Article originally appeared on thefederalist.com.
“If people are so mad about high prices, why do they keep buying so many expensive things?” wonders Annie Lowrey in an Atlantic piece headlined, “Inflation Is Your Fault.”
Well, I assume demand remains high because individuals work and save to purchase things they need and like for themselves and their families — even when they’re mad about the price. We’re not automatons, after all.
Indeed, we should be happy that consumers continue to buy “so many expensive things.” Because imagine what a collective national effort to purposely buy less stuff looks like. Such an effort would cost millions of jobs — many of them tied to the holiday spending. If we suddenly stopped buying, Democrats wouldn’t be able to go on about the allegedly strong employment market, which has yet to recover the pre-pandemic labor participation rate.
But, yes, we are to blame for inflation, for a different reason.
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