1: US wages are growing…just not as quickly as prices. In real terms, most people are getting poorer. This could continue, as I fully expect prices to keep rising as the war puts global raw materials supply at risk. The question is: will incomes catch up?
For now, corporations seem to be benefiting from this predicament, as they’re passing cost increases off to the consumer and reporting record profits.
2: Lithium is a critical component used in the production of batteries - especially electric vehicle batteries. Demand for electric vehicles is soaring, pushing up the price of lithium as production can’t keep up. In fact, the International Energy Agency is predicting an annual lithium shortage of up to 1.7 million metric tons by the end of the decade.
3: Fed’s GDPNow model predicts Q1 GDP of 0%. As higher prices for everything from gas to bread bite further into consumer wallets in the coming months, I wouldn’t be surprised to see this number decline even further in the near future.