Yesterday, I went to refill my gas. The moment I saw the price, it truely shocked me. A gallon of regular gas was asking for $4.15. I remember last time when I filled my gas. The regular gas was around $3.1. Though I have barely moved my car recently and it has been a while since last time, a 33.87% increase in gas price is still unacceptable.
Comparing to the $1,400 third-round stimulus check, a $60 gas bill may seem like a small piece. After paying that, I still have $1,340 left in my pocket. I am gaining money and I should be fine. However, does your loss or gain really calculus in that way?
Just like Jerome Powell said a few days ago, we are experiencing inflation. And the rate of inflation is likely to rise as the economy recovers. In other words, our money is shrinking and will be continually shrinking over a period. The stimulus checks help people in a struggle but cause inflation to pick up in the meantime.
The picture above is the Core Commodity CRB Index, which indicates a commodity bracket's future prices. Many kinds of the commodity are closely related to our living expenses in the bracket, such as gasoline, natural gas, cotton, lumber, etc. In the past year, the CRB index has been rocketing simultaneously, which means a high discount rate. In general, the value of what a dollar can purchase today is less than what it can buy last year.
In this case, are we really getting cash from IRS or just getting cut? Then it's reasonable to rationalize why some senators are arguing to raise the minimum salary.
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