I WATCH WITH INTEREST ECONOMIC indicators that are all coming in suggesting we are in an inflationary period. This is not welcomed news but it does beat watching the leaderboard for Covid-19 infections in the fifty states which has certainly consumed the airwaves and flat screens for 18 months.
My own economic index is gathered right in my own backyard in Benzie and Grand Traverse counties where I use roadside produce and gas stations in my inflationary pain model which calculates four items to build my number.
The Bob
Inflationary Pain Index
Tomatoes – I remember getting a basket of fresh tomatoes for $2 and $3. Now, the tomatoes are individually priced around $1.25 to $2.00 each. I cut them thinner for my BLTs and that helps in the budgetary impact.
Sweet Corn - 6 ears for $3. But they are so tasty on my flavor return index that I let this slide by with my weighted average calculation. Did you know each silk is a long individual tube that receives the pollen from the tassels and each silk thread forms one kernel of corn (seed) on the stalk? Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
Firewood – Bundles are now running $5. Two years ago, they were $3. If they can stop oil pipelines, might they ban campfires?
Gasoline - $3.29 for a gallon of unleaded. A fill-up is $40 versus $25 a year ago. That really hurts.
The Bob IPI is running at 8.3.
Remember, I am a humorist.
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