“Is This the Breaking Point? Fury Erupts as Inflation Soars to Nightmarish Heights: A Glimpse into Capitalism’s Grim Future”
“When inflation is low, companies absorb small changes in prices and only move when there is a big change or a sustained change”
Grocery shopping is an activity that many of us dread. It often feels like the price of food rises every single week, and if you only have the opportunity to shop during busy times, you have to be mentally prepared to fight off crowds before going. Weaving your cart through narrow aisles and standing in line for 15 minutes before getting to the checkout is not most people’s ideal way of spending a Sunday afternoon or Wednesday evening.
And one of the absolute worst parts of buying groceries is seeing the bill at the end. To learn more about inflation and how it impacts food prices, we got in touch with Michael Ashton, aka “Inflation Guy.” Michael is the founder of Enduring Investments LLC and was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about this topic.
“Inflation is a decrease in the purchasing power of the dollar, so it affects EVERYTHING to a greater or lesser extent,” he explained.
“But what people don’t realize about groceries is that, except for raw produce, most of the cost of food is packaging, shipping, and advertising. So even if egg prices are low, if the cost of shipping eggs, or the cost of the cartons, goes up a lot, then so does the price,” Michael shared.
“The situation with eggs, though, is due to the avian flu, which has nothing to do with inflation, so maybe that’s a bad example!” he added.
Michael says that, when inflation is low, grocery prices change less frequently because it takes time to adjust prices, and it annoys the customers. “All businesses, in fact, operate this way.”
