WOOSH, Shock-and-Awe Loss of Dollar Purchasing Power Hits Americans. Worst Inflation in 40 Years. Getting it Under Control Will Be a Bitch | Wolf Street

Fed Chair Jerome Powell s reaction to today s WOOSH inflation blowout, as captured by cartoonist Marco Ricolli for WOLF STREET.

The broadest Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) spiked by 0.8% in November from October, and by 6.8% from a year ago, the highest since June 1982, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics today.

But it gets better. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), the index upon which the Social Security COLAs are based, spiked by 7.6% in November year-over-year exceeding even Mexico s soaring inflation rate and the worst since January 1982.

But in January 1982, inflation was coming down; now inflation is surging. At the time, the Fed s short-term interest rates were over 13%; now they re still near 0%, and the Fed is still printing $105 billion in the current period from mid-November through mid-December, though it will reduce the money printing further.

Nearly all interest rates and yields, including on risky junk bonds, are now negative in real terms. This the Powell Fed that unleashed this monster and has been feeding it month after month has got to be the most reckless Fed ever.

via wolfstreet.com

Well, this is worrisome.