How Bad Is Inflation? Is It Lentils Bad?
A Bloomberg op-ed enumerating tips for managing one’s finances was bashed all over Twitter over the weekend. The article, written by labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci, was a response to how inflation is the highest it’s ever been in four decades.
Ghilarducci’s approach could be summarized as harsh, maybe terribly out of touch, maybe even bordering on satirical. She gave “ideas on how to reconfigure consumption and lessen the blow” based on inflation figures per area of concern. She puts it simply: it’s people with lower incomes who will bear the brunt of inflation, as always. And so it might be time to consider selling your car and subsisting on a diet of beans and lentils.
Some politicians rode on the lentil hype to promote their platforms, many just followed suit and gave their own pragmatic advice.
Ghilarducci challenged critics to actually read the article. Saying “inflation is wildly regressive. And so is the Federal Reserve’s response. You can’t solve inflation with rate hikes.”
Perhaps what Ghilarducci’s logic underlines — as you’ll see here, and here — is that no one will really say how bad it is and it can still get so much worse, especially for under-$300K-ers.
FYI, as one Reddit user pointed out, the price of lentils has doubled in the last year.
Information for this briefing was found via the OECD, the UN, Twitter and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.