We took our grandson to Krispy Kreme the other morning for the requisite grandparent bonding.
He wanted a yellow one; a plain one and a chocolate one so we figured we could get a half-dozen in order to have enough left over for the grandparents. Why go to Krispy Kreme just for the grandchildren?
When we placed our order, we thought the price for a half-dozen doughnuts in 2022 would be the same as they were in 2020 when we last took him to Krispy Kreme. Two years ago, a half-dozen Krispy Kreme’s cost about $4; a dozen would have set us back $7.99.
Imagine our shock and surprise when we got our short box of a half-dozen doughnuts and the cashier said “that will be $10.42, please.”
We looked at each other and then looked at the cashier in shock and said in unison: “We didn’t order a dozen!”
“A dozen costs $14. You ordered a half-dozen. That will be $10.42, please” the cashier said nicely but firmly.
Sure enough, if we had taken the time to look at the prices on the drive-thru menu, we would have seen the correct 2022 prices and probably driven through without making a purchase. But we had our grandson in the car so what are we supposed to do, blame it all on President Joe Biden and liberal left-wing socialist Democrats for him not getting a yellow Krispy Kreme doughnut?
In October 2020, President Trump was in the White House and Republicans controlled the U.S. Senate. In August, 2022, President Biden is in the White House and Democrats control Congress. The only people who don’t see the correlation between Biden policies and terrible economic outcomes such as inflation and high gas prices are the same Democrats who made it all happen.
They did it again Sunday night by passing one of the most oxymoronic-titled bills ever, “The Inflation Reduction Act”. It will increase inflation and raise taxes during a recession ― exactly what should not be done at precisely the wrong time.
Everything progressive leftist socialist Democrats do is wrong. Nothing they pass works.
Inflation always makes everything go up in cost over time. Over time, done properly, the growth of money supply in the economy should approximate population growth to maintain a stable price level. Alan Greenspan would tell the House Budget Committee being Federal Reserve Chairman should be the easiest job in the world ― all he should have had to do was turn on the printing presses and tell the Bureau of Printing and Engraving employees to produce 3% more currency every year to keep up with population growth ― and go home by noon every day.
Wayward, misguided policies as we are now witnessing under President Biden and leftist progressive socialist Democrats abnormally accelerates the permanent escalation of costs for the average consumer. Wages can’t keep up with such abrupt increases in costs so the average person suffers disproportionately more than wealthy people with hard assets that escalate in value.
Smart business execs see inflationary times as opportune moments to raise prices after years of not being able to justify price hikes, as Krispy Kreme execs have done. When supply chain issues are resolved and gas prices fall sharply under the next Republican president, it is very hard for a publicly-traded company to reduce prices because Wall Street will be expecting higher profits going forward, not lower. As long as the industry leader holds prices firm, every competitor can follow suit and bank more profits than otherwise.
Some commodities will fluctuate as they always do after bouts of inflation. Over time, they will stabilize in a “new normal” range higher than today. If you lived in Mayberry during an old Andy Griffith episode, a five-pound package of bacon would have cost 99 cents and a 10-lb. bag of potatoes sold for 29 cents.
Good luck buying five strips of bacon for 99 cents today.
Several things will never go down in price after inflationary bouts. Social Security checks, for example, are due to go up close to 10% in a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for next year. Prices of homes may plateau but they will never drop back to pre-2021 levels.
Chances are high we will never see a dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts for $7.99 again. Try explaining the transcendent “greatness” of the extreme left-wing policies of Joe Biden and his band of Democrats to a 4-year-old.