Tyler Schipper, economics professor at the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences, recently spoke with the Star Tribune for a story comparing prices at eight different grocery stores in the Twin Cities.
From the story:
Food price increases have been front of mind since the pandemic spurred a host of supply chain issues four years ago. More recent hikes in the cost of food can be tied to the war in Ukraine, rising grain prices and high energy costs associated with the production of food, said Tyler Schipper, an associate economics professor at the University of St. Thomas.
There is a disconnect between how economists or policymakers talk about inflation and how people experience it when they are shopping, he said.
“People go to the grocery store, they don’t see inflation on the shelves, they see the prices on the shelves and they think something looks really expensive,” Schipper said. “And they hear policymakers talking about how things are getting better, but they still see that high price.”
There will be no return to ‘normal’ prices if the normal people are looking for is 2019. Historically, prices only go in one direction – up – and there would have to be a serious economic downturn for price tags to look anything like they did five years ago, Schipper said. Luckily, he added, the speed of price increases seems to be cooling off.
