But for the rest of us, it stinks. It stinks as much for a Democrat as a Republican. Your neighbors that voted for someone else aren't celebrating that increased grocery bill, I promise.
So, what's driving it?
Supply and demand. That's it. I mean, it's actually a lot more complex due to the realities of the 21st century global economy. But, it still comes back to the fundamentals of capitalism and the effects of a global pandemic.
A big driver is oil prices which are, well, high. As the world shut down in 2020, OPEC dropped production in response to decreased demand and, probably, a reduced work force due to COVID-19.
The problem right now is that they have yet to agree to increase production to pre-pandemic levels, even as global consumption (demand) has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Increased demand + stagnant supply = increase in oil prices. Why hasn't OPEC increased production? Two possibilities: 1-they're still facing worker shortages and 2-They're making lots of money. Until demand starts dropping off because costs are too high, they really don't have an incentive to increase production.
Above all other commodities, an increase in oil prices has a greater effect on inflation simply because it's used in every level of economic activity, from extraction to manufacturing to sales and all the transportation in between.
But, KEYSTONE! right?
No. Why? Because--and this is important--IT WASN'T FINISHED YET. It wasn't contributing oil to the global supply as wasn't going to for years. Shutting down Keystone killed about 14,000 temporary jobs, but did nothing to affect global oil prices.
References to come.