Without Regard to Sign
(percentage points, annual rates)
Annual and comprehensive updates are released in late September. Annual updates generally cover at least the five most recent calendar years (and their associated quarters) and incorporate newly available major annual source data as well as some changes in methods and definitions to improve the accounts. Comprehensive (or benchmark) updates are carried out at about 5-year intervals and incorporate major periodic source data, as well as major conceptual improvements.
Unlike GDP, advance current quarterly estimates of GDI and corporate profits are not released because data on domestic profits and net interest of domestic industries are not available. For fourth quarter estimates, these data are not available until the third estimate.
GDP by industry and gross output estimates are released with the third estimate of GDP.
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By Megan Cerullo
Edited By Aimee Picchi
Updated on: August 21, 2024 / 4:00 PM EDT / CBS News
Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris is vowing to enact the first federal law against price gouging by food suppliers and grocery stores as part of her wide-ranging economic plan to bring down the cost of living. But many economists say they are skeptical the policy would lead to lower food costs for consumers.
In a speech on Friday, Harris highlighted the surging cost of groceries, which have jumped 25% since January 2020, while noting that some food companies are at the same time enjoying record profits. Certain types of foods have seen even sharper spikes, with Harris pointing out a loaf of bread is now about 50% more expensive than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Specifically, Harris said she wants to target businesses that aren't "playing by the rules" by illegally hiking prices. She also noted that ensuring competition in the industry is essential to bringing down grocery costs for Americans.
A spokesperson for the Harris campaign said that Harris' comprehensive plan, which emphasizes the importance of industry competition, and not a ban on price gouging alone, could help bring down prices.
Grocery prices are a major strain on Americans' wallets, with two-thirds of voters polled by Yahoo Finance/Ipsos late last year saying it's where they feel inflation hitting the hardest. And many consumers blame price gouging as a reason for high grocery prices, recent research has found , even though economists note the causes are far more complex.
"There are lots of reasons for the high inflation we've suffered over the past several years, but aggressive or unfair pricing practices are at bottom of list of reasons, if they're on the list at all," Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, told CBS MoneyWatch. "It may have been more of an issue back when supply chains were being disrupted by the pandemic, but today it's hard to point to any significant, meaningful examples of price gouging."
Price gouging refers to a predatory practice when businesses charge excessively high prices on items that become scarce, such as after an extreme weather event, for example.
Grocery inflation can be linked to a number of issues, from higher labor costs at manufacturers that trickle down to consumers, to record-low cattle numbers that drove up the cost of beef and steak. Still, some policy experts over the past few years have blamed "greedflation" and price gouging as a contributor, although some economists say there's not much evidence to back that up.
The surge in food prices "is mostly a market outcome," Michael Strain, director of economic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a conservative-leaning public policy think tank, told CBS MoneyWatch. "Firms likely have seen some increase in their ability to increase the prices they charge, but I don't see anything happening that I would describe as 'price gouging'."
There's a line between the normal business practice of raising prices when demand increases or if a manufacturer is facing higher costs, versus the predatory practice of price gouging.
Extraordinarily high prices, to the tune of more than 20% of an item's usual cost, is one sign of price gouging, according to the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)'s guide to identifying the practice. If a bottle of water from one brand costs double the amount of a competitor's item, that could also amount to price gouging, according to the guide.
Already, dozens of states have laws that ban the practice, although there's currently no federal law against it. PIRG urges consumers who believe they encounter price gouging to report it to the company, as well as their state's attorney general.
While economists say that enacting a federal price gouging ban isn't necessarily bad policy, they stress it isn't likely to bring down grocery prices, given there are already state laws on the books and because the causes of food inflation are complex.
"There are states that have laws in place already to stop predatory pricing when there is a crisis. For federal law to do what the state laws do is not a bad idea, but I don't know that it will play any role in bringing down the cost of food in the current context," Zandi said.
Still, a federal crackdown on price gouging could prove popular with some voters, even if it doesn't move the needle much on prices, some economists noted.
"This week, Harris said that she will crack down on large corporations that engage in illegal price gouging and corporate landlords that unfairly raise rents," Oxford Economics said in a Friday research note. "This makes more political than economic sense."
However, economists agree with Harris that adding more competition to the grocery and food industries could help tackle rising food prices by adding to the supply of products on the market. That in turn would give consumers more choice while curtailing companies' ability to set unreasonably high prices.
Ensuring that consumers have plenty of alternatives is essential to keeping a lid on high prices, Zandi noted. While prices are elevated compared to pre-pandemic levels, they've risen little over the past year. For instance, grocery prices rose 1.1% in July on an annual basis, far below the overall inflation rate of 2.9% .
"The market is working well in many respects," Zandi said. "Some of the higher prices might be due to some consolidation in the grocery business."
Even so, Zandi thinks the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) should keep a close eye on any proposed mergers or acquisitions of food companies, and that the bar for approving such deals should be high. Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission sued to block the proposed merger of Kroger and Albertsons, arguing that the combination of the two grocery giants would lead to higher prices for consumers. That deal is now on hold.
"The DOJ should look carefully at what's proposed, and look at it through the prism of what it might mean for markets," Zandi said. "And the Federal Trade Commission should look closely at the pricing practices of grocery stores to make sure they're not doing anything anti-competitive." Shining a light on those practices is also key to empowering consumers to purchase goods they believe are priced fairly.
"It's appropriate to provide transparency with regard to pricing so consumers can shop for the best deal," he said.
These types of policies, he believes, will be most effective at making groceries more affordable for everyday Americans, and taming high prices.
"Things can and should be done to make sure there is competition in the markets and businesses are following good pricing policies," he said. "And prices need to be transparent so people can shop for a good deal."
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
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Reported Speech. Greg: "I am cooking dinner Maya.". Maya: "Greg said he was cooking dinner.". So most often, the reported speech is going to be in the past tense, because the original statement, will now be in the past! *We will learn about reporting verbs in part 2 of this lesson, but for now we will just use said/told.
Reported speech tenses will change from that of the direct speech in most cases. This is known as backshifting in reported speech, with the basic rule that a tense is shifted back to its past tense form. This is because we are usually talking about something in the past. You can also watch a video of this lesson:
Reported Speech Tense Chart. When we convert from direct speech to indirect speech, the tense of the sentence changes. See the chart below to understand direct to indirect speech tense shift. Greg said, "I am an English teacher." Greg said that he was an English teacher. Edward said, "I am watching the news."
B. But indirect speech is usually introduced by a verb in the past tense. Verbs in the direct speech have then to be changed into a corresponding past tense. The changes are shown in the following table. DIRECT SPEECH INDIRECT SPEECH Simple Present "I never eat meat", he explained. Simple Past = He explained (that) he never ate meat.
Reported speech changes somebody's . direct speech . into . indirect speech. You do this to . relay information. provided by somebody else. The . basic formula. for reported speech is to . add reporting words, change pronouns and possessives as needed, and . shift the verb tense. Structure of reported speech . Direct speech . Reported speech
No Change in Verb Tenses in Reported Speech. In some cases, verb tenses do not change when you report speech indirectly.Here are the key instances: When the introductory verb is in the present, present perfect, or future.; When the reported sentence deals with a fact or general truth.; When the reported sentence contains a time clause.; If the verb of the sentence is in the unreal past (the ...
B) The pronouns in the indirect (reported) speech We have to change the pronouns in the indirect (reported) speech to keep the same meaning of a sentence. "We are the best students," he said. - He said they were the best students. "They called us," he said. - He said they had called them. "I like your jeans," she said. - She said she liked my ...
Time Expressions with Reported Speech Sometimes when we change direct speech into reported speech we have to change time expressions too. We don't always have to do this, however. It depends on when we heard the direct speech and when we say the reported speech. For example: It's Monday. Julie says "I'm leaving today".
UNIT 9. REPORTED SPEECH. A) Introduction. Reported or indirect speech occurs when you tell somebody else what you or another person said before. Obviously, if you report what somebody else has said, you y do not normally use the speakers exact words (direct speech), but reported (indirect) speech. Therefore, you need to learn how to transform ...
The modals could, should, would, might, needn't, ought to, used to don't change when used with indirect speech. Those who change are will → would, can → could, may → might: I will come with you. → Tina promised she would come with me. I can help you. → He said he could help me.
Time and Place in Reported Speech. When we report something, we may need to make changes to: time (now, tomorrow) place (here, this room) direct speech. reported speech. She said, "I saw Mary yesterday." She said she had seen Mary the day before. He said: "My mother is here."
Reported speech 2. Reported requests and orders. Reported speech exercise. Reported questions - worksheet. Indirect speech - worksheet. Worksheets pdf - print. Grammar worksheets - handouts. Grammar - lessons. Reported speech - grammar notes.
Reported speech is the form in which one can convey a message said by oneself or someone else, mostly in the past. It can also be said to be the third person view of what someone has said. In this form of speech, you need not use quotation marks as you are not quoting the exact words spoken by the speaker, but just conveying the message. Q2.
Table for Change in Tense of Reported Speech for All TENSES - Free download as Word Doc (.doc / .docx), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. This document provides a table summarizing the changes in tense that occur when converting direct speech to indirect speech for all verb tenses in English. It shows that present tenses generally change to the corresponding past tense ...
In indirect speech, the structure of the reported clause depends on whether the speaker is reporting a statement, a question or a command. Normally, the tense in reported speech is one tense back in time from the tense in direct speech: She said, "I am tired." = She said that she was tired. Phrase in Direct Speech. Equivalent in Reported Speech.
REPORTED SPEECH - CHART. Let's do English ESL grammar guide. An easy way to teach the students the main verb changes in reported speech.
Reported Speech CHANGES GUIDE - This is a guide for your students in order to know how they have to change the pronouns, expressions of time and tenses. I think this is a good idea to practise the reported speech. Thank you.
My teacher told me not to talk in class He told us to be quiet. Direct speech. Here There in this room. Reported speech. oomREPORTED SUGGESTI. Direct speech. Let's watch a film. hy don't you go to theReport. d speechHe suggested watching a film. He suggested that we watch a film He sug.
reported-speech-tense-changes-chart - Free download as PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. The document outlines the rules for converting direct speech to reported speech when changing the tense or modal verb. It provides examples of direct speech in various tenses and their equivalent reported speech forms, noting that the tense of the original direct speech usually ...
Rule #1. First person pronoun in direct speech (i.e. I, we) is changed according to the pronoun of reporting verb if pronoun in reporting verb is third person pronoun (i.e. he, she) For example: Direct speech: He said, " I don't want to shock people ". Reported speech: He said that he didn't want to shock people.
Trump acknowledged political motivations in seeking to block a border bill to deny Biden another bipartisan legislative accomplishment.
The increase in current-dollar personal income in July primarily reflected an increase in compensation (table 2).. The $103.8 billion increase in current-dollar PCE in July reflected an increase of $59.3 billion in spending for services and $44.5 billion in spending for goods (table 2). Within services, the largest contributor to the increase was housing and utilities (led by housing).
Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.0 percent in the second quarter of 2024 (table 1), according to the "second" estimate released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the first quarter, real GDP increased 1.4 percent. The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the "advance" estimate issued last month.
In a speech on Friday, Harris highlighted the surging cost of groceries, which have jumped 25% since January 2020, while noting that some food companies are at the same time enjoying record profits.
The analysis should address both governmental activities as reported in the government-wide financial statements and should include reasons for significant changes from the prior year, not simply the amounts or percentages of change. In addition, important economic factors, such as changes in the tax or employment bases that significantly