Average prices for Food, Gas, Rent & Electricity are up more than 25% – not 15% as claimed
By Stephen Moore
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — The new inflation numbers for July were just released late last week and they show a 3.2% inflation rate since last year – and 15% higher prices since Joe Biden came into office. But almost no one in the middle class believes these numbers. Why?
It's beacuse the “must pay,” routine bills the Average American has to pay are rising a lot faster than the bills for more elective expenditures. The CPI (Consumer Price Index) measures hundreds of different products, and takes a composite of the price changes for all of them. The chart below shows what areas of life – and products – where the biggest price increases have hit.
- Gasoline prices are up 36%
- Rent is up 32%
- Eggs, Cereal, Coffee, Used Cars are up about 20%, and
- Electricity & Utilities are up 22%
Meanwhile, cell phones, information technology, televisions, computers, and communications have fallen in price. But in this financially stressed environment, food, gas, eggs, and rent are more important to the average family budget than are TVs or computers.
The average price rise for food, gas, rent, and electricity are up more than 25%, not 15%.
Stephen Moore serves as Chief Economist for The Texas Insider, is Co-Founder of the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, and is a Senior Fellow at both FreedomWorks and the Heritage Foundation. His latest book is "Govzilla: How the Relentless Growth of Government Is Devouring Our Economy."
