Wed, 10 Aug 22 00:01:17 +0000

Inflation still sucks, but we'll take the relief we can get

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(CNN Business)It's August. It's an ideal time to check the economic situation in late summer. All of Wall Street is in the Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard. Even the Fed is dozing off until September. Pour a cold glass of rosé or something and talk about inflation.

Where am I? how do you feel?

Well, it took us about 8,000 years, but we finally got a little out of inflation.

There are some bright spots for consumers:

Look, we're not dancing in the inflation graveyard here, but what we can get

We'll have an official update on Wednesday when the July Consumer Price Index report is released. Most economists expect last month's inflation rate to drop to 8.7% from 9.1% in June. Again, this is not great. Still at historically high standards, but moving in the right direction.

Conclusion

Cooling inflation is good news, but some of the factors behind it... are not that great. Ultimately, people are holding back on spending as he struggles to make ends meet after a year of relentless price increases that far outstrip wage growth. Recession fears are real, and even if inflation peaks, a return to pre-pandemic levels is unlikely anytime soon.

Number of Days: $5,000

New estimate by research firm Cornwall Insights. This means that nearly a third of households will face so-called fuel shortages, with incomes below the poverty line after paying for energy.

Sacred Blue!

He here at Nightcap HQ takes food news so seriously that when he heard there was a shortage of mustard in France, he had to do some digging.

The contract is as follows: I love mustard. According to The New York Times, they are the world's largest consumers of condiments, consuming about 2.2 pounds per person each year .Is it as essential as butter? No. But it's right there. And now, due to the one-two punch of climate change and war, many grocery shelves are empty, and people notoriously food-obsessed are scrambling for alternatives.

"I don't think I've ever seen anything like this," says Marc Desalmenien, owner of Maison Farrow. This family-owned business has been producing mustard for generations — you're not — Dijon. (Did you all know that Dijon is a place for more than just a style of mustard? Fascinating. Just like champagne elsewhere is sparkling white wine? Anyway, I digress ...)

``My grandfather lived through two world wars and the post-war period when France had ration tickets, but there was still mustard!'' Désarménien tells colleague Camille Knight. "Now, in Lille, Marseille, Bordeaux and Strasbourg, there is no mustard left. Within hours they are all sold out."

What happened?

There are several, but both are large-scale disasters that do far more damage than condiments.

1. Climate change. Your Dijon may be genuine Dijon, but the seeds themselves are grown in a region of Canada that has been hit by extreme heat that favors global warming. It cuts the normal yield in half.

Naturally, mustard makers look elsewhere to grow mustard seeds, right? Yes. But there is a problem...

2. The other top exporters of his mustard seed happen to be *note* Ukraine and Russia. Who, you know, is a little crazy.

BOTTOM LINE

It's really hard to substitute the taste of mustard. People are experimenting with all sorts of concoctions with tahini, wasabi and horseradish. It's pretty tough.

But there are bright spots. Canada's Ministry of Agriculture is predicting higher yields for the next harvest, which should help get production back to normal.

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