LAUGHINGSTOCK:

INFLATION HOPES ARE A BUBBLE:

In the normal course of events, as an economy recovers and hiring increases, that brings with it rising wages and inflation, which in turn prompts the central bank to hike lending rates to keep prices in check while still allowing economic growth to continue.

But despite nearly seven years of uninterrupted job creation and a very low unemployment rate of 4.4 percent, inflationary pressures and wage gains show little sign of life.

The central bank is running out of explanations. [...]

Inflation is not simply weak -- it is deserting the battlefield altogether.

The "core" measure of the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index -- the Fed's favorite inflation indicator -- has been below the central bank's two percent target for five years.

Last month, the headline PCE price index contracted for the second time in 2017.

The Consumer Price Index also came in flat in June after contracting in May, dragging the 12-month measure down more than a full percentage point in the last four months.

[Economist Diane Swonk] said another explanation is price competition among online retailers, which also has been persistent in other advanced economies like Japan and Germany.

WHAT VLAD WAS BUYING:

Americans may have been shocked that, by his own account, the son of a U.S. presidential candidate found himself being hectored by a group of shady Russians about an 8-year-old case he had likely never heard of. Donald Trump Jr. had come to the meeting last June, after all, baited by promises of something much better: compromising material about Hillary Clinton. Yet the fact that a Russian lawyer reportedly spent what face time she had with Donald Trump's campaign lobbying for the repeal of the Magnitsky Act should not surprise anyone who has spent the past decade observing her country. What Trump Jr. found himself unexpectedly ensnared by last year was, in a way, the original sin of Vladimir Putin's Russia. Before there was Syria, before Ukraine, before election meddling, there was the case of the murdered lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Compared with the other, more recent ugly episodes in U.S.-Russia relations, the ripple effects of the Magnitsky affair have been less discussed, at least in the West. But the story of the $230 million stolen from Russian taxpayers, the lawyer who died in prison for uncovering the scam, and the sanctions and countersanctions that ensued is a case study in the dynamics of modern Russia: how the tangled web of greed, opportunism, corruption, and fatal negligence that sits at the heart of the Russian government not only shapes policy but sometimes drives it outright. The episode derailed the country's foreign and domestic policy for years, poisoned relations between Russia and the United States, and created a moral vacuum that, in the years since, has corroded Putin's regime from within. As the latest revelations from the Trump scandal show, it continues to exert a gravitational pull on Russian politics and Moscow's relations with Washington today. [...]

Having little faith the case would be brought to justice in Russia, Browder sought justice in America, lobbying hard for Congress to punish those involved. "I've spent every day thinking what I could have done that could have saved [Magnitsky's] life," Browder told me in 2011. In December 2012, Congress passed the Magnitsky Act barring U.S. entry and prohibiting the use of American banks for those alleged to be involved -- the number currently stands at 44 -- along with other Russians seen as violators of human rights. A victory? Not quite. Given Russia's track record at the time -- and, in particular, the high-placed protection those involved in the Magnitsky affair enjoyed -- there was a slim chance that the perpetrators would be brought to justice. But the Magnitsky Act dashed any hopes outright.

The move infuriated Putin, who earlier that year had returned for a third presidential term despite a mass protest wave questioning his legitimacy. And it was easy to see why. The ban was a direct blow to Putin's power base: The kleptocratic elite was used to enjoying Western real estate, vacations, medical service, and even its legal system -- while plundering public coffers back home.

LAUGHINGSTOCK:

THAT'S HILLARY'S ENTIRE LEGACY RIGHT THERE...:

The rollout comes as Democrats continue to struggle to sell a coherent message to voters. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, 37 percent of Americans said that the party "currently stands for something," while 52 percent said it "just stands against Trump." The same poll found that Trump's overall approval rating has deteriorated to 36 percent -- making him the most unpopular president of the modern era at this point in his presidency. 

Those findings resonate with party leaders who are still stunned by Trump's come-from-behind victory last year.

"When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you don't blame other things -- Comey, Russia -- you blame yourself," Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in an interview previewing the new plan. "So what did we do wrong? People didn't know what we stood for, just that we were against Trump. And still believe that."

HE'S NOT A REPUBLICAN:

The Republican president has a job approval rating around 40 percent. The GOP has an unfavorability rating around 56 percent. And Republicans trail Democrats by nine points in an average of "generic ballot" polls.

All of which makes it notable that the Republican National Committee is trouncing the Democratic National Committee when it comes to raising money, especially from small donors.

The numbers are striking. In June, the RNC raised $13.5 million to the DNC's $5.5 million.

For 2017 so far, the RNC has raised $75.4 million to the DNC's $38.2 million.

LITTLE FINGER'S PLAYHOUSE:

Trump was taken aback and told Spicer to stay on board. Scaramucci and Spicer could work together, Trump said. "It would all work out, we'll all be on the same team," said a person who was told of Trump's comments. But Scaramucci was going to be in charge and report directly to the president.

Spicer saw it as a personal affront to work for Scaramucci and told the president that it couldn't work. Spicer had expected to evolve into more of a full-time communications director role because he was essentially no longer the public-facing press secretary, having turned over the podium.

Spicer returned angrily to the press office, but put on a happy face for a brief resignation meeting, convened by Priebus. He even gave Scaramucci a half-hug.

Spicer had suffered other indignities: He was left out of a papal visit, and criticized by his boss for being played by a woman on TV and for his suits, and he was mocked for huddling with his team near some bushes as reporters demanded answers about FBI Director James Comey's firing. But even some of Spicer's sharpest critics said he would land on his feet because he had good instincts as a strategist and was well connected in Washington, after serving years as a top official at the Republican National Committee.

Aides sympathetic to Spicer said he had an impossible job. It was difficult to respond to Trump's misstatements without contradicting him. No communications plan could stay on track because of the president's Twitter finger. And the warring factions of the White House made it impossible to ever know exactly what was going on.

LAUGHINGSTOCK:

...AND CHEAPER...:

JOBS WHITE-COLLAR PEOPLE WON'T DO:

IT'S A DEFLATIONARY EPOCH:

Walmart executives understand price is king for most American consumers, and they've used that knowledge to build one of the world's most valuable companies: "Our customers tell us that where products are made is most important second only to price," a Walmart spokesman said when asked whether Americans care if something is made in the United States, China or elsewhere.

Trump keeps talking up "Buy American, hire American." It's part of his plan to create the most jobs of any U.S. president yet. He brought a firetruck to the White House lawn all the way from Wisconsin last week to try to promote U.S. products. He jumped in the driver's seat, grinning and giving the media a big thumbs up.

Many have pointed out that Trump's words don't match his actions.

He promotes American-made at the same time that he and his daughter Ivanka Trump manufacture their own products overseas, in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China, as a Washington Post investigation detailed. Just last week, Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club applied to hire 70 foreign workers.

The problem is a lot of Americans do what the Trumps do: They say they want to buy stuff made in the U.S.A., but when asked if they would be willing to pay more for it, they reconsider.

An Associated Press-GFK poll last year found nearly 75 percent of Americans prefer to purchase American-made goods, but only 30 percent were willing to pay more for them.

The Boston Consulting Group has studied these trends for years and concluded that companies can only charge about 5 percent more for products made in the United States.

The Reuters-Ipsos poll out last week found that Republicans are the most likely to say they would be willing to pay more, although they also balk at paying more than a 5 to 10 percent premium.