2024-04-18
17 分钟What's going on with consumers? This is one of the trickiest puzzles of this weird economic moment we're in. We've covered a version of this before under the term "vibecession," but it's safe to say, the struggle is in fact real. It is not just in our heads. Sure, sure, some data is looking great. But not all of it. What's interesting, is exactly why the bad feels so much worse than the good feels good. Today on the show, we look into a few theories on why feelings are just not matching up with data. We'll break down some numbers and how to think about them. Then we look at grocery prices in particular, and an effort to combat unfair pricing using a mostly forgotten 1930's law. Will it actually help? Today's episode is adapted from episodes for Planet Money's daily show, The Indicator. Subscribe here. Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy
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Adrienne, I don't know how often you frequent your local supermarket, but grocery prices are not okay right now.
It's like over $6 for a family sized box of Cheez its, which, you know, that's my personal barometer for inflation.
Oh, my gosh.
That is a barometer of inflation that I understand.
Truthfully.
I'm a cheese nips person more than a cheese its person.
Yeah.
I think they taste less healthy.
Yeah.
Though that's important.
The struggle is real, though.
Grocery prices have gone up 25% since January 2020, and that's outpaced the increase in inflation overall.
And grocery prices hold a kind of special place in our economics brains.
We feel the pain of inflation every single time we pay those new higher prices week in, week out, and pretty much everyone shops.
Yeah.