Quote from Savings Beagle on February 23, 2022, 1:25 pm

On February 22, 2022, CBS News tweeted a headline that stated, "The U.S. economy has been hit with increased gas prices, inflation, and supply-chain issues due to the Ukraine crisis."

Hmmmm.

Let me fix that headline for you, CBS News.

"The U.S. economy has been hit with increased gas prices, inflation, and supply-chain issues due to U.S. government fiscal and monetary policy, state and local government Covid mitigation strategies, the Biden Administration's regulatory and energy policies and, to a lesser extent, the pandemic."

The article itself was a bit more measured in how it discussed the issues and correlated them to the Ukraine crisis.  The issue, however, is how often is the headline the only part of a news piece that gets attention?

Yes, if the Ukraine crisis elevates, we will see an impact on a variety of economic fronts here in the U.S.  That does not dismiss that the U.S. economy has already - for months now - taken a significant gut-punch thanks to negative economic pressures.

A few days ago President Biden warned Americans that if the conflict in Ukraine elevated, the U.S. was likely to see increased prices and economic strain as a result.  I thought that statement was odd until I thought about it a bit more and realized he may be starting a political narrative to help the Democrats during the upcoming elections.

The problems with the economy aren't due to government actions, the spin might go.  No, it's because of Russia and what they're doing in Ukraine.

And then we see a headline like the one CBS News put out.

Don't buy it.  The true reason we're seeing economic stress has nothing to do with Russia or its actions...at least right now.

Inflation is, primarily, the result of the Federal Reserve Bank printing money to excess, along with the U.S. government doling out significant amounts of unfunded dollars over the past few years.

Gas prices are largely a result of demand, up to a point, but current energy policies in this country and around the world have definitely helped to keep those prices high.

And supply-chain bottlenecks can be blamed on a wide variety of issues...none of which include Ukraine.

Keep this in mind as the messaging progresses over the coming months.

And don't let the headlines and talking heads let a narrative obscure the truth.