If the economy is “growing” and stocks are at record highs, why is inflation so high?
Inflation is not high. Inflation was very high for a few months in 2021. It’s been back to normal levels for over a year. But inflation is a measure of how fast prices rise. It’s not a measure of what prices are. Prices increased a lot in 2021 as people who had been sitting at home for a year finally started going out and spending again. Since then, wages have increased to make up the difference.
Grocery prices increases have far outstripped inflation and wage increases, so no, wages have not increased enough to make up the difference.
Groceries are not the only thing used to calculate inflation....
Yes but for many people, inflation doesn't have any tangible meaning. The cost of groceries does.
I’m not sure that’s true. Grocery price inflation is one of the things that’s fallen the most in the last two years.
You may be thinking of food inflation, because consumer spending on restaurants has skyrocketed (in part because of a shift to delivery that remained after the pandemic).
A lot of people are spending like $20 to get a $8 burger delivered to their house, and are comparing the delivery+tip price to the former takeout price.