Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Is your wallet losing more weight than you?
It could well be because so much more is coming out of it these days than is going in.
Meeting with economic writers last week, President Bush dismissed several polls that show Americans are down on the economy. He expressed surprise that inflation is one of the stated concerns.The Fortunate Son wouldn't notice the price of eggs or milk because he very likely has never had to buy them in his life. You and I have to buy staples every week, for their prices to be rising like that will hurt everyone who has to work for a living. And didn't your boss just give you a 2% raise because that was the inflation rate last year? Oh, and about you driving to the store for a can of coffee? Fuhgeddaboutit!
“They cite inflation?” Bush asked, adding that, “I happen to believe the war has clouded a lot of people's sense of optimism.”
But the inflation numbers reveal the extent to which lower- and middle-income Americans are being pinched.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics said in its June inflation report that egg prices are 19.5 percent higher than they were in June 2006. Over the same period, according to the department’s consumer price index, whole milk was up 13.3 percent; fresh chicken 10 percent; navel oranges 19.8 percent; apples 11.7 percent. Dried beans were up 11.5 percent, and white bread just missed double-digit growth, rising by 9.6 percent.
These numbers get lost in the broader inflation rate for all goods and services, which measured 2.7 for the same 12-month period. Across the economy, rising food prices were offset by falling prices for things bought at the mall: computers, cameras, clothing and shoes.
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