."

at 7:47 AM