Guilded News EP13:

Three baselines. Three narratives. Three gaps between what you were told and what the data says.

Baseline 1 — The Last Clean Number: February CPI at +2.4% YoY, core cooling, shelter finally cracking — rent at its slowest pace in five years. But energy was already rising before the Iranian oil shock. The WSJ calls it "a CPI the Fed can't do much with." And 46% of Americans say prices are eroding their lives. "In line" is about the forecast, not your purchasing power.

Baseline 2 — Bring Your Own Power Plant: PJM, the largest US grid operator, told data centers to self-supply. Data centers are 100% of demand growth. Goldman Sachs projects your electric bill rises 6% by 2027. PJM's own market monitor called $23 billion in data center capacity costs a "massive wealth transfer."

Baseline 3 — The Frozen Rate ...