This! ^^^^^
One example of why people are pessimistic about inflation and the economy. Prices aren’t going down and the increase is permanent.
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The US really hasn’t had much deflation in the last 60 years. Really only in 2009. Why would people think that prices will go down? Sure some items here or there will go up more than avg inflation and sometimes other items go down more than avg inflation. But really prices never go down.
Overall the economy is strong. Unemployment is low. Stock market is coming back and quick as of the last couple of weeks. And inflation is getting back to historical averages.
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All that means is prices will rise an average of 2% above the current prices. People are unhappy with current prices because they’re up 20% in the last 2+ years. I want inflation at 0% for the next few years. Heck deflation would be fine in my book. Screw 2%.
I can afford that increase but most are struggling. So if I am angry about it imagine how they’re feeling.
(Political commentary edited out by moderator)
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A truly “good” economy does not need to be explained.
The fact that so much government going into explaining how “great we have it” speaks volumes.
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Inflation was 0% between September 23 to October 23 so it is going the direction you want currently.
The US economy is the best in the G7 right now (inflation included) and is stronger than it was predicted to be in 2019 (pre-Covid). Just goes to show that good performance doesn’t always lead to people feeling good.
I remember when a full size candy bar was 25 cents! (dating myself here) My parents remember when they were a nickel! I want those prices again!! 
Have to admit after reading the lobster roll article, my main thought was - If you don’t want to spend $32 on a lobster sandwich…don’t order one. Lobster is expensive.
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“Housing is an entirely different matter. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which compiles the CPI, doesn’t measure the cost of homeownership with home prices. Rather, it estimates what a homeowner would pay to rent their own house. This “owners’ equivalent rent” tends to track rents rather than houses and is up 17% since the start of 2021.
But if you’re actually in the market, what matters is the price of a home and the mortgage rate. Since January 2021, home prices, despite a late 2022 dip, have risen 29%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller national home price index, and mortgage rates have nearly tripled. The buyer of the typical home thus faces a monthly principal and interest payment of nearly $2,200, more than double the level of early 2021, the National Association of Realtors calculates. No wonder the net share of consumers telling the University of Michigan it is a good time to buy a home is the lowest since 1982.”
Back when the Fed fund rate was brought down to zero everyone was complaining that we were just printing money. Now it has flipped everyone is complaining the opposite.
I find it quite amazing that a government is powerful enough to set prices on so many goods. I have worked for a handful of companies and just can’t quite remember getting a decreed to raise prices. I guess capitalism just doesn’t work.
But with my current income! 
Obviously!
Thought this article pertinent to this discussion.
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I found this linked article interesting even though “Jurors were specifically told not to consider more recent egg pricing during their deliberations.”
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“After years of inflation, US consumers are shouldering a burden unlike anything seen in decades — even as the pace of price increases has slowed.
It now requires $119.27 to buy the same goods and services a family could afford with $100 before the pandemic. Since early 2020, prices have risen about as much as they had in the full 10 years preceding the health emergency.
It’s hard to find an area of a household budget that’s been spared: Groceries are up 25% since January 2020. Same with electricity. Used-car prices have climbed 35%, auto insurance 33% and rents roughly 20%.“
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There has been a lot of talk about inflation over the last couple of years, but I don’t hear much about the wage increases over the same time period. I have seen plenty of market adjustments done in the companies I have worked for during that time.
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It looks like we’re living the 70s all over again. We need more bell bottoms and butterfly collars! GROOVY man!
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The graph below shows real earnings, after adjustment for inflation (CPI). Ignoring the COVID anomalies in 2020-21, earnings seem on their usual trend of slightly faster than CPI. Whether CPI accurately reflects actual cost of living is a separate issue.
Good to know. I feel so much better now - 
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