Breitbart Business Digest: Inflation Eats Independence Day

These are the times that try men’s souls—and budgets.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) reports that the cost of a standard Fourth of July cookout will cost 17 percent more than last year, the steepest price hike since they began keeping records a decade ago. U.S. consumers will pay $69.68 for their favorite cookout foods. The biggest increase in the basket of goods tracked by the AFBF is ground beef, up 36 percent compared with last year.

As our John Nolte put it on Tuesday, “Welcome to Joe Biden’s Dystopian America on the 4th of July in the year 2022.”

Actually, the AFBF is undercounting how much Independence Day will drain household bank accounts. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) that includes propane gas and firewood is up 28 percent compared with last year. Gasoline is up close to 50 percent—something that will hit the 42 million people AAA expects will take a road trip over the weekend. Two million people are expected to take flights this weekend—and airfares are up 37.8 percent.

Fireworks are getting pricier too. The CPI category that includes fireworks is up 11 percent. Some local media reports, however, say fireworks are up as much as 50 to 70 percent. National Public Radio reports that some cities are canceling fireworks displays altogether because of a shortage of available explosives and high prices. (Of course, the drought that has dried out much of the country does not help either.)

The pollster Frank Luntz said nearly two weeks ago that Fourth of July weekend is going to result in an explosion of outrage over inflation. The travel costs and grocery costs are going to hit all at once—and are unavoidable. There’s no putting off purchases for later, hoping for a sale.

“There are three holidays, there are three moments when Americans take to the roads, and when Americans buy more food than at any other time of the year: Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July weekend. And everyone is going to be filling up their car 13 days from now, and they can’t put $40 or $50 in their tank — they actually have to fill it up, and that’s when the explosion hits,” Luntz said.

Not to worry, Democrats. A few more days of January 6 hearings will certainly convince Americans that the party is looking out for what matters.

Richmond, Poormond, Inflationmond

The Richmond Fed’s manufacturing index was forecast to claw its way back into positive territory after slipping to minus nine in May. Not only did it fail to reach the very low bar of a positive two reading, it actually plunged to negative 19. That’s the lowest score since May of 2020.

Manufacturers reported their prices were up 10.4 percent compared with 12 months ago, an acceleration of inflation from 9.6 percent in May. This matches the all-time high for this series hit in January. Inflation in prices received has risen for three consecutive months.

Prices paid moved down to show prices up 11.9 percent from a year ago, down from 15.1 percent in May. This partly reflects the fact that prices were already rising at an 11 percent pace in June of last year. June 2021 was the first time the Richmond Fed’s barometer of prices paid for materials crossed into double digits.

There was a bit of a scare in the Richmond Fed report. The published version of the full report included the wrong data on current inflation and expected inflation. It said that businesses expect their own prices would drop by 32 percent over the next 12 months. That sort of price drop would put most—if not all—regional manufacturers out of business and signal a great depression.

It turns out that this was a data entry problem. The corrected data issued after Breitbart reached out to the Richmond Fed (We aren’t afraid to be helpful) showed that manufacturers expect to increase their own prices 4.6 percent over the coming year and to pay 5.4 percent more for materials, both representing an easing from the 12-month expectations recorded in May but far from the apocalyptic price declines the report initially indicated.