April 29: “Hello stagflation, my old friend…”

In which, stagflation makes its entirely predictable return to the US economy, Emmanuel Macron hangs on for an election win, and Elon Musk takes over at Twitter.

“Hello stagflation, my old friend…”

In comments made as recently as yesterday, President Biden continued to state his belief that the American economy is doing just fine. However, that comment was sandwiched between news of unexpected negative economic growth in the first quarter and the continued upwards climb of inflation. If this is the economy doing just fine, I’d hate to see what a Biden recession looks like. Unfortunately, we will have our chance to experience that if current trends continue. 

There’s a technical term for this particular combo of negative economic growth and inflation: stagflation. The last time we saw this phenomenon was in the 1970s, yet another unfortunate parallel to the Carter administration for President Biden.

Concerns over economic health are shifting to the housing market where the median home price in multiple urban areas is outstripping local median salaries, and home buyers can’t get the mortgages they need to afford housing. This may all seem like indicators of an impending crash, but there are still some who believe a housing market correction may not constitute a wholesale collapse.

With government finances a mess and the economy far less than stellar, the Biden administration backpedaled on forgiving student loans, which I’m sure will endear it to its progressive wing.

Bottom line: We’re living in a terrible economy, particularly for lower income families. The sooner we let a market correction happen the better. 

It’s Elon time at Twitter

Last week, Elon Musk was making a play for control of Twitter, Twitter’s board of directors took a “poison pill” in an attempt to dissuade Musk. Early this week, Musk responded by revealing he had additional funding capable of outweighing any advantage the poison pill option may have given Twitter, and the board accepted the inevitable: a $44 billion buyout. Twitter is now owned by Elon Musk, and…. People feel strongly about it.

Free speech advocates, long critical of Twitter’s heavy-handed (yet selective) censorship, were ecstatic at the prospect of a fellow free speecher running the ship while voices on the Left raised concerns about Twitter becoming… a terrible, unwelcoming place… because it hasn’t been that already apparently.

It’s Elon Musk, so my guess is that what he does with Twitter will not come close to fulfilling the fears or hopes of either side on this issue. Musk keeps his own counsel and beats his own drum. 

Amusingly, after taking over Twitter, Musk waster no time in taking a shot at Twitter knockoff/competitor Truth Social:

Elon gonna Elon. Between Netflix and Twitter news this last week, the Internet is changing.

It’s not just Covid anymore