Welcome to Gaslight Village: The Inflation Illusion

LISTEN and SUBSCRIBE on:

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/watchdog-on-wall-street-with-chris-markowski/id570687608 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PtgPvJvqc2gkpGIkNMR5i 

WATCH and SUBSCRIBE on:

https://www.youtube.com/@WatchdogOnWallstreet/featured  

Step right up to the new and improved Gaslight Village—where the economic funhouse mirrors distort reality, and “perfect” inflation numbers make you question your sanity. From skyrocketing wholesale vegetable prices to rising manufacturing costs, companies are quietly passing the bill to you. Meanwhile, political spin masters declare tariffs are tax cuts and inflation barely exists. In this village, the ride isn’t free—it’s just priced to look that way.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Welcome to Gaslight Village.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
You're not familiar Gaslight Village, the old gas Light Village.
This was a kind of an an upstate New York,
New England type of thing. There was like an amusement
park when I was a kid that was outside Lake
George was called Gaslight Village.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
Well, I think it went out of business in the
nineteen eighties. But ay, we're bringing it back. We're bringing
back Gaslight Village. It's just a different version. Okay. We
get the producer price numbers three point three percent year
over year. Whoa July zero point nine percent? Ouch?

Speaker 3 (00:58):
Oh, I mean looking at internals, wholesale vegetable prices up
almost thirty nine percent. Anyway, Anyway, this is what it's mean.
Companies are paying. Companies are paying higher prices. Reality, they
haven't fully passed them on to consumers yet they're starting to.

(01:20):
That's why the CPI was at two point seven percent.
You look Further into these numbers, goods and services both
experience substantial inflation point seven percent and one point one
percent month on month, respectively. Goods and services related to

(01:41):
business investment are becoming price heier, the costs of manufacturing
equipment rising point four percent in one month and related
services four point five percent. Prices for intermediate goods, components
and raw materials are also on the rise. Prices of
materials using durble goods many factoring increased one point three

(02:01):
percent in a single month, and components for manufacturing increased
point four percent in the month. Again, many companies were
flush with cash, had wider reserves. They can absorb costs
for a certain period of time, but they're not going
to do it forever. Trust me. They're letting us know. Okay,

(02:24):
this is not going to last forever. Where do we
get to gaslighting?

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Okay?

Speaker 3 (02:29):
Even that familiar with the phrase gas lighting the modern definition,
it's a psychological manipulation technique in which a person tries
to convince someone that their reality is untrue. It's a
tactic often used by narcissists to gain control of their

(02:50):
intended target.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
How many people feel like they're being gaslighted? All the time.

Speaker 3 (02:58):
I'm going to give you give you a couple quotes
from yesterday. You know, we'll start off with the UH
with Peter Navarro. Peter Navarro's on CNBC being interviewed by
Sarah Eisen and Sarah got floored. She didn't even know
what to say. Peter Navarro actually said tariffs are a

(03:22):
tax cut. He said it, tariffs are a tax cut.
What his point was, He's saying, well, you know, you
got the big, beautiful bill, and you've got Donald Trump's
lower income tax rates, and you know because of this,
you know you're paying tariffs. So tariffs is the tax cut. Hey, Peter,

(03:46):
let me ask you a question. Which weighs more a
pound of lead or a pound of feathers? Just throwing
that out there. Then you get the President of the
United States. I'm sorry, inflation is down to a perfect number.
There's hardly any inflation at all. Again, President of the

(04:10):
United States, I'm gonna repeat this, said this yesterday. Inflation
is down to a perfect number. There's hardly any inflation
at all. You know, It's funny is that all of
all of Trump's online people, all of the sycophants, and
you know, the people that are out there that are
posting stuff all the time, not hearing much from them

(04:34):
on this stuff. They're they're talking about other things. They're
they're talking about the takeover in DC with crime and
all that stuff. This stuff they're not touching because they can't.
Let me tell you, somebody who someone who doesn't gaslight anyone.
Best quote, most honest quote of the day yesterday. It
goes to one of my favorites, Thomas Massey. Why is

(04:57):
Trump sending troops to d C to fight crime during
the recess all the criminals went home to their districts.
That's checkmate right there. Watchdog on Wall Street dot Com