Gobbling up inflation
by David Atkins
You might not be aware of it if you don’t travel in wingnut circles, but there is a cottage industry on the right insisting that the government is hiding the real inflation rate. They’re wrong, of course. But they believe as they do because they just know intuitively that soft money policies must lead to inflation despite poor consumer demand (remember, they’re not that bright) and that if it’s not showing up in the official data then it must be hidden somewhere.
Whenever you see an argument about this topic, you’ll see conservatives constantly talk about how much more expensive the prices of groceries are to prove their point, though they rarely provide specific statistics to back it up.
Well, it turns out that no, there’s not really even significant inflation on that front. In fact, Thanksgiving dinner is cheaper this year than it was last year.
Here’s a tidbit of news that economists don’t pay enough attention to: The cost of your Thanksgiving dinner has dropped for the first time in three years.
The average cost of a full turkey dinner for 10 people will be $49.04, which is 44 cents lower than a year ago, according to an annual survey by the American Farm Bureau Federation, a trade group. Last year’s tally of $49.48 was the highest in the 28-year-old survey’s history.
Cheaper turkeys pulled down most of the cost — a 16-pound bird costs $21.76, about 50 cents lower than last year. Sweet potatoes, whipping cream and pumpkin-pie mix will set you back a bit more this year, but cranberries, dinner rolls and cubed stuffing won’t.
No, the inflation isn’t hidden. It’s just not there. Just another nail in what should be the coffin of right wing economics.
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