Time for another scathing indictment of the Trump Administration’s performance on basic economic issues. Inflation keeps increasing, in spite of government assurances. BuzzFeed provides the ammunition for a political firing squad. And food prices take a leading role…
BuzzFeed – bravely, I think – uses its online pulpit to rake the Trump administration over the coals at every opportunity. One ongoing effort to highlight the Trump team’s failures is its periodic Economy Hate Watch reports…
And it’s particularly interesting to see that BF includes food prices as a component of its closely curated collection of demonstration infographics. Specifically, BF uses Beef Prices to represent the overall relentless rise in food prices. The rundown clearly shows the price of that ‘choice’ commodity has increased from $5.85 to $6.68 per lb between March 2025 and this past March. That’s an increase of $0.83. In spite of the Administration’s insistence that food prices are under control.
More significant
Perhaps more significant is the oil price situation. BF uses Gasoline pump prices to demonstrate:
That’s an increase of $0.55 per gallon over the past year. But that’s just the first paragraph of a darker story. As a result of the uncertainty, and on-again, off-again closures of the Strait of Hormuz, oil prices have skyrocketed in the past week. The national average rose from roughly $4.02 \$4.18 last week to over $4.25 \$4.30 per gallon this week. That’s an average increase, across all grades, of $0.25. And the experts predict that, if uncertainty over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz persists, US gas prices could surpass $5. per gallon by July.
More than just your car…
Oil price increases affect nearly all aspect of Western life. Transportation costs drive the cost of everything we have to buy. Commercial fertilizers are overwhelmingly made from petroleum pro-ducts. Which means farmers have to pay more, which, in turn, directly affects the cost of our food.
Plastics are a pervasive reality in our lives. And they are also made from petroleum products. Thus, the prices of everything packaged, as well as millions of plastic products we use, increase in price.
Which brings us to the issue of overall inflation…
Inflation still out of control
Overall Inflation is still out of control, BF’s infographic clearly demonstrates that the rate if inflation has continues to push upward in the past year:
The rate of inflation has increased 0.9 percent over the past year, in spite of Trump Administration’s insistence that it’s under control. Nonsense. If Donald Trump has come through on his campaign promises, inflation would not only be stable, but falling.
My take
Here’s where I deliver the REALLY bad news. It’s not just Americans who are suffering in myriad ways because of Trump’s directionless war in Iran. Everyone everywhere suffers because of the increases in the prices of everything that high oil prices drive.
I’m not suggesting that ending the war in Iran will solve the world’s economic problems. But it’s a mandatory first step – and it has to happen now…
~ Maggie J.