The Daily Feather — After Having It with a Grain of Salt

Merriam-Webster plays the role of Mr. Obvious, telling us that if we “take it with a grain of salt,” we’ve got a skeptical attitude. The origins of the phrase are unclear, but intriguingly, both are tied to poison. One hypothesis dates back to 77 A.D. Pliny the Elder is believed to have used the phrase in Naturalis Historia when translating an antidote for poison. However, the phrase cum grano salis (“with a grain of salt”) is not what Pliny wrote. Pliny's actual words were addito salis grano (“after having added a grain of salt”). An alternative recounts Roman General Pompey believing he could make himself immune to poison by ingesting small amounts of various poisons. He took this ‘treatment’ with a grain of salt to help him swallow the poison, rendering the sodium we know today a mere bit player. If inflation is U.S. households’ poison, they’ve been ingesting too much salt to swallow higher prices. Symptoms of excessive salt ingestion include excessive thirst, bloating, puffy face, hands, feet, or ankles and/or weight gain. Over time, high salt consumption can raise blood pressure, and high blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke.

Federal Reserve officials would love to wean a combined 200 million American workers and retirees off high inflation. Nominally led by Jerome Powell (who knows darn well he’s not combating inflation, but rather looking for cover to maintain high rates to methodically poison the Fed Put into its grave), the united front’s narrative reads as such: Bringing inflation back to the 2% percent target “will likely require a period of below-trend growth and some softening of labor market conditions.” Since that economic backdrop is still forecast and not reality, the median dot for the 2023 Fed funds projection was raised last week.