Hence “Inflation” is a loaded term that has come to encapsulate other issues consumers are feeling, like wage stagnation, wealth inequity, seemingly high taxes with rising debt and borrowing costs, enshittification, supply issues, purchasing power issues, and other systemic problems like that.
I don’t like it. It’s unscientific and masks too much. But when Americans say “inflation,” I really think they’re expressing feelings for much more than that.
it’s mostly folks pissed off about the price of gas. which affects the price of everything else indiscrimately because most of our goods are distributed via trucks.
if gas goes down, inflation cools. generally other fuels/oils also go down.
It’s diesel, not gas, that is the inflexible fuel. The average American may skip a road trip, or opt for a hybrid or EV on their next vehicle purchase. It’s the truckers and the farmers that have no option but to use diesel and are getting hit hard with the record prices.
I agree that this will be a major contributor to overall inflation, but there are still other meaningful factors. One example being the current administration’s lack of focus on regulatory oversight. This is letting large corporations manipulate markets to raise prices far above their increased production costs as well as keep prices high after the conditions that originally caused the increase in operating expenses have been alleviated.
Hence “Inflation” is a loaded term that has come to encapsulate other issues consumers are feeling, like wage stagnation, wealth inequity, seemingly high taxes with rising debt and borrowing costs, enshittification, supply issues, purchasing power issues, and other systemic problems like that.
I don’t like it. It’s unscientific and masks too much. But when Americans say “inflation,” I really think they’re expressing feelings for much more than that.
it’s mostly folks pissed off about the price of gas. which affects the price of everything else indiscrimately because most of our goods are distributed via trucks.
if gas goes down, inflation cools. generally other fuels/oils also go down.
It’s diesel, not gas, that is the inflexible fuel. The average American may skip a road trip, or opt for a hybrid or EV on their next vehicle purchase. It’s the truckers and the farmers that have no option but to use diesel and are getting hit hard with the record prices.
I agree that this will be a major contributor to overall inflation, but there are still other meaningful factors. One example being the current administration’s lack of focus on regulatory oversight. This is letting large corporations manipulate markets to raise prices far above their increased production costs as well as keep prices high after the conditions that originally caused the increase in operating expenses have been alleviated.