You Know that Whole Inflation Running Wild Thing?

Not so much:

Wholesale prices in the U.S. declined for a third month in November, reflecting lower costs for energy and cars.

The 0.1 percent drop in the producer-price index followed a 0.2 percent decrease the prior month, a Labor Department report showed today in Washington. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 77 economists called for no change. The so-called core measure, which excludes food and energy, rose 0.1 percent.

Prices of goods and materials used in the earlier stages of production fell for a second month as slow improvement in global markets limits demand. Scant signs of accelerating inflation indicate Federal Reserve policy makers meeting next week have more room to maintain their unprecedented $85 billion in monthly asset purchases in order to help spur the expansion.

“Inflation remains quite tame,” said Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics Ltd. in Valhalla, New York, who correctly projected the drop in prices. “Over the course of the next year, the core numbers will drift up a little bit as the economy remains healthy and unemployment keeps falling.”

An important thing to note is that the inflation hawks have been wrong on everything this time around.