chart of the week - US 'embedded' energy costs
http://gregor.us/wp-content/uploads/...-1999-2008.jpg
(snip)As state’s see their budgets collapse and start a new round of layoffs, we should consider the fact that house price inflation masked the lack of wage growth in the United States. And now that house prices continue their descent for a 5th year, American workers are more fully exposed to the decade-long march higher in energy costs. They can experience this individually through energy prices, or more generally through the overall energy cost to the economy. Hence, the chart above.(snip)
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