Our inflation problems are very complicated and the Federal Reserve can’t see why we have inflation. The past two administrations and the Biden Administration have been making an effort to bring industry back to America. This has caused prices of those items that were made by people making less than two or three dollars an hour offshore to Americans making many times more. The difference is called inflation.

            Finding people to produce items here is difficult. Millions retired during the pandemic so manufacturers can’t find qualified people to hire. With a limited supply of warm bodies, the manufacturers are faced with a choice of making a lot of an item demanded by the public or making some because that is all their limited number of employees can produce. Shortages create price increases.

            Price increases are also a product of free enterprise. The shortage of baby formula was a classic example. To make more money for the formula manufacturing companies, Trump ended the importing of formula. When one of the major plants had to be shut down a major shortage occurred. The reason was the companies making formula had bought up others and combined their production into those of their existing plants. Loss of one was disastrous. Many other industries are similarly concentrated. All are potentially inflationary.

            Loss of transportation is inflationary. Even a shortage of truck drivers or high fuel prices, as we have now, causes inflation across all wage and production prices. Supply disruptions because the products are circling on ships off the West Coast are inflationary. More drivers, cheaper fuel, and faster unloading will reduce costs.