The new consumer prices report showing a 3.8% price rise in April confirms what Americans have been complaining about for months: Inflation is continuing to squeeze family budgets.
It’s indisputable that oil and fertilizer supply disruptions in the Middle East are driving up prices here at home.
But that’s only part of the inflation story. Consumer prices overall are up nearly 30% since COVID-19 derailed the U.S. economy six years ago. That’s the worst stretch of inflation since the bad old 1970s under Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, when inflation hit double-digit levels.
It’s important to remember (SET ITAL)why(END ITAL) this spurt of rising prices has hit consumers right in the nose — er, wallet — if we are going to solve the affordability crisis.
If we look at the year-by-year bump up in prices, we see that inflation was tame in Donald Trump’s first term (2017-21), with an annualized rate of 2.5%. It would have been closer to 2% had it not been for COVID-19 and the lockdowns. Inflation was running below 2% in the months before Joe Biden took over the White House.
Then inflation rocketed to 9% in 2022.
The average annual inflation rate was 5% over the Biden presidency, with an overall 21% rise in prices. That was the worst inflation stretch since Carter.
Through the first 16 or so months of Trump 2.0, the inflation rate is running at just above 3%.
Biden didn’t have a clue and was just a cardboard cutout, a lost ball in tall weeds. Harris was as practical and as useful as a tree ornament, except for her tie breaking senate vote.. Obama and his inner circle called the shots.
Let’s be more wary and not let this happen again, ever.
The only good in all of this is that my social security COLA should be about 4%. 🙂
Should be more than that!!!!