Most weeks, I have no problem landing on a topic to write about. Because I am a trained speed reader, I read so many different articles each week I usually have no problem coming up with an interesting topic to write about. But now and then, a week comes along when there is no obvious choice for a topic. This is one of those weeks. We’ll see what happens.
I’ll start with some interesting polling data which came out this week. The poll asked Americans what their top worries You would think most people would worry about the same things, generally, wouldn’t you? Well, they don’t. Not only that, but it turns out that people of different political parties don’t have the same top worries, generally speaking. Let’s take a look.
OVERALL TOP WORRIES (ALL PARTIES)
- 28% COVID-19
- 27% Rising prices of Food and Gasoline
- 25% Paying bills and making ends meet
- 24% Rising prices in general
Before I move on, let me just say that rising prices for consumer goods are a really big deal for most Americans. A lot of people don’t think Americans pay much attention to the prices we pay for consumer goods, but that would be Polls repeatedly show that American shoppers are consistently sensitive to the changes in prices we pay for the goods we consume on a regular basis.
The Consumer Price Index jumped a whopping 5.4% in the 12 months ended September, just below a 30-year high, so prices for consumer goods are on a roll. Excluding volatile food and energy prices, the CPI increased 0.2% on the month and 4% year over year. Gasoline prices rose another 1.2% for the month, bringing the annual increase to 42.1%. Fuel oil shot up 3.9% in September, for a 42.6% year over year surge.
Now let’s return to look at the top worries by political party. Consider what you would guess before you look at them.
OVERALL TOP WORRIES BY DEMOCRATS
- 36% COVID-19
- 28% Climate change
- 23% Paying bills and making ends meet
- 20% Rising prices of Food and Gasoline
Notice that Democrats put “Climate change” as their second top worry behind COVID. No surprise there.
OVERALL TOP WORRIES BY REPUBLICANS
- 36% Rising prices of Food and Gasoline
- 31% Immigration at the Southern border
- 26% Rising prices in general
- 22% Paying bills and making ends meet
Republicans worry about rising prices but they put the border second on their list of worries. COVID is not on the Top-4 list.
OVERALL TOP WORRIES BY INDEPENDENTS
- 27% Rising prices in general
- 26% Rising prices of Food and Gasoline
- 26% Paying bills and making ends meet
- 23% COVID-19
Independents are all about rising prices and inflation. COVID is last on their list.
I think it’s safe to say we’re all worried about inflation right now. Consumer prices are up now, the most in over 30 years and look to be trending higher. “Supply chain” shortages is a term we’ve all come to understand, and we’re told the shortages will get worse before they get better.
In a business sense, a supply chain is a system of organizations, people, activities, information and resources involved in supplying a product or service to a consumer. Put differently, a supply chain is a series of companies which each perform different tasks to make a series of parts into a complete product.
At least once a week, a team of President Biden’s top advisors meet on Zoom to address the nation’s supply chain crisis. They discuss ways to relieve backlogs at America’s ports, ramp up semiconductor production for struggling automakers and swell the ranks of truck drivers, among others.
The conversations are aimed at one goal: taming accelerating price increases that are hurting the economic recovery, unsettling American consumers and hurting Mr. Biden’s popularity.
An inflation surge is presenting a fresh challenge for President Biden, who for months insisted that rising prices were a “transitory” (temporary) hangover from the pandemic recession and would quickly recede. Instead, the president and his aides are now bracing for high inflation to persist into next year, with Americans continuing to see faster – and sustained – increases in prices for food, gasoline and other consumer goods than at any point this century.
Recent polls shows Americans’ concerns over inflation are eroding their economic confidence and dimming their view of Mr. Biden’s performance. National surveys by CNBC, FOX News and others show a sharp decline in voter ratings of Mr. Biden’s overall performance and his handling of the economy in recent weeks.
We’ll see where this trend is headed, of course, but it’s not looking good for President Biden’s re-election chances. Next year is shaping up to be one of the most interesting congressional elections in a long time.
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