Cafeteria prices are supersized. Airfare is taking off like the Concorde. Health insurance may be hazardous to your wallet’s health.
The Consumer Price Index rose 0.4% in the month of September, up 8.2% from one year earlier. Adding to the hit to consumers: wages fell slightly last month and are now down an inflation-adjusted three percent since one year ago.
And prices have been surging for some key goods and services:
- Food at work or school: up 91% since September 2021
- Airfare: up 43%
- Health insurance: up 28%
How did we get here?
Former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker told No Labels: “Spending has been out of control — four to five trillion dollars of additional spending, which has fueled inflation. It’s been enabled by very loose monetary policy from the Federal Reserve. They held interest rates too low too long.”
The benchmark Federal Reserve interest rate had been below three percent since 2008 — and at zero during the two years of the COVID pandemic. So far this year, the Fed has raised its benchmark five times, and is now expected to raise the benchmark to as high as five percent next month.
The Fed is wrestling with inflation. But so far, inflation is winning.
Are you as concerned about inflation as we are? Join the No Labels movement.
