PPI: The Real Story They Won't Tell You

Generated Title: The Economy's Still a Mess? Shocker.

Okay, so "official government data" finally trickled in, and surprise, surprise, retail sales are up a whole 0.2%. Pat yourselves on the back, America. We're clearly not headed for total economic collapse.

Give me a break.

Consumer Splurge? More Like Desperation Spending

This whole "consumer splurge" narrative they're pushing? Let's be real, it's people racking up debt to buy basic necessities. I saw a dude at Walmart the other day practically sweating trying to decide between generic mac and cheese and paying his damn electric bill. Splurge? That ain't splurging. That's survival.

And this "K-shaped recovery" bullshit? It's just a fancy way of saying the rich are getting richer while everyone else is drowning. Lauren Saidel-Baker, some economist from ITR Economics (whoever the hell they are), says the "lower end" is getting squeezed. Ya think? Maybe if these talking heads spent a week trying to live on minimum wage, they'd understand what "squeezed" really means.

I mean, are we really supposed to be impressed that the middle to upper income bracket is "comfortable"? They're always comfortable. That's the damn point. They're insulated from the real world.

PPI: Proof Inflation's a Roach Motel

Then there's the Producer Price Index (PPI), which apparently "increased 0.3% in September." Sounds harmless enough, right? Wrong. What Saidel-Baker really said is that "inflation can be sticky and persistent." Translation: it ain't going away anytime soon. It's like a damn roach motel – prices check in, but they don't check out. For more details, see What September's retail sales and PPI report show us.

And offcourse, nobody wants to talk about why prices are so damn high. Supply chain issues? Corporate greed? A complete lack of government oversight? Take your pick. It's probably all of the above.

Transportation costs are up, too. Air, rail, truck—all more expensive. Water's down a bit, but who the hell ships anything by water these days besides Amazon and their army of container ships? Transportation Producer Price Index – September 2025 has further information on this topic.

I get it, I get it... the shutdown delayed the reports. Fine. But the delay doesn't change the fact that the economy is still a dumpster fire for most people. We're all just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic here.

It's like that feeling when you're driving and the "low fuel" light comes on. You know you need to stop, but you keep driving, hoping you can make it to the next gas station. And then you run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. That's where we're at. Except instead of gas, it's money, and instead of a gas station, it's... well, I don't even know what the economic equivalent of a gas station is anymore. A bailout? A stimulus check? Whatever it is, it's probably too little, too late.

I'm Officially Done Pretending It's Okay

The numbers don't lie, people. They just get spun to make us think everything's fine. It ain't.