Understanding the government’s shell game.
A meme recently raised eyebrows by comparing the cost of groceries purchased for twenty dollars in 1990’s Home Alone movie by child actor Macaulay Culkin with what that basket of goods would cost today. US food inflation has spiked in recent years, exacerbated by the COVID pandemic and substantial federal spending. Despite this, government and media reports claim inflation is cooling sharply and food prices are coming down. Consumers may be forgiven for being skeptical.
Biden’s approval ratings are subterranean, driven in large part by a struggling economy pummeled by record spending. Suddenly, Americans are told that these inflationary pressures are reversing due to Biden’s stellar economic policies. It is to be hoped that inflation is indeed cooling, but Americans’ grocery bills have yet to reflect that optimism.