Undoubtedly, high fuel costs in their 3rd year (and 4th of 5) will drive up costs overall. But the Fed is promising to attack inflation aggressively. It’s no surprise, then, that wages are falling (against cost of living).
The reduced disposable income numbers has hurt sale of snack foods, candy, soft drinks. The Dow is about to dip below 10,000.
Perhaps the Fed needs to allow cash to rise to levels consistent with the real cost of fuel. By my calculation, that’s a 25 basis points cut and throwing in some cash to boot.