Americans Are Mad About All the Wrong Costs

The Great Inflation is, thank goodness, over.

Four years ago, the coronavirus pandemic kinked the planet’s supply chains, causing shortages of everything from semiconductor chips to box fans. War and drought led to disruptions in commodity markets. Temporary lockdowns and a permanent shift away from offices altered consumers’ purchasing patterns. Families found themselves flush with government stimulus money. A tight labor market drove up wages. Those factors combined meant that families had more money to spend at a time when supply was constrained—and businesses took advantage. The price of everything went up, all at once. And for the first time since the 1980s, inflation became the central economic problem in American life.

Now the annual rate of inflation has fallen from a peak of more than 9 percent to just above 3 percent. Retailers are starting of such as diapers and cat food.