"Inflation? Deflation? Disinflation? Stagflation?
Hedge Fund Manager Doug Kass has unveiled a news term: "Screwflation" which encompasses all the themes FMMF has been sounding the warning alarm on. What is Screwflation?
Screwflation, like it's first cousing stagflation, is an expression of a period of slow and uneven economic growth, but, it's potential inflationary consequences have an outsized impact on a specific group. The emergence of screwflation hurts just the group that you want to protect --namely, the middle class, a segment of the population that has already spent a decade experiencing an erosion in disposable income and a painful period (at least over the past several years) of lower stock and home prices. Importantly, quantitative easing (QE) is designed to lower real interest rates and, at the same time, raise inflation. A lower interest rate policy hurts the savings classes -- both the middle class and the elderly. And inflation in the costs of food, energy and everything else consumed (without a concimitant increase in salaries) will screw the average American who doesn't benefit from QE2."
I couldn't say it better myself!
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