Are we supposed to ignore cumulative inflation? Prices have gone up 18%+ on average in 3 years

by pman6

People like to focus on YoY inflation compared to previous year, ignoring 2-3 years ago.

Things went from relatively stable 2-3% yoy inflation prior to covid, to a quick jump during 2021-2023.

So cpi July 2021 was 5% over July 2020, July ’22 was 9% over 2021. July ’23 will be 3% over 2022.

cumulative inflation is way up. After a slow steady price increase from 2010-2020, we got a big spike during 2021-2023, and now we resume a slow steady increase from here forward.

doing the math, total inflation is ~18%+ in 3 years since 2020. That’s roughly 6-9 years worth of inflation pulled forward.

So what now? Looks like consumers are not consuming less; they are accepting the higher prices.

Now we just wait for wages to hurry up and go up 18% so consumers can pay off their credit card debt? iphone prices will never fall back down, so that means AAPL will reach $300 quicker.

Time to buy everything hand over fist?

spend more money, ask for more money… This is sustainable, yes?