US Economy On Fire -- Fed Raises Rates -- Desperate Attempt To Slow Economy Before It Gets Out Of Control -- June 14, 2018

I'm beating a dead horse.

But I love it.

Okay, we all agree.

Asia, and specifically China, is on fire. Not literally. The economy is on fire. GDP growing at 5, or 6, or 7 or 8%. I don't know.

If I was allowed to use only one metric to "judge" the economy, it would be consumption of energy. In the US, it would be oil.

So, once again:

Population of China? A gazillion or more. The US? Not so much.

China's petroleum consumption growth year-over-year? 0.5.

The petroleum consumption growth year-over-year in theUS? 0.61.

Everything suggests that the Chinese economy is on fire.

But everything also suggests that the US economy is also on fire.

And now this. Validation.

From The Wall Street Journal: "strong spending data show US economy chugging ahead of Europe and Asia. Second-quarter growth on track to exceed a 4% pace -- the fastest of any quarter in almost four years. The gap between the US and the EU widens. Canada is not even part of the discussion.

Quotes from others when told of this news:

• Chuck Schumer: "Obama put this all in place. Frankly, I'm surprised it's not better."
• Nancy Pelosi: "Crumbs, it's all crumbs. Jobs don't matter. The economy doesn't matter."
• Paul Ryan: "It's a start. We need to see 12% growth before we can really be sure Trump's policies are making a difference."
• Maxine Waters: "All the Trump folks are getting rich. The rest of us are falling farther and farther behind."
• Bernie Sanders: "Americans don't feel rich. They're not participating. It's all a scam."

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C'est la Vie