Tyler Schipper, professor of economics and data analytics at the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences, recently spoke with CNN about the inflation in grocery prices and how Americans view the condition of the economy from different perspectives.
From the story:
“What is the quintessential American good that people are looking at when they’re trying to evaluate how the economy is doing?” said Tyler Schipper, associate professor in the Economics Department at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. “We’re certainly in an era where there are so many stories written about how do people see the economy, and what is their (reference) point to compare it in the past. And, certainly, the price of ground beef has been one of those things.” ...
But prices are still rising a little faster than they did before the pandemic; plus, they’re up a heck of lot more than they were 2020.
Still, even though grocery prices have risen a lot since Covid, the recent trajectory means that people are paying just a little more now than they were a year ago, Schipper said.
“Don’t ever try to convince anybody their grocery bills are not high, but their grocery bill would be about the same (year over year),” Schipper said, referencing the 1% annual increase. “But I think that’s one of those places where we’re resetting our expectations about what our grocery bill should be, and that’s always going to take time.”
He added: “I think beef is going to be one of those things that stands out to people.”
