Giant corporations want to keep their taxes low and the prices we pay high. We can’t let them win.
by Sulma Arias
NC Newsline
In 2004, I was a single mom raising three daughters on my own. I worked three jobs, including an overnight shift as a translator at our local hospital, to make ends meet. Every time I stood in line at the supermarket, I worried about what I would have to put back on the shelf to stay within our weekly $100 food budget.
My daughters are all grown now. But whenever I’m buying groceries, I still get that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach as I remember not knowing if we would have enough to eat, and how much — or how little — I could provide for my family with $100.
Prices for all of us have gone way up since COVID, and $100 now buys about $65 worth of groceries compared to five years ago. This puts a huge bite on working families, because we spend most of our income every month — as much as 90 percent — on food and other necessities. So when prices rise, we hurt the most.
A lot goes into planning a personal budget – and the price of food and how it fluctuates with inflation can be a big part of that.
The GDP Report Snuffs Out the Dream of a Soft Landing
A whopping 85 percent of New Yorkers say that the cost of food is rising faster than their income in a poll conducted amid the grocery affordability crisis.
Since a key inflation report this month showed an unexpected surge in consumer prices, hopes for a flurry of interest rate cuts this year have dimmed, the stock market has tumbled and an upbeat mood on the economy has soured a bit.
Wall Street stocks treaded water Wednesday as markets awaited key US inflation data while digesting mixed corporate earnings.
Without a doubt, US inflation is milder now than it was, say, a year ago. But it’s not quite as mild as the Federal Reserve (the Fed) would like it to be. In fact, in recent months it’s moved further from that mark, heating up instead of cooling. And, of course, that means the Fed – which jacked up interest rates in its battle against inflation – will likely keep those borrowing rates higher for longer.
People need to prepare themselves for even more inflation that will be absolutely brutal for those who are already struggling.