Prices have been rising for a year, as anyone who’s tried to buy food recently knows.

Have you noticed a small (very small) McDonalds ice cream cone has jumped from 99 cents to $1.69 lately. Or their Pumpkin-cream pies which were a dollar are now $1.69 before tax. Cases of bottled water in the stores that were selling for $2.99 are now close to $6. A glass of soda or an ice tea in most sitdown restaurants cost up to $3. What about a meal at the steak house that a short while back would run you $25 plus a few dollars in tips, now costing 45-50 bucks? If you want to go out and eat, even the curbside dairy bars can be close to $20 for hot dogs and fries.

Food is a big part of household budgets, so high prices can upset household finances. It used to be that you could offset rising prices with declines in other expenses. However, here lately that’s hard to do as everything has taken a hike, including utilities, rent, gas, vehicles, you name it and it’s gone up.

To think that $1,200 stimulus checks would make life easier for people was absurd. While it may have helped some, it didn’t last long as people were already behind more than that. It was not a difference maker for those struggling to keep a roof over their heads, feeding a family, or trying to keep a vehicle running on a continual basis. It takes good paying jobs something that’s in short supply in this area. to provide the basic necessities of life. While some good jobs remain locally, they are few and far between.

The COVID-19 pandemic, brought about lockdowns, travel restrictions and physical distancing rules, and led to significant increases in unemployment and considerable income losses for many people. From the start of the pandemic, more and more people have lost their jobs or have been forced to work fewer hours (whether from home or otherwise), thereby experiencing a drop in their income. This brought about less demand for many non-essential goods and services. But by the same token the pandemic created supply disruptions for essential goods causing prices to increase substantially.

Increases in food prices can have a major impact on the living standards of lower-income households, which generally spend most of their income on food. We are fortunate to have several different food banks in the local area and many volunteers who help pass out food for the needy. If not for food banks and churches passing out food, many of the young families would not have enough food to make it each month.

Inflation continues to rise and prices have been going up for the past year. It’s easy to see that the money poured into the economy by the federal government is creating demand-pull inflation.

Inflation is bad. It hurts everyone, especially retirees, people on fixed incomes, and those who live in poverty.

The most effective way to combat inflation is a tight money policy, but it’s a cure more painful than the disease. Ask anyone who lived through the 1970s.

For the past 20 years it’s been a fool’s paradise of unwise tax cuts and spending increases for things that aren’t national priorities and the ordinary people end up paying the price.

Inflation generally results from too much demand chasing too few goods or limited services, resulting in price increases. Inflated prices don’t necessarily hurt the economy as a whole, and only those people making purchases experience the increase.

For example, new auto prices have risen sharply because of vehicle shortages, blamed on a lack of computer chips and semiconductors. This has created more demand and higher prices for used cars. However the increase doesn’t necessarily affect you unless you need or decide to buy a vehicle.

So higher prices in one sector doesn’t necessarily lead to inflation like price increases across a wide range of categories does. But tell that to the middle and lower class income people and you’ll definitely get an ear full. They want to know why! Why practically everything has taken a jump. Why gas, food, energy, car repairs, rent, housing, and yes, even a fast food restaurant hamburger have suddenly become unafordable for them. Most believe it’s the Government fault, however if one was to dig deep enough, it’s possible they would find greed and corruption in nearly all sectors as the root of the problem.

A local plumber charges $20 per hour labor and people complain. Car dealerships are charging upwards of $100 per hour, per customer, while often working on 2-3 cars at a time by each mechanic, it’s like they took a lesson from Rodney Dangerfield on how to be an automobile mechanic.

However one looks at it inflation amounts to inflated or blown up prices and at this point in time there is not much we can do about it. The best one could do is set back, buy as little as possible, fix what you can fix yourself, don’t travel, stay home and enjoy what you are blessed with. Maybe, just maybe things will even out!

Oh, and don’t forget taxes! The more you’re taxed the more they will spend! Who are they? That’s and easy one, all political figures at every level of Government!