Inflation has changed the way many Americans shop. Now, those changes in consumer habits are helping bring down inflation.
Fed up with prices that remain about 19%, on average, above where they were before the pandemic, consumers are fighting back. In grocery stores, they’re shifting away from name brands to store-brand items, switching to discount stores or simply buying fewer items like snacks or gourmet foods.
More Americans are buying used cars, too, rather than new, forcing some dealers to provide discounts on new cars again. But the growing consumer pushback to what critics condemn as price-gouging has been most evident with food as well as with consumer goods like paper towels and napkins.
In recent months, consumer resistance has led large food companies to respond by sharply slowing their price increases from the peaks of the past three years. This doesn’t mean grocery prices will fall back to their levels of a few years ago, though with some items, including eggs, apples and milk, prices are below their peaks. But the milder increases in food prices should help further cool overall inflation, which is down sharply from a peak of 9.1% in 2022 to 3.1%.
Well it’s about fucking time, ya fucking wankers! I’ve been not buying things I want for 4 years now, and have been constantly frustrated watching people stuck in mindless consumerism mode. Quit complaining and stop buying! Corporations don’t care what you say, the only metric they care about is if you keep buying or not. As long as everyone keeps buying, they’ll keep raising the prices.
This is not enough. Not enough by a mile! It means y’all are still buying much shit! Prices need to come down, not continue going up at a slower rate. That won’t happen until people stop buying.