Remember that time you thought you were digging into a bowl of chocolate ice cream and you discovered with the first bite that you were eating rancid prunes instead? That’s the definition of unexpected. Conversely, if you are having a colonoscopy you know exactly what is happening to you. The procedure is a definition of “EXPECTED”. It is only the results that can be unexpected.
Which brings me to slow Joe Biden, Wall Street and the economy. I am thoroughly amused at the surprise among journalists that the New Green Deal and the Biden Economic plan are not turning up roses. Consider these recent headlines.
Let’s start with the electricity debacle in Texas. You cannot blame this on Democrats. This floating turd was created with enthusiastic Republican help. Governors Rick Perry and Greg Abbot–eager to pander to the climate change crowd–presided over the closure of gas and coal fired power plants in Texas and replacing the so-called dirty energy sources with clean wind turbines that were supposed to usher in a utopia of green, pristine power.
Whoops. They forgot to consider, what happens if winter comes and the thermometer falls below 32 degrees Farenheit? None of the masterminds of this green conversion had a contingency plan for hell freezing over. And when old man winter showed up in force this week, the turbines froze solid. This left Texans scrambling to find firewood and Coleman stoves in a bid to prevent frostbite. Too bad the massive buffalo herds that once roamed the Texas plains no longer exist–I hear that flaming Buffalo chips kept the American Indians quite warm in their wigwams. Sounds like a better alternative than wind. That was unexpected.
Guess what else is unexpected, i.e. a big damn unpleasant surprise? The economy. The smart guys and gals on Wall Street are betting on a slam dunk, guaranteed payoff for helping fund the fraudulent campaign of sleepy Joe Biden. They are betting on a surge in economic activity in the second half of 2021 flowing from a rapid roll-out of vaccination programs during the first half of the year and a subsequent reopening of nearly all sectors of a shackled economy.
In theory this should unleash enormous pent-up demand from frustrated consumers who have been stuck at home for a prolonged period and are eager to go back to work and school. The so-called geniuses of Wall Street are betting that record levels of fiscal support, backed up by easy cheap money from the Federal reserve (i.e., monetary authorities) has primed the U.S. economy for a Tsunami of consumer spending later this year.
So, that is the “EXPECTATION.” Now you can begin to understand what might be unexpected. The first blow came in December:
Retail Sales Unexpectedly Crashed in December
Excluding car and gasoline sales, retail sales fell 2.1 percent in the final month of 2020, data from the Commerce Department showed Friday. The prior month’s figure was revised down to show a 1.8 percent decline from the initial estimate of 0.8 percent, which means December was a bigger decline from a lower starting point.
The size of the downturn in sales caught economists by surprise. The consensus estimate was for just a 3-tenths of a percentage point decline.
Overall retail sales also declined by more than expected. These fell 0.7 percent for the month, worse than the flat to one-tenth of a point decline forecast. The prior month was revised down from a drop of 1.1 percent to a 1.4 percent decline.
I do not know about you and your family, but me and my gang have pulled back. Joe Biden does not inspire confidence. And his immediate actions via Executive Order, such as cancelling the Keystone XL pipeline and imposing a moratorium on fracking, are killing jobs instead of creating jobs. So, if you put people out of work what should you expect? Yep, more people seeking unemployment benefits.
But our economists and reporters are not good at logic and appear to have trouble with cause-and-effect. I woke up to this headline this morning:
US jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 861,000 amid chip shortage
“UNEXPECTEDLY?” Seriously? The last month is filled with flashing warning signs of future trouble. Sleepy Joe is making good on his non-promise promise to kill off the Trump energy boom. But that stupidity of Biden’s policies is being exposed as the supposed green energy solutions go belly up (e.g., frozen wind turbines) and workers from oil pipelines start queuing up at the local unemployment office.
And what about the O’Biden vaccination rollout? That too is a disaster. If you live in Florida it is not a problem. The vaccine is getting around and people from the wintry north are flocking here to get what they cannot find in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The vaccine snafu will put a further damper on unleashing consumer demand. When the anticipated robust recovery fails to appear we will once again be treated to headlines with the magic word, “UNEXPECTEDLY.”
Now you know what to expect. The Biden sychophants are going to be repeatedly surprised as their idiotic policies catch on fire and burn off their eyebrows and hair. Expect it.
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