{"id":1442955,"date":"2023-12-08T23:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T04:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1442955"},"modified":"2023-12-08T23:20:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T04:20:00","slug":"a-constant-state-of-sticker-shock-here-is-proof-that-inflation-in-the-us-is-wildly-out-of-control","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/a-constant-state-of-sticker-shock-here-is-proof-that-inflation-in-the-us-is-wildly-out-of-control\/1442955\/","title":{"rendered":"“A Constant State Of Sticker Shock” \u2013 Here Is Proof That Inflation In The US Is Wildly Out Of Control"},"content":{"rendered":"

“A Constant State Of Sticker Shock” \u2013 Here Is Proof That Inflation In The US Is Wildly Out Of Control<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Do you believe the politicians in Washington or do you believe your own eyes?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The politicians keep telling us that \u201cinflation is low\u201d, but everyone can see that everything sure does cost a lot more than it once did.\u00a0 Our standard of living just keeps going down, and even\u00a0JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is admitting that\u00a0\u201cinflation is hurting people\u201d<\/a>.\u00a0 But how can inflation be \u201churting people\u201d if it is under control?\u00a0 Of course the truth is that it isn\u2019t under control.\u00a0 If the official rate of inflation was still measured using the formula that was in place in 1980, it would be\u00a0well into double digit territory<\/a>\u00a0right now.\u00a0 Prices have been rising\u00a0much faster than paychecks have<\/a>, and that is putting an extraordinary amount of financial stress on the more than 60 percent of U.S. adults that currently live paycheck to paycheck.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Vox is a website\u00a0that leans very far to the left<\/a>, and even they are complaining about inflation.<\/p>\n

In fact, a recent article posted on Vox boldly declared that life in 2023\u00a0\u201cmeans being in a constant state of sticker shock\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Life in 2023 means being in a constant state of sticker shock.<\/p>\n

You walk out of the grocery store feeling like you\u2019re not really sure what happened, but somehow, your normal fare ran you $50 more than you swear it should have. Did Diet Coke always cost that much? Or eggs? Maybe you\u2019ve been putting off buying that new car in the hope prices go back to where they were pre-pandemic, but you\u2019re starting to feel like the wait is awfully long. Or, the morning after a post-work happy hour, you\u2019re left scratching your head. You swear you had two glasses of wine, but the size of your credit card receipt makes you wonder if it wasn\u2019t four. \u201cHow expensive everything is today\u201d is a top theme of conversation. The whole situation can be infuriating.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t care for Vox much, but those two paragraphs are quite accurate.<\/p>\n

Prices have reached absurd heights, and most of us really are \u201cin a constant state of sticker shock\u201d these days.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And the cold, hard numbers back this up.<\/p>\n

According to a report from\u00a0Republican members of the U.S. Senate Joint Economic Committee, the typical household in this country\u00a0\u201cmust spend an additional $11,434 annually\u201d<\/a>\u00a0in order to have the same standard of living that it did when Joe Biden entered the White House\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data.<\/p>\n

So let me ask you a question.<\/p>\n

Has your household income gone up by $11,434 a year since January 2021?<\/p>\n

If you are like most Americans, your income has barely moved.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I discussed\u00a0last week<\/a>, half of all American workers made less than $40,847.18 last year.<\/p>\n

If you are one of those workers, life is not easy in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even really basic things just cost so much at this point.\u00a0 For example, a Big Mac value meal will now set you back\u00a018 dollars<\/a>\u00a0in some parts of the country\u2026<\/p>\n

A Big Mac burger, a medium beverage, and a medium fry meal now\u00a0costs<\/a>\u00a018 dollars in some locations,\u00a0up<\/a>\u00a0$10 from 2018 when former President Donald Trump was president.<\/p>\n

Visiting McDonald\u2019s has become something that only wealthy people can afford to do on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

Of course it isn\u2019t just fast food\u00a0that has become painfully expensive<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

A pound of ground beef now costs $5.23 on average<\/strong>, up from $3.89 in January 2020.<\/p>\n

Coffee is up some\u00a0$2 a pound<\/strong>. Prices for fresh fruits and vegetables are nearly 14% higher.<\/p>\n

At one point, the price of a carton of\u00a0eggs was triple<\/strong>\u00a0its pre-pandemic price.<\/p>\n

When I was growing up, my mother would feed us ground beef all the time.<\/p>\n

Now it is considered to be a luxury item.<\/p>\n

Let me give you another example of how inflation is killing us financially.<\/p>\n

The cost of auto insurance and the cost of home insurance\u00a0are both going through the roof<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The skyrocketing cost of auto and home insurance is increasingly weighing on cash-strapped Americans.<\/p>\n

In 2022, the average price of both types of insurance saw its biggest spike in more than five years.<\/p>\n

And this year rates are projected to grow by an even greater amount, according to analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Within the first seven months, both had already jumped by double-digit amounts.<\/p>\n

When you combine both expenses, the average American household is now spending\u00a0over $3,700 a year<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the latest analysis from Forbes Advisor, the average cost of home insurance is $1,582 a year for a policy with $350,000 coverage. And typical motorist pays $2,150 a year for full coverage car insurance.<\/p>\n

That means on car and home insurance alone a household can expect to spend more than $3,700 a year.<\/p>\n

How can anyone afford that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

And don\u2019t get me started on health insurance.<\/p>\n

Our system is so broken that only those with lots of money can afford\u00a0a decent health insurance policy that actually has adequate coverage.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Needless to say, Joe Biden doesn\u2019t want to take the blame for any of this.\u00a0 Last week, he was accusing large corporations of\u00a0\u201cprice gouging\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

President Joe Biden delivered remarks from the White House on Monday to announce the new council\u2019s creation. He touted the lower inflation rate and falling grocery prices but admonished American companies for, in his view, not going far enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be clear: To any corporation that has not brought their prices back down\u2014even as inflation has come down, even as supply chains have been rebuilt\u2014it\u2019s time to stop the price gouging,\u201d Biden warned, imploring them to \u201cgiv[e] the American consumer a break.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seriously?<\/p>\n

Other liberals are actually\u00a0blaming you<\/a>\u00a0for inflation\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

People hate inflation, just not enough to spend less: This is one of the central tensions of today\u2019s economy, in which things are going great yet everyone is miserable. And in some ways, Americans have nobody to blame but themselves.<\/p>\n

No matter how high prices go, most of us still have to pay the bills and put food on the table.<\/p>\n

So there is only so much that we can \u201ccut back\u201d on our spending.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, one recent survey did find that approximately a quarter of the U.S. population has been engaged in\u00a0\u201cdoom spending\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Nearly all Americans, 96%, are concerned about the current state of the economy, according to a recent report by Intuit Credit Karma.<\/p>\n

Still, more than a quarter are \u201cdoom spending,\u201d or spending money despite economic and geopolitical concerns, the report found.<\/p>\n

A lot of people figure that if everything is about to fall apart they may as well enjoy things while they still can.<\/p>\n

But I think that a much wiser approach would be to use the resources that you have to get prepared\u00a0for the tremendous chaos that is ahead of us<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Economic conditions are going to get a whole lot rougher from here.<\/p>\n

So enjoy these relatively stable times while you still can, because they will not last indefinitely\u2026<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Michael\u2019s new book entitled\u00a0\u201cChaos\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is now available\u00a0in paperback<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0for the Kindle<\/a>\u00a0on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter\u00a0right here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nFri, 12\/08\/2023 – 18:20<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/personal-finance\/constant-state-sticker-shock-here-proof-inflation-us-wildly-out-control<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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