By now you've probably heard the headlines about inflation being at the highest level in 17 years. While there's no doubt that inflation is the enemy of saving for the future, Clark wants you to look beyond the alarmist nature of the headlines. The inflation report is retrospective; it's not indicative of where Clark thinks we're headed.

Consider this: The price of commodities -- which were a big part of the run-up -- has moderated and many have dropped at wholesale. We've only been focused on the price of oil and gas, but they represent just one sliver of the cost crunch.

It will, however, be a while before that wholesale drop is reflected in the prices we pay for other commodities.

Meanwhile, housing and cars are steadily getting more affordable.

So Clark is not saying that everything's rosy, but he does believe we have bigger problems than inflation. In the penny-pincher's estimation, the real problem we have is remaining competitive in the world -- but that's another show note!

But just to touch on that topic, we need better education, training and an emphasis on career skills so we can compete with foreign capitalist economies. Plus, the federal government should not spend money it doesn't have. On the state level, we need to rein things in with a program similar to Colorado's TABOR (Taxpayers' Bill of Rights).