The rise in global inflation – the hit to living standards across the world
After decades lurking in the shadows, inflation is back. On Amazon, you can find fridge magnets printed with words spoken 40 years ago by Ronald Reagan, before the election that swept him into the White House.
“Inflation is as violent as a mugger, as frightening as an armed robber and as deadly as a hit man.”
Price spirals remain a real fear for many Americans, particularly those who lived through the double-digit inflation suffered under Reagan’s predecessor Jimmy Carter.
What was a painful but distant memory is now a new reality. And it is global. The consumer price index rose year on year by 7% in December, a level not seen since the 1980s. Britain is not far behind, with prices rising by 5.4% at the end of last year. In the eurozone – the 19 countries using the euro – it hit 5.1% in January, the highest level since records began in 1997.
Here, the Guardian’s foreign correspondents report on how inflation is denting living standards around the world.
For years New Yorkers looking for a cheap eat have been able to rely on a $1 slice of pizza. Not for long. As inflation soars even the cheap slice is under pressure and many of the city’s famous pizza shops are imposing price hikes to combat rising costs for everything from tomato sauce and pepperoni to labor and cardboard pizza boxes.
US inflation hit its fastest pace since 1982 in January, pushing prices up at a 7.5% annual rate, the third straight month in which inflation exceeded an annualised rate of 6%.
Supply chain issues coupled with rising demand continue to inflate the price of fuel, rent, food, and other essentials. The average price of a used car in the US was $28,205 (£20,782) at the end of December, according to Cox Automotive, the first time the median price of a
Read more on theguardian.com
