Terminally thumped by capitalism, constantly produces inflation and makes recession inevitable

Working people in the U.S. are facing the worst inflation in 40 years. Gas is at $6 a gallon in many places; groceries are up by more than 10% over the past twelve months; rent is skyrocketing. For millions who were barely scraping by, this is a disaster. And this time there are no government checks coming. 

Official statistics confirm that in May, . . Meanwhile . When prices rise faster than wages, workers lose. In other words, unless your pay went up by at least 8.6% in the past twelve months, you’ve seen a pay cut. Your ability to pay for things has been reduced. 

This process we are seeing unfold now began with the pandemic-induced stock market crash of February and March of 2020, when central banks pumped trillions of dollars into the financial system through repurchases of securities from banks and big corporations as the world went into lockdown. 

One of the ways inflation happens is when the supply of money exceeds the supply of goods and services, and in the U.S. alone, this stimulus to the banking system added  to the money supply over a two year period. Inflation is also caused by the supply of goods not meeting demand.

This inflationary wave was initially triggered by supply chain problems linked to COVID lockdowns as demand for goods from China surged as well as the impact of climate-change on agriculture. The Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on February 24 has created even more shortages of food and fuel. This is a perfect storm.

A Range of Causes Rooted in Capitalist Contradictions

Not all of this inflation is new. Housing costs had already seen steady increases due to many factors – the destruction of public housing, the crooked practices of the mortgage industry, and decades of developer speculation – in a  that long predates the 2008 Great Recession. Since 1965, U.S. house prices have increased by 118% after adjusting for inflation – 7.6 times faster than median household incomes, which rose by a pitiful 15% during the same period. The increase in home prices just since 2008 has been three times that of incomes, and more than eight million households are .

In the last twelve months, the price of gas has gone up  while the prices of both new and used cars have also leapt upwards. Grocery shopping has become a jolting experience, with some price rises far exceeding the official averages. For example, in April the price of eggs rose 44% year on year due to an ongoing outbreak of avian flu – a disease whose spread is rooted in the  used by agribusiness. Sudden increases in fresh fruit prices have had consumers putting them back on the shelves.

In 2021,  and community programs for help putting food on the table. In March of 2022, two thirds of the 200 food banks in the Feeding America network reported seeing .