Ed Note: This is a very half-assed (already in holiday mode) Open Thread.
Trump’s Tax Returns To Be Released To The Public. After a delay to redact SS #’s and the like:
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/20/us/trump-taxes-news
We’re looking at the last six years.
Rep Schiff says the DOJ is moving “way too slow.”
Elon Musk has said he will resign as Twitter’s chief executive officer when he finds someone “foolish enough to take the job”. (eg. the next time he looks in a mirror)
The billionaire had promised to abide by the result of a Twitter poll which saw 57.5% of users vote “yes” to him quitting the role. He says he will still run the software and servers teams after his replacement is found.
The premise here is that consumers have too much money and capital doesn’t have enough. Unfortunately Administration policy is for you to lose your jobs until inflation subsides.
Trump “repeatedly paid little or nothing in federal income taxes between 2015 and 2020 despite reporting millions in earnings,” Politico reported. That’s because even though he made tens of millions of dollars annually, he was able to claim business losses that offset that income, lowering his tax bill.
https://www.semafor.com/article/12/21/2022/all-the-revelations-from-the-release-of-trumps-tax-returns
You say Administration policy. I say fed policy. Democrats do not control the fed, which makes its own policy. The current chairman, Powell, was appointed by Trump. Keep that in mind. Even if not a MAGA, Powell will certainly lean toward big money positions, which include suppressing wages. The fed is not friendly to just grievances of labor, just the opposite.
For years political candidates on both sides have been promising “jobs, jobs, jobs.” Well now the jobs are here, and only the Fed can see this as a problem.
The Fed monetary response to inflation is kind of arbitrary. There are other ways to keep inflation low. Like break up monopolies to make businesses compete for their revenue, instead of sitting back and collecting rent. Or build public sector assets and services (housing, health) to compete with the price-gouging private sector.
But breaking up monopolies is not within the authority of the fed. That is the role of congress, who refuse to act.
As noted by Puck the burden of fighting inflation falls on the poor and middle class, every single time. The Fed strangles the economy, always with the the promise of a “soft landing”. After 67 years have yet to see it, the rate hikes always provoke a recession.