Inflation or Rip Offs?

As many people understand the economy works best with gradual inflation of low degree. Deflation almost always causes serious economic problems. Consequently, our government actually strives for gradual low inflation. It is what makes for a stable economy with gradual and consistent growth.

Inflation of Two, Three or even Four percent a year is fairly normal. In my sixty four years of life I have managed to get quite used to it. If you have a savings account at the Bank, you hope that the interest rate they are paying you for the loan of your money can keep up with or even exceed the rate of inflation. People who want to take chances invest in stocks and bonds to get a better rate of return. We have it all figured in and allow for inflation in our budgets and plans for the kids college expenses and our future retirement.

What I have trouble accepting is the fact that the major food stores are gauging their customers with outrageous price increases, as if that is normal inflation. Those steep price increases are a totally separate issue.

Years ago when I was a boy, the chain food stores started out with tremendous buying power where the food was produced, both on the farm and in the factory. Using that powerful buying power the could put items on the shelves at low enough cost so as to take customers away from the mom and pop grocery stores that were still in business in the late 1950's.

Now that the chain food stores are buying and even own the farms and have a captive customer base in the cities they are ripping us off with outrageous price increases. I can choose many examples but will consider just one for argument sake. I will choose Coffee.

One of those standard coffee cans that used to be 36 ounces (they are getting smaller very slowly) used to sell for $3.95 just three years ago. Two years ago they were $4.95. Yesterday I looked and could not believe my eyes they had been jacked up to $12 to $15 each at the one store I was shopping in. I did not go to the two other chain food stores in my community because I know from experience that they all jack their prices up at the same time.

Collusion? Though it may not be illegal, it sure does not seem right that all of the chain stores do the same thing at the same time with total consistency. That sure seems fishy to me.

Now, I have friends down south in Costa Rica. They grow coffee down there and some of it is pretty good. They tell me that the money that they are getting for Coffee beans on their farms has gone up about ten percent in the last five years. That is two percent a year, or pretty much standard inflation. Hummmmm?

In the past two years my Social Security payment has gone up a little less than four percent, or about two percent a year. It is keeping up with the inflation rate for the coffee beans in Costa Rica. Makes you wonder if that is the index social security used to determine the rate of inflation, because I know that food has gone up a lot faster than two percent in price in the past few years.

So who is making all of the insanely outrageous profit, since at this end the price has gone from 4 to 15 Dollars? That is almost a four fold increase. The profit the chain stores are trying to gain for themselves is outrageous. I am certain the executives of the chain stores all need new cars and new trophy wives, but this is unbelievable!

They can get away with it now, because there are no Mom and Pop stores out there in our communities to offer lower prices. They all disappeared about the time my grandfather died in 1959. The smaller stores went out with his generation, and now there is no competition.

Makes me want to start throwing bricks through store windows. If you hear of it happening in my community, it just might be me. I am really fed up with the ripoffs that are going on all over the nation.

Though it is inflationary, it is not real inflation. It is just a ripoff and I am fed up with it and will start demonstrating! First, with written word, and then with some form of physical action. Americans need to act up. Are you ready?