Unlike every other weekend, today One River's Eric Peters has truncated his weekend notes following a knee arthroscopy ("it went fine, thanks for asking") and to demonstrate the impact of opioids on American productivity, Peters "banged out an overall, some nerdy numbers and an old anecdote. Nothing more.
"Here is his latest "overall."
“I went to buy me another goddamn bump stock,” shrieked the mentally retarded, Prozac-popping American on the Federal no-fly list, terrified it might be his last chance. “But the price jumped on me faster than you can say NRA.”
You see, bump stocks were quickly out of stock. That’s what happens when you threaten to regulate something, anything.
And when the NRA is open to restricting our 2nd amendment right to transform high caliber military-grade assault rifles into fully automatic self-defense weapons, you can be pretty sure prices are headed higher.
Of course, any supply disruption increases prices, all else being equal. And while most of us first learn that in college when the kegs run dry after midnight, it’s a universal law of economics. Increased demand also lifts prices. And right now, anti-missile system demand is rising.
Which is the economic silver lining of WMD proliferation, and the principal reason the military-industrial complex will never let it cease. Our NATO ally Turkey is buying Russian S-400 surface-to-air missile defense systems, capable of striking 80 targets simultaneously.
Naturally, if everyone carried an S-400 to elementary school, work, church and nightclubs, the world would be a safer place. Sadly, at $2.5bln, they’re out of reach for most. But not the Saudis, who paid $15bln for 44 American THAAD launchers and 360 missiles, while simultaneously purchasing Russia’s S-400 system.
With two eager sellers, missile shield prices aren’t running away.
Nor are average hourly earnings in the US, which jumped 0.2 to +2.9%, as the unemployment rate fell to 4.2%, its lowest level since sock puppet Super Bowl ads.
But wages are finally rising. Which won’t be great for things that loved secular stagnation. But is great news for workers. And will be amplified by immigration and import regulation. Ageing and opioids. The labor kegs are running low.
