What we’re reading (5/12)
“Consumer Prices Jumped As Economic Recovery Picked Up” (Wall Street Journal). “The Labor Department reported its consumer-price index jumped 4.2% in April from a year earlier, up from 2.6% for the year ended in March. That is the highest 12-month level since the summer of 2008. Consumer prices increased a seasonally adjusted 0.8% in April from March. The index measures what consumers pay for goods and services, including clothes, groceries, restaurant meals, recreational activities and vehicles.”
“Used Cars, Travel And Furniture Are Just Some Of Things That Are Getting More Expensive” (CNN Business). “Just about everything is getting more expensive in the United States as the stimulus-fueled economy rebounds and Americans are again spending on shopping, traveling and eating out. But the pandemic is far from over, and supply-chain woes mean supply isn't meeting demand -- sending prices even higher. Nearly all major components of the government's inflation measure increased in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Wednesday.”
“Gas Shortages Intensify In Southeast, With 71 Percent Of Charlotte Stations Now Dry” (Washington Post). “More than 70 percent of the gas stations in Charlotte have run dry as panic-buying exacerbated fuel shortages throughout the Southeast in the aftermath of a hack that shuttered the Colonial Pipeline. Roughly 60 percent of the stations in metropolitan Atlanta were also out of fuel Wednesday morning, according to Patrick De Haan, an oil analyst at GasBuddy. At the state level, nearly 25 percent of the stations were without fuel in North Carolina, 15 percent in Virginia and Georgia, and 13 percent in South Carolina, De Haan said on Twitter”
“Through the Roof” (City Journal). “Policymakers need to recognize that the roots of the housing shortage lie not in financial speculation but in government regulation. Localities have made it practically illegal to build enough housing to meet demand, leading to inflated home prices. America is building homes at its slowest rate in 60 years, worsening a supply problem that has been decades in the making. Investors are snapping up homes because of supply restrictions, not in spite of them. The only answer to a housing shortage is to build more housing.”
“SoftBank Broke Profit Records. Can It Keep Up the Pace?” (DealBook). “A year ago, SoftBank disclosed its biggest-ever operating loss, and its voluble founder, Masa Son, spoke ruefully of the ‘valley of coronavirus’ that ensnared its investments. Now, thanks to huge I.P.O.s, the tech giant is setting a different — and much happier — record.”
