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Shifting demand

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Electricity inflation

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Increasing energy demand is one of the causes of persistent energy inflation.[1]

Electricity demand by data centers

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See also: Data center § Impact on electricity prices

Cryptomining and the artificial intelligence boom of the 2020's has also led to increased demand for electricity,[2][3] that the IEA expects could double global overall data center demand for electricity between 2022 and 2026.[4] The US could see its share of the electricity market going to data centers increase from 4% to 6% over those four years.[4] Bitcoin used up 2% of US electricity in 2023.[5] This has led to increased electricity prices, particularly in regions with lots of data centers like Santa Clara, California[6] and upstate New York.[7] Data centers have also generated concerns in Northern Virginia about whether residents will have to foot the bill for future power lines.[5] It has also made it harder to develop housing in London.[8] A Bank of America Institute report in July 2024 found that the increase in demand for electricity due in part to AI has been pushing electricity prices higher and is a significant contributor to electricity inflation.[9][10][11]

Greedflation

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Price gouging became highly prevalent in news media in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, when state price gouging regulations went into effect due to the national emergency. The rise in public discourse was associated with increased shortages related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting inflation after the pandemic has also been blamed, at least in part, by some on price gouging. During the pandemic, the idea of 'Greedflation' or 'seller's inflation' also moved out of the progressive economics fringe by 2023 to be embraced by some mainstream economists, policymakers and business press.[12]


Economists have stated that during times of high inflation, consumers know prices are increasing but do not have a good understanding of what reasonable prices should be, allowing retailers to raise prices faster than the cost inflation they are experiencing, resulting in larger profits.[13][14][15][16] One example of this was the meat industry, where profits went up industry-wide as prices went up, because demand never decreased.[17]

A 2021 analysis conducted by The New York Times found that profit margins across more than 2,000 publicly traded companies were well above the pre-pandemic average during the year, as corporate profits reached a record high.[18][19] Economists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that in 2022 profit margins of US companies reached their highest level since the aftermath of World War II.[20] The economists say firms with a lot of market power in consolidated industries can raise prices under the cover of inflation as a form of implicit cartel-like coordination.[21] European Central Bank economists found in May 2023 that businesses were using the surge as a rare opportunity to boost their profit margins, finding it was a bigger factor than rising wages in fueling inflation during the second half of 2022.[22]

Republican and Russian support

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See also: Green Party of the United States § Criticism and controversies, Cornel West 2024 presidential campaign § Support from Republicans, and Jill Stein 2016 presidential campaign § Russia controversy

During her 2016 campaign, Stein was boosted on social media by Russian accounts, appeared often on Russian State TV outlets RT and Sputnik, and dined with Vladimir Putin and Michael Flynn in Moscow in December 2015.[23][24][25] One of her possible VP candidates worked for RT while her VP candidate also often appeared on the network criticizing NATO as a group of 'Gangster states'.[26]

In 2020, The New York Times documented examples of Republicans working to boost Green party candidates, hoping to draw votes away from democrats.[27]


Organizing

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Republicans for Harris is an affinity group that


Fitness to lead

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See also: Age and health concerns about Donald Trump and List of controversies of recent U.S. Presidents

According to polling released in July and August, a majority of voters polled after the first debate think Trump is too old to serve a second term (51%,[28] 57%,[29] and 60%[30]), with 80% unsure he would be able to finish out a second term.[28] During and after Trump's presidency, comments on his age, weight, lifestyle and history of heart disease have raised questions about his physical health.[31] In addition, numerous public figures, media sources, and mental health professionals have speculated that Donald Trump may have some form of dementia, which runs in his family.[32] Experts for the science publication STAT who analyzed changes in Trump's speeches between 2015 and 2024 noted shorter sentences, more tangents, more repetition and more confusion of words and phrases. The doctors suggested it could just be due to changes in mood or it could indicate the beginning of Alzheimer's.[33] The sharp rise in all-or-nothing thinking is also linked to cognitive decline.[33] Trump has also been criticized for his lack of transparency around his medical records and health.[34][35]

The New York Times and Los Angeles Times[36] editorial boards also declared Trump unfit to lead, pointing to what former Trump officials “have described as his systematic dishonesty, corruption, cruelty and incompetence.”[37][38] Donald Trump has also been criticized for his hiring decisions,[39][40] and noted for his unusual criminal record.[41]

According to an Axios column on July 25, Harris will argue that Trump is too corrupt, too risky, too old.[42]

References

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  1. ^ Estes, Adam Clark (2024-08-15). "The hidden reason why your power bill is so high". Vox. Retrieved 2024-08-20. Why are our electricity bills getting so expensive? Energy prices have been creeping up across the nation for over a decade. The latest consumer price index saw inflation dip below 3 percent for the first time since 2021, but inflation for electricity prices nationwide remains stubbornly high at 4.9 percent. There's no single reason why electricity keeps getting more expensive in any one place, however. The drivers behind rising energy costs are myriad, overlapping, and vexing. Inflation, rising energy demands, volatile natural gas prices, and extreme weather are all contributing factors...
  2. ^ Halper, Evan (2024-03-07). "Amid explosive demand, America is running out of power". Washington Post. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  3. ^ Rogers, Reece (July 11, 2024). "AI's Energy Demands Are Out of Control. Welcome to the Internet's Hyper-Consumption Era". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  4. ^ a b Calma, Justine (2024-01-24). "AI and crypto mining are driving up data centers' energy use". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  5. ^ a b Chow, Andrew R. (2024-06-12). "How AI Is Fueling a Boom in Data Centers and Energy Demand". TIME. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  6. ^ Petersen, Melody (2024-08-12). "Power-hungry AI data centers are raising electric bills and blackout risk". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  7. ^ Benetton, Matteo; Compiani, Giovanni; Morse, Adair (2023-08-12). "When cryptomining comes to town: High electricity use spillovers to the local economy". VoxEU. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  8. ^ Vincent, James (2022-07-28). "The electricity demands of data centers are making it harder to build new homes in London". The Verge. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  9. ^ Walton, Robert (July 8, 2024). "US electricity prices rise again as AI, onshoring may mean decades of power demand growth: BofA". Utility Dive. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  10. ^ Mott, Filip De. "Utility bills are getting cheaper, but AI could spoil the party". Markets Insider. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  11. ^ "A.I. Power Shortage. Plus, Oil & Gas Stock Picks - Barron's Streetwise Barron's Podcasts". Barron's. May 17, 2024. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  12. ^ Peck, Emily (May 18, 2023). "Once a fringe theory, "greedflation" gets its due". Axios.
  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_2022-06-14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference CBS_2022-05-27 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_2022-06-03 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Inman, Phillip (2023-03-24). "Greedflation: are large firms using crises as cover to push up their profits?". The Guardian. Andrew Bailey, the Bank of England governor, says he has no evidence that excessive profits are pushing up inflation beyond where it would be if companies simply passed on extra costs to consumers, ... Albert Edwards, a senior analyst at Société Générale, ... "Companies [have] under the cover of recent crises, pushed margins higher," he said in a note. "And, most surprisingly, they still continue to do so, even as their raw material costs fall away. Consumers are still 'tolerating' this 'excuseflation', possibly because excess [government] largesse has provided households with a buffer. ... Isabella Weber, an economist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has shown which kinds of companies are able to benefit from a crisis, giving academic support for what she considers a rational capitalist reaction to a crisis, one that allows them to make even bigger profits when consumers are primed to expect prices to rise in leaps and bounds.
  17. ^ Bojorquez, Manuel (2022-03-09). "Inflation or "corporate greed"? Meat prices increased by double digits during pandemic". CBS news. According to quarterly reports for Tyson, the nation's largest meat processor, the company posted $3 billion in profit in 2021. ... Other major meat suppliers are also posting similar profits. Some analysts like Salvador believe the numbers don't add up. ... But what we see at the same time is that their profitability has been able to increase because the demand increases for their products have more than offset their cost increases. ... Salvador said there is nothing to keep the prices from increasing as long as "there isn't competition that will help drive down the prices so that they have a reason to actually be more reasonable."
  18. ^ Eavis, Peter; Talmon, Joseph Smith (2022-05-31). "After a Bumper 2021, Companies Might Struggle to Increase Profits - Businesses face headwinds as demand weakens, the Federal Reserve raises rates and government stimulus programs end". New York Times. A New York Times analysis of over 2,000 publicly traded companies outside the financial sector found that most of them increased sales faster than expenses, a remarkable feat when the cost of wages, raw materials and components was rising and supply chains were out of whack. As a result, profit margins, which measure how much money a business makes on each dollar of sales, rose well above the prepandemic average. On the whole, companies made an estimated $200 billion in additional operating profits last year because of that increase in margins.
  19. ^ Phillips, Matt (March 31, 2022). "Corporate profits hit a new record high in 2021". Axios.
  20. ^ Martin Arnold; Patricia Nilsson; Colby Smith; Delphine Strauss (March 29, 2023). "Central bankers warn companies on fatter profit margins". Financial Times.
  21. ^ Burns, Tobias (2024-03-29). "FTC calls out profits as a driver of grocery prices". The Hill. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  22. ^ Hannon, Paul (May 3, 2023). "Why Is Inflation So Sticky? It Could Be Corporate Profits". The Wall Street Journal. Inflation has proved more stubborn than central banks bargained for when prices started surging two years ago. Now some economists think they know why: Businesses are using a rare opportunity to boost their profit margins...According to economists at the ECB, businesses have been padding their profits. That, they said, was a bigger factor in fuelling inflation during the second half of last year than rising wages were
  23. ^ Sharkov, Damien (2016-09-07). "Russian Greens Brand U.S. Greens, Putin 'Accomplices'". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  24. ^ "Russians launched pro-Jill Stein social media blitz to help Trump, reports say". NBC News. 2018-12-22. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  25. ^ "Jill Stein cost Hillary dearly in 2016. Democrats are still writing off her successor". POLITICO. June 20, 2020. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  26. ^ Schreckinger, Ben (June 20, 2017). "Jill Stein Isn't Sorry". Politico.
  27. ^ Haberman, Maggie; Hakim, Danny; Corasaniti, Nick (2020-09-22). "How Republicans Are Trying to Use the Green Party to Their Advantage". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  28. ^ a b Kilander, Gustaf (August 7, 2024). "Half of voters voice concerns about Trump's age ahead of election". The Independent.
  29. ^ Messerly, Megan; Ward, Myah (August 16, 2024). "Age-based attacks are boomeranging back on Trump". Politico.
  30. ^ Langer, Gary (July 11, 2024). "Biden and Trump tied despite debate, as 67% call for president to drop out: POLL". ABC News.
  31. ^ Kranish, Michael (July 22, 2024). "Trump's age and health under renewed scrutiny after Biden's exit". Washington Post.
  32. ^ Kranish, Michael (July 22, 2024). "Trump's age and health under renewed scrutiny after Biden's exit". Washington Post.
  33. ^ a b Rashid, Hafiz (August 8, 2024). "Cognitive Decline? Experts Find Evidence Trump's Mind Is Slowing". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2024-08-19.
  34. ^ Wierson, Arick (April 14, 2022). "Why Trump's offhand comment about his health could be a watershed moment". MSNBC. 'notoriously secretive about sharing his health records with the public...deliberately misleading and even dishonest about his health'
  35. ^ Kranish, Michael (July 22, 2024). "Trump's age and health under renewed scrutiny after Biden's exit". Washington Post.
  36. ^ "Editorial: One candidate is patently unfit for the White House. It's not Biden". Los Angeles Times. 2024-07-11. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  37. ^ Price, Michelle L. (2024-04-05). "Former Trump officials are among the most vocal opponents of returning him to the White House". PBS News. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  38. ^ Pengelly, Martin (2024-07-11). "New York Times editorial board declares Trump 'unfit to lead'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-20.
  39. ^ Mosk, Matthew; Faulders, Katherine (August 21, 202). "Trump's checkered hiring record widens as Bannon joins list of indicted insiders". ABC News. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  40. ^ Schlesinger, Robert (July 29, 2024). "J.D. Vance Proves It: Trump Hires the Very Worst People". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2024-08-01.
  41. ^ Bynum, Ross (2023-03-30). "Among 160 years of presidential scandals, Trump stands alone". AP News. Retrieved 2024-08-02.
  42. ^ VandeHei, Jim; Allen, Mike (July 25, 2024). "Opinion: The new 2024 campaign foretold". Axios.
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