You don’t need me or anyone else to tell you about the effect that inflation has on your everyday life. You see it anytime you fill up your car, when you shop for groceries, or any other time you spend money. One analyst has totaled up the costs of inflation and has concluded that it’s costing families an extra $5,525 a year.
Ryan Sweet, a senior economist with Moody’s Analytics, tweeted his assessment of the costs of inflation compared to during the last two years before COVID-19 and on the whole.
“Having inflation at 8.5% on a year-ago basis, compared with the 2.1% average growth in 2018 and 2019, is costing the avg household $346.67 per month to purchase the same basket of goods/services as they did last year,” he tweeted. That’s a massive jump in just a few years, but it’s more astounding when you look at the total cost of inflation.
“However, the pure cost for households for having inflation running at 8.5% is $460.42 per month,” Sweet added in a reply to his first tweet. “This estimate is based solely on the realized inflation rate and doesn’t adjust for what inflation would have been absent the pandemic because that is highly uncertain.”
Multiply that $460.42 by 12, and you get an astonishing $5,525.04 for a year’s worth of inflation. And that’s assuming things won’t get worse.
Related: With Inflation at Historic Highs, Biden Stoops to New Low in Blame Game
Paul Sacca laid out at the Blaze how various sectors of the economy are contributing to Americans’ money woes:
Gasoline is up a whopping 48.7% since last year.
Fuel oil skyrocketed by 106.7% year-over-year, and natural gas spiked 30.2%.
Food now costs 10.1% more than a year ago.
The price for meats, poultry, and fish jumped 14.2% year-over-year, eggs spiked a whopping 32.2%, fruits and vegetables are up 8.2%, milk prices surged by 15.9%, and coffee prices increased 15.3%, according to CBS News.
Airline fares increased by a staggering 37.8%.
Used cars and trucks rose by 16.1%.
Of course, it’s those gas prices that drive so many other prices up. Over the weekend, gas prices hit a record national average of $5 per gallon. When the cost to transport goods goes up, the price we pay for those goods also rises to make up for fuel costs. Last week, my PJ Media colleague Stacey Lennox reminded us of some of the other products that come from petroleum as well, so you get the picture of how gas prices don’t just affect fill-ups.
Under a normal presidential administration, this would prompt hand-wringing and action to lower gas prices. But we’re in the Biden years, which means that all we get are lectures about how we need to buy expensive electric vehicles. The solutions are so simple, they flippantly tell us.
And that’s a big part of the problem with inflation. I do feel like a broken record talking about the incompetence-and-arrogance combo that characterizes this White House, but they don’t know what they’re doing and are too arrogant to make a change.
At this point, it’s showing even more. A recent ABC/Ipsos poll shows that only 27% of voters approve of the administration’s approach to gas prices, while only 28% approve of Biden’s handling of inflation. Those issues will make a difference in the midterms.
“Among those who are most enthusiastic, 66% say the economy will be extremely important in their vote,” Ipsos reports. “Sixty-two percent say the same about inflation.”
We’re in this inflation cycle for the long haul as long as this crop of Democrats is in power, so it’s foolish to expect any relief anytime soon. So batten down the hatches, and make your voice heard in November and in 2024.
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