WEBVTT - Prices Rise at Fastest Pace in 30 Years

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<v Speaker 1>It's Friday, November twelve. I'm Oscar ramerrors from the Daily

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<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is reopening America.

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<v Speaker 1>Prices were up six point two percent last month, which

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<v Speaker 1>is the largest rise in thirty years. Inflation is making

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<v Speaker 1>everything more expensive and the era of cheap everything is over.

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<v Speaker 1>Supply chain issues continue to be the main culprit for

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<v Speaker 1>most of our post pandemic woes, but inflation could wipe

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<v Speaker 1>away wage games and savings that many Americans are now

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<v Speaker 1>having to spend. Kevin Dugan, reporter at New York Magazine,

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<v Speaker 1>joined us for how everything is costing more. Thanks for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us, Kevin, sure, thanks for having me. Let's talk

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<v Speaker 1>about inflation. It's uh the big concern of the week.

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<v Speaker 1>It seems like we got some new numbers saying that

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<v Speaker 1>prices rose six point two percent in October. This is

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<v Speaker 1>compared with last year. This is the largest rise we've

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<v Speaker 1>seen in three decades. And you know, we're seeing it

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<v Speaker 1>all over the place. We're seeing all the stories. Prices

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<v Speaker 1>for everything is going up, food, home goods, rent is

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<v Speaker 1>growing up. Everything's happening all at once right now, and

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the era of cheap everything could very well

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<v Speaker 1>be over. So Kevin, tell us a little bit about this.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, we are looking at price increases happening across

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<v Speaker 1>the board because we have a lot of problems with

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<v Speaker 1>the supply chain, and there are a lot of people

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<v Speaker 1>who have a lot of money. They have a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of money saved up because they got to work from

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<v Speaker 1>home and they got to save their stimulus checks and

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<v Speaker 1>they weren't going out so much. There are esthmates that

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen put around two and a half trillion dollars

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<v Speaker 1>extra was saved at the beginning of the pandemic. So

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<v Speaker 1>that means that companies know that people can spend a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of money. We're talking about consumers here. Consumers make

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<v Speaker 1>up two thirds of the economy. So the reason why

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing this in some ways is because companies know

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<v Speaker 1>that they can charge more and people will pay. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we've seen wages go up as well in

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<v Speaker 1>certain cases, and so some of those gains are just

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<v Speaker 1>kind of being wiped out by all these higher prices. Now,

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<v Speaker 1>wages have gone up a little bit, not as much

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<v Speaker 1>as people are seeing in the grocery store or at

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<v Speaker 1>the gas station. Right gas is up almost and it's

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<v Speaker 1>going to get worse because fuel oil oil that people

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<v Speaker 1>used to heat their houses is up even more. So,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a lot of people have seen their wages

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<v Speaker 1>increase because they changed jobs or because they were in

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<v Speaker 1>the position to demand more money from their employers. But

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<v Speaker 1>one of the problems here is whether this is going

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<v Speaker 1>to continue to outpace how much people are getting paid

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<v Speaker 1>and it effectively means that people have gotten less money

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<v Speaker 1>over the past year. What are we hearing when it

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<v Speaker 1>comes to the White House, We're hearing President Biden saying

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<v Speaker 1>this could be transitory, you know, meaning temporary. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of this stuff is tied to the supply

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<v Speaker 1>chain issue that you know, we've talked about that on

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast for a lot, and we we know that

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<v Speaker 1>it's a problem right now getting all those goods stuck

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<v Speaker 1>out at sea and just kind of getting things delivered

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<v Speaker 1>on time. But what we're hearing is that the supply

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<v Speaker 1>and chain issues are gonna go well into two So

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<v Speaker 1>does that mean that inflation, the high inflation that we're

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<v Speaker 1>experiencing now, is going to last that long as well. Well.

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<v Speaker 1>Part of the reason why inflation is up so much

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<v Speaker 1>is because last year at this time, things were still

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<v Speaker 1>pretty flat right, We're still dealing with prices going down

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<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic economy. So look, it remains to be

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<v Speaker 1>seen how much this will how much prices will rise,

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<v Speaker 1>or how long it will go. But if it continues

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<v Speaker 1>at this rate, that would be very a lot. Biden

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<v Speaker 1>has said that this is a major priority for him.

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<v Speaker 1>In fact, it's such a priority that in the middle

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<v Speaker 1>of the environmental summit going on, he is urging the

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<v Speaker 1>Opeque countries to produce more oil because he right. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>it's it's a political liability for him. People need to

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<v Speaker 1>fill up their cars, and even though your car might

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<v Speaker 1>be it's well, it's probably worth more than it's ever

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<v Speaker 1>been worth. Most people can't just sell it. They need it.

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<v Speaker 1>So it is a big political liability for Biden. But

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<v Speaker 1>there's no quick fix to it. This is a global problem.

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<v Speaker 1>What are some of the traditional remedies we have to

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<v Speaker 1>fight an inflation? While they're not very fun. It's increasing

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<v Speaker 1>interest rates, it's making it more expensive to borrow, it's

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<v Speaker 1>making it more expensive to take out a mortgage. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>those are all the things that we've been keeping low

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<v Speaker 1>up until this point. Exactly when Paul Vulgar was ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of the fed. He spiked interest rates, as you know, deliberately.

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<v Speaker 1>It is a way to shock the economy out of

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<v Speaker 1>the inflationary pressures that were, you know, making it so

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<v Speaker 1>difficult ago grocery shopping to buy food for your family.

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<v Speaker 1>And it was very controversial at the time, but it

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately did work to some extent, to a very large extent,

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<v Speaker 1>even though there were you know, other repercussions that went

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<v Speaker 1>along with it. So it's probably not what the Biden

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<v Speaker 1>administration would like to do, but that remains to be seen. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>definitely something that needs to get under control. Obviously, those

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<v Speaker 1>paychecks just aren't going as far when everything costs so much.

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<v Speaker 1>But you did mention, you know, in the article there

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<v Speaker 1>are some other positive signs for the economy as well,

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<v Speaker 1>hiring a strong and a couple other things. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>we talked about people saving up more money, so there

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<v Speaker 1>are some good signs still at least. It's just this

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<v Speaker 1>is the one thing, I mean, this is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the big things we've got to get under control. This

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<v Speaker 1>is not like the nineteen seventies, right. We have unemployment

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<v Speaker 1>that is getting much lower, We are coming out of

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<v Speaker 1>a very quick recession. People's wages are rising. And you know,

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<v Speaker 1>despite the fact that there are these supply chain issues,

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<v Speaker 1>we're not seeing gas lines. People are able to get food,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe just not exactly what they want when they want it,

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<v Speaker 1>so it's manageable. At this point, it looks like, well,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll continue to see the effects of this and uh

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<v Speaker 1>and how we try to remedy it. Kevin Dugan, reporter

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<v Speaker 1>at New York Magazine. Thank you very much for joining us.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for having me. We appreciate it. Have a good day.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Oscar Ramirez and this has been reopening America. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>forget that. For today's big news stories, you can check

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<v Speaker 1>me out in the Daily Dive podcast every Monday through Friday,

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<v Speaker 1>so follow us on I Heart Radio or wherever you

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