My memories of inflation in the ’70s and ’80s aren’t that vivid for some reason, but I remember Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland — a wonderfully scenic and bucolic little village nestled amid the Bernese Alps. I was there with the boys in 2012 and again in ’13, and man, the prices were sadistic. Every little purchase stung, buying groceries at the local coop was borderline traumatic, and don’t ask about the price of lift and local rail tickets.
This is what it’s like in the U.S. right now — prices have soared and there’s no such thing as a sizable purchase that doesn’t sprout a gray hair. Two months ago The Consumer Price Index rose 6.2% October ’20, its biggest increase in decades. The November increase was something like 6.7%. It hasn’t been this bad since Carter–early Reagan. We’re all tourists in Switzerland.
