Inflation Today – A Personal Look

I realize every day that inflation affects me and millions of people around the world. It's true that inflation seems to be a topic that only interests economists, however, I deeply feel the consequences of inflation in my daily life, in the marketplace, and even in transportation. Currently, I am very aware of the economic situation: I have to use more money to barely meet my basic needs.

I am deeply concerned about the economic situation because we are experiencing a de facto recession solely due to the rising cost of goods and services, but I feel that wages are not keeping pace. Companies are not the only ones responsible for inflation. I have learned about inflation, and it seems to me that it is a much more complex issue than simply blaming corporations, the pandemic, wars, or trade tensions.

A clear example is the recent case of energy prices. It is notorious that the price of consumer products has increased, and all of this is due to onerous production costs. The economic situation is giving the country no respite. Add to this unemployment and rising housing and food prices; it's catastrophic.

I've been following the policies implemented by the Federal Reserve, which raised interest rates in an attempt to control inflation. I understand that this is intended to reduce consumption and stabilize prices, but it also has consequences such as increased credit costs and a slowdown in economic growth.

It's clear that this is a rather fragile balance, because if rates are lowered too quickly, inflation will spike; on the other hand, if the threshold is maintained too high, the economy will stagnate for a long time.

Personally, I think inflation makes us more responsible in our use of money and forces us to plan more. However, it also makes me reflect on how unfair the system is, where those with the least are the most disadvantaged.

Hopefully, in the coming years, economic decisions will seek to calm the storm without harming ordinary citizens so much, because beyond numbers and percentages, inflation has a human face, but that face is also mine.