Economists focus on the slowing rate of inflation, but consumers are anchored to pre-COVID price levels. The fact that goods still cost significantly more is the primary driver of negative sentiment. This "anchoring effect" means that even with decelerating inflation, consumer frustration persists because their purchasing power feels permanently diminished.

It's misleading to cite a single inflation number. There's massive deflation in globally competitive sectors like electronics (touched by China and the internet). Simultaneously, hyperinflation exists in state-regulated, protected domestic sectors like US education, healthcare, and housing.

The NFL earns $10 billion annually from its five TV deals, exceeding the $9 billion U.S. movie box office total. This massive expense for media companies is passed on to consumers through higher prices for streaming services that need to carry games to stay competitive.

The CPI averages costs across 80,000 items, many of which are non-essentials or luxury goods. This method masks the true, higher inflation rate on basic necessities. For example, while the CPI showed a 72% cost increase over two decades, the actual cost of essentials like housing, food, and healthcare rose by a much larger 97%.

Despite official CPI averaging under 2% from 2010-2020, the actual cost of major assets like homes and stocks exploded. This disconnect shows that government inflation data fails to reflect the reality of eroding purchasing power, which is a key driver of public frustration.

Official inflation metrics (rate of change) are meaningless to the public. People feel the pain of absolute price levels versus their stagnant wages, creating a disconnect that fuels widespread economic apathy and anger, regardless of what government data says.

Recent streaming price increases, which are vastly outpacing inflation, serve as the primary evidence that the market is already too consolidated. Further mergers would grant companies like Netflix unchecked pricing power, transferring wealth from consumers and labor directly to shareholders in an oligopolistic environment.

Our economy has fractured into two. One part, driven by technology (electronics, media), is hyper-deflationary. The other, dominated by regulation that constrains supply (housing, education, healthcare), is hyper-inflationary. This explains why 'fun' gets cheaper but life's necessities become unaffordable.

By tracking the price of a single, consistent commodity (a ribeye steak) since 2020, Parker Lewis demonstrates a 72% cumulative price increase. This highlights the disconnect between official metrics and real-world cost increases for consumers.