Prices are Rising, but Inflation is Only the Tip of the Iceberg

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Inflation is soaring. Image based on an image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Inflation is soaring. Image based on an image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

With some ammo manufacturing leaders stating that they are back ordered anywhere from 12 to 24 months, most shooters have admitted to themselves that high ammo prices are here to stay. About the only thing I can see that would send prices down would be the election of a Pro-Gun Republican president combined with a recession that causes commodity prices, including lead and brass, to drop.

I used to reload to save money on ammo prices. Now you can no longer get powder and primers. Even the hardware is in short supply; good luck ordering something like 9mm or .300 black out reloading dies. Even simple equipment is often back-ordered three months or more.

Gasoline Prices Rise and Rise

Gasoline, which can also rise and fall, is on its way up. I’ve seen headlines projecting that oil will reach $5 or even $7 per gallon. This is quite an increase from the $1.89 I paid in early November 2020. You know, before Biden was elected, shut down pipelines, stopped drilling, and ended our energy self-sufficiency. He caused more damage and higher prices than years of efforts by Russia and Saudi Arabia trying to squeeze out American shale drillers.

Gasoline is not alone, of course. Home heating oil, diesel and airline fuel also go up when the price of oil rises. And the latter two result in higher costs for business and consumers.

The liberal’s focus on green energy and producing more solar and wind power will not make your plane fly, deliver containers from a foreign port to your local store shelf, or put food on the grocery store shelf. Solar power will not plow the fields or harvest the grain. That takes fossil fuel. When oil prices raise, so do the price you pay. Not only at the pump, but at the store.

Many products, like chemicals and plastics, come from fossil fuels. That means everything from kids’ toys to appliances will get more expensive.

Like ammo, we may never see those prices drop again.

Supply and Demand

The impact of supply and demand on pricing is economics 101, and the stage is being set for a huge shortage for foods grown in California and many other Western states. We’re talking dust-bowl like conditions, a drought that may be so bad we have seen nothing like it for almost 100 years.

That’s right: Food prices are rising and they are going to continue to rise for the foreseeable future. Already, global food prices are at their highest level in more than a decade.

Are we ever going to see low prices for food again? No. Like ammo, the high prices are here to stay.

If you think people are angry now, wait until they are hungry. If you think crime is bad today, wait until gasoline prices, food prices, shortages and the decreasing value of the dollar increase the misery index. Wait until the faucets go dry and the electricity is cut off by summer blackouts.

It’s enough to make you wish you had bought some of that expensive ammo.

Inflation: It’s here, it’s getting worse, and it’s just the start of our problems.