Now that I am retired I occasionally go to the grocery store or on other shopping adventures with my spouse. This week I paid more attention when it was pointed out how expensive food has become. The question was, inflation is very low and projected to stay that way, so what am I missing? Pick a type of vegetable and you will not find them less expensive that last week or last year. Avocados are a favorite of the grandchildren – they are often several dollars each. If you desire cage free or organic anything you know it will be a higher price. Fruit is one of my favorite foods and I am sure the increases this year are well above the Federal Reserves personal consumption expenditure price index (PCEPI). There are supply anomalies like bad weather in Madagascar which produces 80% of the worlds vanilla and created a $600 per kilogram price sending the commodity soaring. Core PCE excludes volatile items like energy and food prices. I am not going to try and explain all the details of what is included and why. I did find a timely article written by Erik Sherman for Fortune magazine. “Inflation is at historic lows, so why do things seem so expensive?” Exactly what Karen asked. Sherman starts the article with this analogy, “ever had the experience of seeing that the temperature is 40 degrees, but then you step outside and the “real feel” is more like 20?” He points out something similar is going on in our economy with inflation. Data analysis of price changes in vital areas to consumers suggest rising prices are pushing services and goods out of reach of many of us. He explains that the increases are relative to disposable income. Over the last 20 years while disposable income has gone up by 132%, the inflation in school and child care is up 218%, rents up 170%, compared to the Consumer Price Index which is up 145%. The author points out personal inflation is dependent on where you live and what you choose to buy. In the West, the increase cost of food in the past year was 2.7% and 3.1% the year before. Inflation is real and we are all impacted but not at the same levels. Now that we have a more informed view of inflation we can choose to buy less expensive alternatives. My research did yield one very positive bit of data on the upcoming reduction in wine prices due to an abundant crop in California and slowing demand. I am mystified why wine demand is down under our current national leadership.
I have told you about Hank and his participation in Basque dancing. This week he was trying to teach me the Macarena. I like the Spanish dance song by Los del Rio and I have to admit that Hank is not the first to try to teach me. I think I got it and I tell you this because it looks like old dogs can learn new tricks. Previously, I have failed at line dancing, the Chicken Dance, the Pony, Frug, Hand Jive and the list goes on – I think I was pretty good at the Twist, YMCA, and the Sprinkler. At the first dance at both of my daughters weddings they chose songs that allowed me to utilize my “one” dance move. With that knowledge, you can imagine I have been up most of the night trying to learn the new dance craze called Renegade. Jalaiah Harmon is a 14 year old girl from Atlanta who created the dance. I just watched the slow motion video and it had already had 720,000 hits. The internet is responsible for the viral explosion of the new moves. TikTok is one the biggest video apps in the world and is synonymous with dance culture. Jalaiah asked a friend she met through Instagram if she wanted to create a post together. Jalaiah listened to the beats in the song “Lottery” and then choreographed a difficult sequence to its chorus, incorporating other viral moves like the wave and whoa. Filmed by her friend they posted it to Funimate and Instagram. Her dance was copied to TikTok by a different artist with no credit to her. The story is out and she has since appeared at the NBA All-Star Game. I am going to stick to the Macarena and hope for spring so I can work on my Sprinkler.
I also watched a young girl launch a 25,000 multi level domino spiral that took her 8 days to build. I was distracted by the news of the largest cave dwelling fish ever seen, as well as the woman who brought her mini service horse on a plane in a first class seat, and the dating app gone wrong when on the first date, her new friend forced her to drive the get away car after a bank robbery. These are selfish distracting pursuits when I should be taking action to protect our planet, our justice system, or those in need. I leave you with wisdom from Maya Angelou, “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
Enjoy the week end. Mike