Minnesota Star Tribune (October 27)
“The cheap-and-tasty paradigm that makes junk food so appealing is collapsing: Many of those guilty-pleasure treats aren’t so cheap anymore.” The American diet has been shaped by “irresistible sweets, savory snacks and fast food… with big flavors and minimal nutritional value for a century now.” Healthier habits and alternatives “have chipped away at that. But most of all, shoppers seem to be collectively drawing the line of how much is too much for junk food.” This has left “big food companies” struggling “to sell more food in recent years. Any revenue growth tends to come from price increases, not more unit sales.”
Tags: Appealing, Big flavors, Cheap, Collapsing, Diet, Fast food, Guilty-pleasure, Irresistible sweets, Junk food, Nutritional value, Price increases, Savory, Shoppers, Snacks, Tasty, Treats, Unit sales
CNN (November 15)
Since peaking above 10% in January, “UK inflation plunged to its lowest level in two years in October, allowing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to declare victory on his pledge to halve the rate of price increases this year.” However, “Sunak’s second pledge to voters — to get the economy growing — is looking increasingly out of reach.” During the three month’s ended in September, GDP managed “zero growth… compared with the previous quarter, when it grew by a measly 0.2%.”
Tags: 10%, Economy, Inflation, January, Lowest level, October, Peaking, Pledge, Plunged, Price increases, Sunak, UK
Wall Street Journal (July 13)
“U.S. consumer inflation accelerated to 9.1% in June, a pace not seen in more than four decades, adding pressure on the Federal Reserve to act more aggressively to slow rapid price increases throughout the economy.” But there are also reasons to think inflation will be coming down as “investor expectations of slowing economic growth world-wide have led to a decline in commodity prices,” consumer spending is shifting, and excess inventory has retailers warning “of the need to discount goods, especially apparel and home goods.”
Tags: 9.1%, Aggressively, Commodity prices, Consumer spending, Discount, Economy, Excess inventory, Expectations, Fed, Growth, Inflation, Investor, June, Price increases, Retailers, Slowing, U.S.
Northern Trust Advisor Perspectives (June 8)
“Inflation across advanced economies has increased to rates not seen in multiple decades. Japan, where the headline consumer price index rose by only 2.5% for the twelve months ending in April, stands as an exception.” Though this “appears moderate… it is very high for a country where a generation has never seen sustained price increases. Japan’s inflation has averaged only 0.3% in the past three decades.”
Tags: Advanced economies, CPI, Exception, Generation, Increased, Inflation, Japan, Moderate, Price increases, Rates
