Tariffs. Sweeping tariffs are a big, and widely feared, part of Donald Trump's agenda to start his second term as president of the United States. It's Saturday, January 18th, 2025 as I'm writing this post. Donald Trump takes office next Monday. Will Trump's tariff plan work? Will it help or hurt American consumers? The teacher above from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1987) explains to an enthralled high school class how tariffs didn't work well during The Great Depression. But hey, that was 95 years ago. Maybe they'll work this time. Who knows?
The pandemic response of 2020-2021, where the U.S. government tossed out about $6 trillion in "helicopter money" to nearly everyone, led to inflation soaring to over 9% officially (12 to 15% unofficially) in 2021 and 2022. So a lot of people have been bitching about the higher prices, blaming them on president Biden. As we head into a new, and very much different, administration, I thought it would be interesting to look at a bunch of prices and economic markers, so we can see how things changed in the coming few years.
Economic and financial market levels on January 18th, 2025, the weekend before Donald Trump begins his second term.
U. S. Debt- $36,367,158,000,000 ($36.3 trillion dollars- U.S. Debt Clock)
Debt per citizen- $106,943 (U.S. Debt Clock)
U.S. Federal Deficit- $2,004,446,000000 (Just over $2 trillion- U.S. Debt Clock)
Inflation-
U.S. CPI (December 2024)- 2.9%
Truflation- 2.85% (January 21, 2025- Truflation website)
U.S. Unemployment rates-
U3 unemployment- 4.1% (December 2024)
U6 unemployment- 7.4% (December 2024)
Stock indices-
Dow Jones Industrial Average- 43,487 (CNBC- close of market, Friday 1/17/2025)
Nasdaq 100 index- 19,630 (CNBC- close of market, Friday 1/17/2025)
S&P 500 index- 5,996 (CNBC- close of market, Friday 1/17/2025)
Economic benchmarks-
10 year U.S. Treasury- 4.623% (CNBC- close of market, Friday 1/17/2025)
30 year fixed mortgage average- 7.11% (Google search answer)
WTI oil price per barrel- $78.04 (CNBC- close of market, Friday 1/17/2025)
Gold- $2,703 per Troy ounce (Gold-Eagle website)
Silver- $30.40 per Troy ounce (Gold-Eagle website)
U.S. Dollar index- DXY- 109.405
Bitcoin- $104,197 per Bitcoin
Ethereum- $3,266 per Eth
Solana- $254.64
Euro to U.S. Dollar- 102.71 ($1.02 to 1 Euro- CNBC)
U.S. Dollar to Japanese yen- 156.3 yen- to 1 dollar
U.S. Dollar to Chinese yuan- 7.32 yuan- to 1 dollar
U.S. national average gas price- $3.12 (Gas prices AAA)
Stocks-
Trump Media stock price- $40.03
"The Magnificent 7" stock prices
Nvidia stock price- $131.71
Apple stock price- $229.98
Microsoft stock price- $429.03
Alphabet (Google) stock price- $197.55
Amazon stock price- $225.94
Meta (Facebook) stock price- $612.77
Tesla stock price- $426.50
Other stocks-
McDonald's- $280.95
Walmart- $91.94
Target- $133.61
Ford Motor Company- $10.18
General Electric- $182.85
Stellantis- $12.88
Common food and household products- I checked these prices 1/21/2025
One gallon whole milk- $4.49 ($3.99 with card- Ralph's grocery store in Sherman Oaks, CA)
One dozen Grade AA Large Eggs- $8.99 (Ralph's in Sherman Oaks)
One pound of hamburger (80/20)- $6.49/lb. (Ralph's in Sherman Oaks)
Box of Kellogg's Corn Flakes (Family size- 24 oz.)- $7.99 (Ralph's in Sherman Oaks)
McDonald's Big Mac- $5.89 (McDonald's in Sherman Oaks, higher price in Encino)
McDonald's Egg McMuffin- $4.69 (McDonald's in Sherman Oaks, higher in Encino)
4-pack of toilet paper (Angel Soft)- $5.49 (Ralph's in Sherman Oaks)
Jiffy Peanut Butter (creamy, 16 oz.)- $3.79
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