Twenty bucks in a gas tank won’t take anyone nearly as far it would a year ago while gnawing on a juicy T-bone has become a luxury. Everything but the air we breathe has shot up in price and it’s getting worse by the day. Combine this with the thousands upon thousands of Americans who aren’t working and you have yourself a recipe for disaster, but not before you mix in a dementia-inflicted old guy by the name of Joe Biden. Now it’s ready for the oven.
But they say misery loves company and if that’s truly the case we have plenty of it. It’s called the world. And it’s in crisis mode. From refrigerators at Home Depot in Detroit to the price of gas in Poland to food markets throughout Europe, everyone riding this spinning rock is feeling the crunch.
It’s a twofold problem. Soaring energy costs have forced businesses to increase prices to remain operational. Otherwise, it’d be lights out. This along with the rising cost of keeping the home electric or gas fireplace glowing is pinching everyone’s pocket.
Secondly, there come’s supply chain disruptions which is a twofold issue unto itself. It ties in closely with current fuel costs, but then there’s this pandemic thing… Ships originating from some areas are banned altogether while others must await their entire crew being tested and quarantined if required, and, and, and…
When supplies and products are sitting out at sea they aren’t going in stores and they aren’t being sold. Once again, to stay in business, inflation kicks in due to prices being escalated on what a store or business does have to offer. It’s simple business logic that consumers are forced to contend with, while at the same time, no company can afford to give anyone a raise in pay to compensate for the things they can no longer afford to purchase.
Even in faraway Budapest a shopper at a food market, Gabor Pardi, after purchasing some vegetables, said, “We try to shop for the cheapest and most economical things, even if they don’t look as good.”
A butcher at one of the high-quality meat shops, Ildiko Vardas Serfozo, said, “Buyers are price sensitive and therefore often leave us behind, even if our products are high quality. Money talks. We notice that inflation is not good for us. I’m just glad my kids don’t want to continue this family business, I don’t see much future in it.”
In Poland, 71-year-old Barbara Grotowska who struggles to live on a pension said that rising fuel costs have caused her garbage pickup fee to triple. Cooking oil and other essentials have risen at the very least by a third. She has no idea how she’s going to make it if the trend continues.
Here in the U.S., once citizens felt safe to come again and government checks were still flying out, consumers bellied up to the retail bar and went spend crazy. As demand for goods dramatically rose, freight yards got backed up. In addition, factories couldn’t meet the demand which left product shortages.
Next, a few new COVID-19 variants strolled in and the waterworks really got gummed up. Again, this caused prices to zoom upward on the products that did make it through and it left certain manufacturers with tons of unmovable inventory. And here we are.
The EU, which has been slam-dunked through the net of inflation, is furiously pooling its resources to overcome the continuing dilemma as quickly as possible. They understand the dire consequences of not doing so. Joe Biden? Not so much.
While the rest of the industrialized world is pooping in its Pampers trying to ward off planetary financial collapse, Joe, the leader of the nation that could no doubt be of the most help, is building nice roads. Seeing as how before long no one will be able to afford to drive on them, they should last for years.
Meanwhile, stab another hole in your belt. This could be a long ride. Who’s frightened? Uh…maybe we are but we aren’t saying. The floor belongs to you.