Inflation is showing signs of relief in the U.S since the Covid-19 pandemic has increased government spending. Inflation is the rise of prices for goods, and services. Inflation is caused by many different variables, but here are the ones that impact it the most.

Inflation is caused by the increased spending and debt our country faces. The U.S is around thirty two trillion dollars in debt, and is projected to increase if nothing is done. This caused a rift in the economy, and between the Republican and Democratic parties on who is increasing the debt. A debt ceiling is the agreed upon amount of money we can borrow, but we are slowly reaching the point where we have to increase it again so this means we are going to print more money which brings the economical value of the dollar down. Covid-19 pandemic relief packages, and the increased spending for war like the war with Ukraine has lessened our oil supply since Russia was the third major oil supplier which we cut ties with.

Inflation as we all know has become a major problem in today’s society from higher gas prices to higher prices on just going shopping in general. Inflation affects everyone in this world, yet we are not holding our government accountable. In 2020, gas prices were $3.20 per gallon, but in 2022 because of the war with Ukraine gas prices have increased to almost $6 which was an all time high. Gas prices since then have slowly decreased, but for how long.

From an article by the International Monetary Fund it states, “If rapidly rising prices are bad for the economy, is the opposite, or falling prices, good? It turns out that deflation is not desirable either. When prices are falling, consumers delay making purchases if they can, anticipating lower prices in the future.” This is practically saying that if inflation gets higher it will become harder to enter a deflation. If we enter a bigger inflation, minimum wage employees will no longer be able to financially support themselves. The only solution would be to increase the minimum wage, but higher wages will then affect the businesses so they increase the prices of products which will affect the consumer.

APB English teacher Ms. Garcia says, “Feeding my family has become more costly, for example, the price of a dozen eggs used to cost $3, but now is around $8. The increased price of goods has increased the amount I spend even though the payment for my job hasn’t changed in a substantial amount to combat it. This has made me consider moving to another country because I can’t see how someone who makes minimum wage can keep up, and live in this society.”

Inflation can affect everyone; it is only a matter of time until it becomes too much. The question isn’t where inflation is next, it is when and how. When inflation hits it’ll be very difficult to die it back down and make things a tad bit cheaper. How it will hit it’s unknown but one thing we know for sure is that lots of people will not be able to afford even the smallest of things.