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To: nextrade! who wrote (17103)	2/10/2004 8:33:15 PM
From: Lizzie Tudor	Respond to of 306849

thanks, I had heard something peripheral about the seasonal adjustments, but since the number 112K was so low anyway I didn't bother to look into it. No wonder the WH is scrambling. I actually think there is a chance of overprotectionism on this matter of jobs now, because people like Edwards are actually against the entire concept of free trade. In my case I am not against free trade at a corporate level, I just don't think it can be fought at the individual level by a US worker with a mortgage vs. some 3rd world pennyless victim. Moderation is the answer imho, but this white house is so extreme they won't do anything and the workforce is collapsing. The other situation of protectionism is just as bad. Conclusion: we're screwed! <ggg>

To: nextrade! who wrote (17103)	2/11/2004 1:04:08 PM
From: nextrade!	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 306849

Inflation is Everywhere Jim Puplava Feb 10, 2004 kitco.com Grocery prices at the supermarkets are up over 50% over the last three years. Service costs from the local dentist and the family doctor to the local plumber are all up double digits. Medical premiums are starting to skyrocket again and the cost of sending junior to college requires more equity extraction and second mortgages to pay for tuition. On a day-to-day basis, the cost of just about everything the family needs keeps going up. Yet, Washington and Wall Street keep telling households that inflation rates remain low. They are low because government statisticians have removed price increases from the cost of most goods by counting quality improvements as price reductions. There is no inflation on paper, but it visible everywhere you look on the price of things you need. Unions are striking for higher wages and benefits. Supermarket workers in California have been on strike for over 4 months protesting their having to share in the cost of medical care. Employers are finding it difficult to shoulder the burden of healthcare costs and are forced to require employees to share in part of the costs. The financial press keeps talking about low inflation, but employers and employees face rising prices. At this point it is either cut benefits or start raising prices--prices of things that are never counted in the monthly inflation statistics. There is a growing gap between what the average American has to spend each month in order to live and what is reported in the financial press as inflation. When prices get high enough, politicians will start looking for demons to castigate when the real inflation demon is government.