http://money.cnn.com/…

In another indication of growing inflation, wholesale prices increased in July to the highest annual rate in 27 years, according to a government report released Tuesday.

The annual Producer Price Index for finished goods rose 9.8% in the 12 months that ended in July.

The jump in wholesale prices is the fastest rate of increase since a 10.4% bump-up in June 1981, according to Joseph Kowal, economist at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Labor Department also reported that PPI rose 1.2% in July, after increasing 1.8% in June. Analysts polled by Briefing.com had expected an increase of only 0.6%.

The surge in producer prices is in large part due to higher energy prices, said Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist for ChannelCapitalResearch.com.

Crude oil prices doubled in the 12 months through July, but have since fallen nearly 24% from their peak hit last month.

The latest PPI report doesn’t reflect the recent drop in crude prices, but Roberts expects future readings to ease.

“The topline is a bit behind the curve - that will fall in the future,” he said. “Right now, it has not really taken into account the recent decrease in energy prices.”

Core inflation: The so so-called core PPI number, which excludes food and energy prices, rose by 0.7% - more than the 0.2% increase analysts had expected.

The core inflation index is “the more long term rate” because it indicates how much inflation “is seeping into the economy” beyond the volatile energy prices, said Roberts.

The index for finished goods other than foods and energy has advanced by 3.5% in the past year, according to the report.

Food and energy: The indexes that measure producers’ food and energy prices increased in July, but at a more moderate pace than in the previous two months.

Energy prices rose by 3.1%, after a 6.0% jump in energy prices in June and a 4.9% jump in May. In the 12 months through July, prices for finished energy goods have surged 28%.

Food prices rose by only 0.3% in July, after increasing by 1.5% in June and 0.8% in May. In a year-over-year comparison, prices for finished consumer foods have increased by 8.7%, according to the report.

The much more moderate increase in food prices in July compared with June is the one bright spot in the otherwise glum inflation report, according to Roberts.

Even though energy prices in July were still on the rise last month, “if you are seeing the other big component of inflation go down a bit, that could indicate a positive for the future,” he said.

The government reported last week that the the Consumer Price Index jumped by 0.8% in July, which was twice the increase that economists had expected.

And don’t forget that consumer price inflation is at 5.6%. Highest in 17 years. Assuming you can trust the government’s numbers. Which you can’t. So maybe double that.

Fun isn’t it? Thank the Federal Reserve, Congress, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke.

Just received this in my mailbox:

August 14, 2008 (New York, NY) – ServiceNation, a diverse new coalition of more than 100 organizations dedicated to expanding voluntary community and national service opportunities, today announced that it has selected Facebook as its lead social media partner.

The partnership with Facebook will support ServiceNation’s effort to build a national, grassroots movement of Americans who volunteer, share service experiences, and build community around the idea that citizen service can help transform our democracy. ServiceNation aims to elevate the ideal of voluntary service as a core element of citizenship, and the coalition is targeting specific social problems with proven service strategies (http://www.servicenation.org).

Facebook will support ServiceNation and the upcoming ServiceNation Summit with a number of key resources, including technical expertise and advertising. Facebook will help ServiceNation build its presence on Facebook, create awareness and community through the use of Facebook’s tools, and engage Facebook users in a number of critical ServiceNation campaign initiatives.

“Facebook is already a place where people are acting on their interests and ideals, connecting with each other and sharing information that can lead to meaningful change,” said Elliot Schrage, Vice President, Global Communications and Public Policy, Facebook. “Through this partnership with ServiceNation we can be part of an historic effort to inspire Americans to act together to get more directly involved in and connected to their real-life communities.”

“Facebook has itself made history by helping millions across the world to come together by connecting and communicating in an easy to use, state-of-the-art online environment,” said Michael Brown, CEO of City Year, one of four organizations (along with Be the Change, Inc., Civic Enterprises, and Points Of Light Institute) that did the initial work to lead non-profit organizers of the ServiceNation coalition together. “Using Facebook’s highly-regarded organizing tools, we hope to channel the idealism and energy of our citizens into real-world action that can promote the ideal of voluntary service.”

The ServiceNation campaign will kick-off with a September 11th Presidential Candidates Forum on citizenship and service, featuring Sen. John McCain (Sen. Obama has also been invited) and moderated by TIME Magazine Managing Editor Richard Stengel. The second day of the ServiceNation Summit will include distinguished leaders from American business, government, and leading non-profit institutions including New York Governor David Paterson, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Caroline Kennedy, Alma Powell of America’s Promise Alliance, Vartan Gregorian of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Bill Novelli, CEO of AARP, and Laysha Ward, President, Community Relations and Target Foundation.

The Summit is convened and underwritten by a grant from Carnegie Corporation, and presented by TIME, AARP and Target. The keynote address will be delivered by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who earlier this year became the first governor to create a cabinet post dedicated to service and volunteering.

The ultimate vision of ServiceNation is an America in which, by 2020, 100 million citizens will volunteer time in schools, workplaces, and faith-based and community institutions each and every year (up from 61 million today), and that increasing numbers of Americans annually will commit a year of their lives to national service.

To that end, the Summit will endorse a Declaration of Service that all Americans will be able to sign—in person or online—to declare their support for the idea that citizen service can strengthen our communities, unite and engage Americans in shared sacrifice, and help build a better future. And two weeks after the Summit, on Sept. 27, ServiceNation will stage a national Day of Action where tens of thousands of Americans will gather at hundreds of events across the country to celebrate the power and potential of citizen service. ServiceNation will use Facebook as a key tool to organize and drive both these initiatives.

ServiceNation’s bipartisan Summit Leadership Council includes mayors, governors, former senators and leaders from every sector of American society (full list is available at http://tinyurl.com/617vju). Major supporters of ServiceNation, in addition to AARP, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Target, and TIME, include the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, The Home Depot Foundation, Bank of America, Case Foundation, Charina Endowment Fund, and James J. Jensen, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and Goldman Sachs.

Not that I really use it but I may be deleting my Facebook account. I’ll be sure to make it clear this is why.

I caught a bit of Bill Richardson on CNN this morning. Where I came in in the interview they were talking about the backlash Barak Obama is getting from his supporters for changing his position on the recent FISA bill passed in the Senate. From being opposed to the telecom immunities and saying he would filibuster if it was kept to voting for closure and the bill itself.

Richardson tries to explain away Obama’s position change saying in effect: “That’s just the realities of politics when running for president. He [Obama] has said when he’s in office he will see how the law is working and act accordingly.” What’s the realities? That you don’t have a spine? That special interests tell you what to do?

Then they change topics to energy and how the government is going to solve this supposed problem. They show a clip from an anti-McCain ad which critisizes him for wanting to allow drilling because it will take upwards of 7 years “to get the first drop of oil.” So complaining he doesn’t have a short term solution. The interviewer brings up that Obama doesn’t have much of a short term plan either. They quote things from his energy plan which go into effect in 2025, 2050, etc. Richardson hems and haws and beats around the bush. He just goes on to say that drilling is a good idea, as long as it’s not in nice places like Alaska.

Whatever the case these guys piss me off. Yes, I know, they are just acting like typical politicians but still. I’ve heard so much bullshit from people about how he’s different. Gotten into discussions on why he should be supported because he’s different. He’s not. It’s obvious to anyone not awestruck.

http://www.campaignforliberty.com/…

Ron Paul gave a speech on the House floor today condemning the “virtual war resolution” soon to be considered by the House of Representatives. This bill already has 208 co-sponsors, and will likely be voted on after the 4th of July holiday. A related bill is being worked on in the Senate, with 29 Cosponsors. Many of the cosponsors are Democrats. Who says the Democratic Party is the anti-war party? You can see the video of Dr. Paul speaking out forcefully against this resolution here, sadly to a nearly empty House chamber.

It is time for Americans to join together against this insanity. Please take the time to understand your representative’s position on this resolution, and let him or her know that the American people do not want another war. Below is an unofficial transcript of Dr. Paul’s speech:

Read More…

http://www.forbes.com/…

China’s decision to raise fuel prices is unlikely to have much of an impact on demand, which is the fundamental cause of inflation, Morgan Stanley said in a note.

‘It seems to us that the government is trying to cope with the near-term financial difficulties of refiners and IPPs (independent power producers) rather than trying to depress demand,’ the note said.

The regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission, said last night that it would raise gasoline and diesel prices by 1,000 yuan per ton and jet fuel by 1,500 yuan per ton, effective from today.

The government has also raised electricity tariffs for industrial consumers and announced caps on cap coal prices.

Morgan Stanley (nyse: MS - news - people ) said the price hikes will also add more inflationary pressure to China’s economy, making it less likely that the government will permit more significant power tariff rises in the next few months.

It said that while there will be a temporary improvement in the performance of China’s refiners and independent power producers, the ‘underlying imbalance is not fixed’ and more inflationary pressures are expected.

‘Inflation can only be fixed by controlling demand, not prices,’ Morgan Stanley said.

‘When the regulators focus on pricing control, the imbalance only deepens and earnings visibility becomes worse. Our market de-rating call still holds.’

This is just what I was talking about beetlbumjl. They can’t continue to have artificially low prices without consequences. Of course this retard from Morgan Stanley needs to head back to economics class. Inflation can be controlled by the government… by not printing more money i.e. monetizing debt. What he is really referring to is the increase in prices as a result of higher demand. That’s not “inflation.”

If we look back just a few years we can see that there has been a remarkable shift in the definition. I don’t know of any word which has gone through such a translation without having prior or secondary meanings still listed. My conspiracist sense is tingling.

Regardless, the Chinese government has kicked a bucket of water and is now trying desperately to stop the waves by shaking it. If they allow the natural price of fuel to return that would slow consumption. The demand for energy is likely not going to be reduced but naturally higher prices will incentivize entrepreneurs to find new, cheaper energy sources when compared to oil.

Update:

Just on CNN they were talking about this. The mentioned that Saudi Arabia was wanting to talk about strengthening the dollar and the anchor said that “that would likely bring prices down.” Well of course it would. Oil is traded in US dollars. The US dollar is the reserve currency for much of the world. So if the dollar is worth less, in turn leading to other currencies being worth less, then oil will cost more. If the dollar is worth more then less dollars are needed to purchase the same unit of oil. Therefore prices must drop otherwise the value of oil would have to be rising at the same time. The same anchor said that increasing the prices would limit demand. That’s sort of true in that the higher costs may divert people to other means however in the larger view it’s a ridiculous statement. The demand, as in the desire for a energy source, is still the same or increasing. It’s just less consumable because of higher costs.