RBA Should Abandon New 2.5% Inflation Goal, TCorp's Redican Says
'The focus on '2.5%' provides a false sense of precision about the ability of monetary policy to deliver a particular inflation rate two years ahead,' Redican said in a note Monday. 'Inflation will be more affected by what happens with oil prices or Donald Trump's trade policies than if the cash rate is 4.1% or 3.85%.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNET
9 minutes ago
- CNET
These Fast Food Restaurants Hiked Their Prices the Most Last Year
The days of "fast food" being "cheap food" are long gone, and prices seem to always be increasing. We can blame that phenomenon on rising inflation, and while a trip to a McDonald's drive-thru is still cheaper than settling in for a meal at your favorite steakhouse, it's far from inexpensive. In fact, prices soared in 2024 as some of the most well-known fast food chains hiked prices to make our favorite treats more costly than ever. Not all fast food is created equal, and one restaurant has increased its prices more than others. In fact, it doubled its menu item prices in the last decade. According to a survey conducted by Lending Tree, which surveyed 2,000 Americans, 78% of participants say they now view fast food as a luxury rather than a way to get a quick and cheap bite to eat while on the go. The question is, will those fast food prices continue to rise into 2025? Here's everything to know about fast food inflation, including which chains hiked their prices up the most last year and what may be on the horizon. Fast food price increases undefined Fast Food Chain Item McDonald's Quarter Pounder with Cheese Meal Four-piece McNugget Happy Meal Popeye's 4-piece Chicken Dinner Popeye's Popcorn Shrimp Combo Taco Bell's Beefy 5-Layer Burrito Taco Bell's Gordita Crunch Price increase between 2014 and 2024 122% increase 67% increase 97% increase 94% increase 132% increase 100% increase Source: FinanceBuzz What fast food chains have increased their prices the most in the past decade? In the last decade, McDonald's has increased its prices by a whopping 100% in the US, making it the most increased fast food chain in the country, according to information gathered by FinanceBuzz. But their menu prices aren't only increasing in the states. According to Spine Genie, McDonald's has increased their prices in Canada by nearly 140%. In the US, a quarter pounder with cheese meal cost $5.39 in 2014 and in 2024, it cost $12, FinanceBuzz reports. The second and third restaurants with the most inflated prices were Popeyes and Taco Bell in the US and Panera and Wendy's in Canada. At Popeyes in 2014, you could snag the four-piece chicken dinner for $7. By 2024, that price rose 97% and now costs $13.79. Taco Bell is one chain restaurant that inflated their prices the most in the past decade. Taco Bell These results slightly differ from 2022 when Wendy's and Chick-fil-a had the highest inflation rate and Burger King's chicken fries were the number one inflated menu item across all chains. According to LendingTree's new survey, 46% of participants said they now believe that prices at their local fast food restaurants are now in line with sit-down restaurants. Even more surprising is that 22% of those participants believe fast food was actually now higher priced in comparison. What causes fast food inflation? Inflation at fast food restaurants is a "multilayered phenomenon," Valerie Kilders, assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University, told CNET. Kilders cited increased minimum wages for low-wage workers and the "increase of general food prices" as two large factors contributing to rising fast food prices. "Post pandemic, we saw that lowest wage workers, which include those that are typically working in fast food restaurants, saw the fastest growth in wages," Kilders explained, further adding that from January 2024 to January 2025 "cattle prices increased 20.6% and wholesale beef [increased] around 15%. Eggs are even up 183%, so we're seeing these big increases in just those two categories." "The increased prices for the operators are passed on to the consumers," she added. As egg prices continue to soar, economists point to bird flu as a contributor to the sky-high prices of eggs that we're seeing at grocery stores and on restaurant menus. This week, major US tariffs against Canada and Mexico went into effect under the Trump administration, and with them could come even more price hikes at the grocery store and beyond. Although President Donald Trump has stated that the country that imports the goods will pay the implemented tariffs, or the tax on the items, economists have disagreed. According to the Tax Foundation, when the US imposes tariffs, US businesses pay the tariff tax to the US government. Similarly to fast food chains, when the company does not pay the increased prices they are facing, those prices get passed on to the consumer. The 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada began on March 4, and a previous 10% tariff on China has now doubled to 20%, according to the Associated Press. According to the US Department of Agriculture, in 2023, 72.5% of US agricultural imports came from Mexico. This included 25% of beverages, including beer and tequila, 14% of fruit, 13% of vegetables, 6% of avocados and more. USDA And 63.8% of the US's agricultural imports came from Canada, including 19% of animal products and 12% of fruit and vegetables. USDA According to EconoFact, the Trump administration's 2018 tariffs, which were then kept in place by the Biden administration, did not lower prices for Americans. Will prices continue to rise at fast food restaurants? "The short answer is, it's too soon to tell," Kilders said. However, she does say that it's not just fast food chains increasing their prices. It's happening everywhere. "If we look just generally at the increase [in the Consumer Price Index] for food away from home, that increase was about 3.4% over the last year, and there's not much of a difference between both full-service restaurants and limited-service restaurants," Kilder explained. Paul Weaver/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images While it may seem that McDonald's is hiking its prices more than the Olive Garden or Chili's, that's not necessarily the case. Rather, when a notoriously cheap fast food restaurant raises prices, it's always going to be more apparent to the consumer. As far as the future outlook on food prices, there are various factors that have to be taken into account. "How are labor costs going to develop? Are we going to see additional increases in food input prices? Are we going to see any kind of interventions on the policy level that might influence all those factors that play a big role in how demand is going to develop," Kilders said, "and then, consequently, how supply and prices are going to develop." According to the USDA's food price outlook, cited by Kilders, it is believed that consumption of food at home will increase around 3.3% over the next year, meaning that moreAmericans will opt to skip the drive through or sit-down restaurants and cook at home in an effort to save a few bucks Ways to save in 2025
Bloomberg
19 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
BlackRock's Wei Li Is Investing for the Here and Now
00:00 Is it getting harder to find a long term macro anchor in this environment? Well, long, long term macro anchors have been lost. You look at inflation anchors, you look at long term growth anchors. You look at its long term fiscal anchors. You look at even anchors institution confidence like the safe haven status of the dollar, but maybe also independence of the Fed. So it's really hard to find long term macro anchor, which is why we actually think that it's easier to think about tactical as allocation because of immutable laws around the U.S. debt and global supply chain. Paradoxically, there is greater certainty in our assessment in the near term than in the long term, which is the opposite of what has been always the case. Which is why we're moving risk targets in terms of the budget deployment from a longer term strategic asset allocation. Two words tactical asset allocation. This is one of the best tactical investment environments. So what's the tactical approach currently for you in the team? Right now we are investing for the here and now, which is to recognize that so far this year we have focused a lot on tariffs and we're still focusing on tariffs, which is very different from Trump term one, where we had tax cuts first and then we had tariffs. But now focus is going to shift also towards tax cuts, also towards deregulation, potentially unleashing animal spirits and yes, tariffs. Headlines are still flying around, but we do think that because of the constraints and immutable laws that I just talked about, we're going to get to some sort of lending support, not likely derailing the tactical kind of the risk long view that we still have. So right now, we still like U.S. equities. And I would observe that at this juncture is no longer consensus as the investors across the world, Europe, the APAC, I would think that it's more divisive right now, but we still like it, the condition for sustained rest of the world. Europe outperformers over U.S. having been met, which is why we're not we haven't chased the European equity outperformance beyond closing the underweight to neutral earlier in the year.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
This Was the Salary Required To Be Upper Middle Class in 2015
Many people aspire to join the upper middle class and make enough money to cover their expenses while keeping up with regular monthly investments. The bar has steadily gotten higher due to inflation, and it's a testament to how fiat currencies lose purchasing power over time. Explore More: Read Next: For instance, data from Pew Research suggests that you had to earn more than $169,800 per year in 2022 to be a part of the upper middle class. That's $194,149.55 in today's dollars using the CPI Inflation Calculator provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We can use this same calculator to determine how much people had to earn each year to be a part of the upper middle class in 2015. The CPI Inflation Calculator indicates that a $142,622.89 salary was enough to be considered a member of the upper middle class in 2015. That comes to $11,968.57 per month. Expenses are always lower if you look back a few years due to regular money printing. That's why a salary that was good enough a decade ago may no longer be sufficient. However, it's important to note that the pandemic resulted in record money printing, which led to significantly higher inflation for a short period of time. Check Out: Inflation wasn't too bad before the pandemic, as it mostly hovered between 2% and 3% each year. However, 2021 to 2023 made living costs significantly higher. Here's the breakdown of how much buying power $169,800 in 2022 had in the following years: 2015: $142,622.89 2016: $145,086.87 (reasonable inflation growth rate) 2017: $147,807.07 2018: $151,947.17 2019: $154,667.37 2020: $154,849.76 (notably low inflation due to lockdowns reducing how much we spent, but this is an anomaly) 2021: $162,580.96 2022: $169,800 (the original figure used in this calculation) 2023: $183,678.22 (substantial increase) 2024: $189,682.72 (still a big increase that starts to moderate) 2025: $194,149.55 (further moderation in the growth rate) Higher living costs have been the norm for decades. The best way to deal with inflation is by investing in assets that grow at a faster rate than inflation. Other strategies involve working harder and smarter, which require short-term and maybe even long-term sacrifices, depending on your financial situation. Some people may have to work longer hours or consider weekend shifts. Developing career skills that can help you get a higher-paying job can help you earn more money while working less. A side hustle may also be necessary. You can eventually turn some side hustles into full-time career opportunities if you stick with them. It may also be worth job hopping. You can get a higher salary with a different company, and if you like your current company, you can use a new job offer as leverage to get a higher salary. Cutting costs is another great strategy, but there are limits to how much you can cut. Focusing on income growth is the best way to combat rising inflation. More From GOBankingRates 3 Luxury SUVs That Will Have Massive Price Drops in Summer 2025 6 Hybrid Vehicles To Stay Away From in Retirement 8 Common Mistakes Retirees Make With Their Social Security Checks This article originally appeared on This Was the Salary Required To Be Upper Middle Class in 2015
