Money versus Monetary Policy

Surging Services Costs Spark Unexpected Surge In US Producer Prices In January US Producer Prices came in hotter than expected in January, with the headline PPI rising 0.5% MoM (vs +0.3% exp), higher than the revised +0.4% MoM in December. This left Producer Prices up 2.9% YoY (hotter than expected but below December's +3.0%)... Source: Bloomberg Under the hood, we see a surge in Services costs (not tariff related) dominated the rise in PPI (while Energy saw deflation) Final demand services: The index for final demand services advanced 0.8% in January, the largest...

UK High Court Backs Facial Recognition Rollout Authored by Kit Knightly via OffGuardian.org, Yesterday evening, the UK’s High Court ruled in favour of the Metropolitan Police in a legal challenge pertaining to the use of Live Facial Recognition Technology (LFR) across London’s transport network. The case had been brought by Silkie Carlo of Big Brother Watch and Shaun Thompson, a youth worker who was previously misidentified by the technology, “over concerns it could be used arbitrarily or in a discriminatory way”. Specifically, their lawyers argued that the current powers claimed by police governing the...

Trump Admin Sues California To Block Electric Vehicle Mandate Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times, The Justice and Transportation Departments filed a lawsuit against California on Thursday to stop what they say is an illegal electric vehicle (EV) requirement, alleging that the state is mandating fuel economy standards that federal law places in the exclusive domain of the federal government. Attorney General Pamela Bondi and Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced the lawsuit, which was filed for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The suit takes aim at regulations...