Newspaper columnists say one thing, but your wallet tells you something else.
This is Greg C. Truax with OnThePoint.
No doubt overall inflation, always a political issue, has declined, as writers point out. But why do 62 percent in an average of polls disapprove of how President Biden is handling inflation?
On reason must be food costs. Labor Department data show prices at restaurants were up 5.1 percent last month compared to January 2023 while grocery costs increased by 1.2 percent.
Higher labor costs and ingredient prices are why consumers feel pinched.
It’s noteworthy that consumers today spend about 11 percent of their disposal income on food, about the same percent as in 1991 when George H.W. Bush was president.
Recall President Bush lost his reelection bid to Bill Clinton whose slogan was: “It’s the economy, stupid.” This is Greg C. Truax.
Greg C. Truax is president of GCTMediaGroup, a film production studio, online magazine publisher, radio commentator, and creator of written and broadcast opinion commentary.