Here’s where inflation gets real: When millions of Americans get together for backyard barbecues on July 4, the average host is going to be shelling out US$99 for ingredients, including beer and burgers. In 2018 the same stuff only cost $73, according to Rabobank, the global agricultural lender.
The average guy or gal now has to work for a full hour to pay for a six-pack and burger, but only had to work for 51 minutes in 2019, according to Rabobank, which released its annual BBQ Index today.
That’s the brutal reality of inflation, something which many markets prognosticators don’t well understand. Most people’s wages haven’t kept up with inflation from 2019 to now, so the fact that things today are only getting slightly more expensive than they were last year isn’t much comfort to millions who are now significantly poorer than they were just a few years ago. Most people understand and accept why everything got more expensive as we rolled out of the pandemic. Many people expected prices to drop back down. For most things, they haven’t. Guess why people are angry.
This Rabobank report makes great reading. This is not your typically dull economic writing. I encourage you to check it out here.
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And I wish you all well, whether you’re throwing a Canada Day BBQ or going to be celebrating U.S. Independence Day. And I feel your beer-and-burger pain.
