Whip Inflation Now! Pop It! October 17, 2021

Inflation: link to The Wall Street Journal. 

The consumer-price index, which measures what consumers pay for goods and services, rose 5.4% in September from a year earlier. 

Rising energy prices, supply-chain disruptions and an increase in spending have led to higher inflation across the country. 

While prices rose across the board for the year ended last month, the degree of change varied among different geographic regions and populations. 

Among the metropolitan areas surveyed, the largest and most urban places had some of the lowest price increases. Chicago saw an increase of 4.5%, and in the New York City area there was a 3.8% increase. The Northeast region’s rate was nearly a percentage point below the overall national level.

Rural consumers’ mean expenditures on gasoline and used cars and trucks were well above those of urban-area consumers in 2020.

Households outside urban areas spent 37% more than the U.S. average on used cars and trucks, while spending in central cities was 9% lower than the average. The spending category saw one of the largest price increases in September’s CPI, up 24.4% compared with a year earlier.

On the other hand, rent, a heavyweight in central-city consumers’ budgets, saw some of the smallest price increases in September.

Spend some time on this graphic. It speaks volumes:

Inflation if one "takes out" used cars?

• gasoline: it's always been inexpensive in the big scheme of things; we've done the math several times on the blog
• giving up Starbucks completely and one sushi dinner / month more than pays for gasoline
  
• folks tell their insurance companies they drive 12,000 miles per year
• new cars average at least 35 mpg (buying pick-up trucks, high-guzzling SUVs, etc, is a choice)
• 12,000 / 35 = 350 gallons / year
• $4/gallon = $1,400 / year
• Starbucks: daily average, $3 / visit
• 300 visits x $3 = $900 
• sushi dinner for two = $50
• once a month = $600
  

Dining out vs eating at home:

• generally speaking, a couple can eat at home for less money than the tip when dining out at a fancy sushi restaurant. 
• if you doubt me, do the math
  

A toy, link here. 

 
A most interesting story: invented in 1975 by classmates of Anne Frank. Yes, that Anne Frank.

• invented in 1975
• too expensive to manufacture until ... 2009
• Canadian-based company looking for the next pet rock
• exclusive agreement with Target in 2019
• and the rest, as they say, is history.

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