March 13 2024
Joe Biden is out of touch with Americans.
At the State of the Union, Biden claimed, "inflation keeps coming down."
And in January, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "It's clear Americans are starting to feel President Biden's strong economy."
The feeling Karine might be referencing is called pain.
The Wall Street Journal catalogued Tuesday night how rising prices continue to shock consumers. The article noted that "nearly three-quarters of poll respondents said that higher prices outstripped gains in their household incomes in the past few years."
WSJ: "Deodorant was what changed Rob Cooper’s mind about the economy.
After paying under $4 for his signature Old Spice Stronger Swagger for a decade, the 39-year-old was shocked last year to see it priced at $7.99.
'My brain just cannot rationalize paying twice as much,' says Cooper, the Ambler, Pa.-based financial officer of a retail chain. 'It doesn’t feel right.'
...
In St. Louis, Dan Kreher says the dry cleaner is where he feels the greatest sticker shock. The price to clean a single dress shirt has nearly tripled, from $1.50 in 2020 to $4 last month.
'It used to be an expense you didn’t think about,' says the 59-year-old mergers and acquisitions adviser. 'Now it hurts.'
...
Mary Kay Owen started listening in on company earnings calls to try to figure out why she continues to pay so much more for staples like milk (up 20% between February 2020 and February 2024, according to the Labor Department) and pet food (up 21%).
“It’s unfair, and it’s not sustainable, and nobody will explain it,” says Owen, a 65-year-old substitute teacher in Downingtown, Pa.
...
She traded down to a cheaper brand of dog food after a 35-pound bag of Science Diet jumped from $37 to $46. And she stopped buying treats she enjoyed her whole life, like Drake’s coffee cakes and Hostess cherry pies.
The cutbacks leave her livid and sad about the state of the economy and her own well-being.
...
Coffee runs are an especially sharp pain point. The smallest available lattes at chain brands with over 250 locations cost a median of $6.82 in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to food and beverage analytics company Datassential. That’s a 110% jump from the $3.25 they cost in 2019."