The Price You Pay
There have been a few recent hints—such as dropping gas prices—that inflation has peaked. But the latest inflation numbers are still inflated. “Record gasoline prices pushed inflation to a new, 40-year high last month. The Labor Department reported Wednesday that inflation hit 9.1% for the 12 months ending in June. Prices rose 1.3% between May and June, with energy costs accounting for nearly half the monthly increase.”
+ WaPo: Five charts explaining why inflation is at a 40-year high. (These lists usually include six charts, but even charts are more expensive these day.)
+ NBC News: Inflation in America: Track where prices are rising.
+ One way or another, we’re going to get inflation under control. But it might hurt. Vox: Inflation is soaring. How did Paul Volcker’s Federal Reserve tackle it 40 years ago? “Volcker got inflation under control through the economic equivalent of chemotherapy: He engineered two massive, but brief, recessions, to slash spending and force inflation down. By the end of the 1980s, inflation was ebbing and the economy was booming.”
+ Want a discount on goods? Buy things from Europe, or better yet, take a vacation and buy things there. “The euro has fallen below the dollar for the first time in nearly 20 years as the war in Ukraine pushes the single currency down.” (The struggling euro is another reminder that inflation and other economic challenges are an international problem. But voters in each country will still take out their frustration at the ballot box.) An AP Explainer: What’s the impact of euro parity with the dollar?