https://web.archive.org/web/2023121...023/12/inflation-prices-buying-habits/676191/
For those who might not be aware, the Atlantic is a leftist publication. For anyone who still thinks that the leftist media is just trying to represent leftist views (wrong as they are), this is should make that this is not the case. All leftist media (and a lot of the mainstream center and right leaning media too) are just a mouthpiece for the cabal running the country/world. In this case, they are trying to shift the blame for what they have created onto the general public. The argument being made is also extremely stupid. Inflation is not caused by people choosing to buy expensive things. If the writers (and presumably the Atlantic's readers) knew how inflation is calculated, they would know that. Inflation is tracking the price of the exact same items over time and aggregating them to determine how the price of everything changes over time. Choosing to buy more expensive items does NOT affect inflation and is in fact not happening. Regular people are being forced to buy lower value items and the general trend is for places like dollars stores to be on the rise as regular people have less inflation adjusted money to spend over time. The reality of inflation is the exact opposite of what the Atlantic is implying; it's when regular things like groceries become expensive and people have no choice but to buy them or starve.
Any they have shot up in popularity in recent years as the lower and middle class keep being squeezed more. Two industries have been doing well in America in recent years: (1) The discount ultra low cost industry which includes dollar stores and (2) The ultra expensive high cost industries for the super rich. So what's disappearing? What used to be between these two, along with the middle class itself.