Oh my…prices of milk, bread, gas and rent are rising!

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the all items Consumer Price Index rose
6.2% for the 12 months ending October 2021 – the largest 12-month increase since the period
ending November 1990. The food and energy indexes alone accounted for an increase of 5.3%
and 30% increase respectively, leaving the remaining items index to rise to 4.6% over the last
12 months. SupplyChainBrain reported that “Global ports are growing more gridlocked as the
pandemic era’s supply shocks intensify, threatening to spoil the holiday shopping season, erode
corporate profits and drive-up consumer prices”. Everyone is feeling the pinch especially at the
gas pumps, and the prices of consumer goods do not look to be coming down anytime soon.

Discussion Questions:

1. Visit this website: Historical Inflation Rates: 1914-2015 . Scroll down to the last two rows
   for the monthly inflation data from January of 2020 up to the latest in 2021. Describe
   the inflation rate trends since the January of 2020?
2. Which is more prevalent – demand-pull inflation or cost-push inflation or both at the
   present moment? Explain with examples of two specific goods and/or services.
3. Will the current gridlock at the global ports affect prices of goods and services in the
   coming months? How?
4. Self-reflection: How will this information change your expenditure plans as a consumer
   in the coming months? Do explain.
   Economic concepts: demand-pull inflation, consumer price index, cost push inflation, inflation, supply
   shocks

Sources: Pixabay.com: Growth Progress Graph Diagram Analyst Achievement; BLS: News Release – Consumer Price Index – October 2021, SupplyChainBrain: Global Port Gridlock threatens economies everywhere; US Inflation Calculator: Historical Inflation Rates: 1914-2021; The Balance: Causes of Inflation