Americans continue to experience and hear about the nation’s inflation woes: they’re seeing it fairly clearly in gas and grocery prices, and on their news feeds.
The inflation rate has exceeded the 40-year high previously set in December, but what remains unclear to many is what is really causing that inflation and when it will come to an end. Obvious to many is that the pandemic has put its thumb on the economic scale, but what exactly is causing the purchasing power of the dollar to falter remains murky.
That’s not just an issue for the average person, however. While most economists tend to acknowledge the same causes of inflation, many disagree which elements are most driving the price increases that continue to vex American consumers.
Supply chain issues, surging demand, production costs, and swaths of relief funds all have a role to play, they say, but politics tend to cause one to point the finger at the supply chain or the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 as the main culprits.
A more apolitical view may suggest that all have a role to play in shrinking the distance a dollar can travel.
Click here for the full article