The Sconi

Wisconsin is experiencing high inflation and an increase in the misery index for the country.

A Wall Street Journal video points to massive government spending as the root of the runaway inflation of the 1970s, which many compare to today’s rising inflation. 

In the region that includes Wisconsin, prices rose by between 6% and 6.5%, which is consistent with the national average, according to the Wall Street Journal’s regional inflation analysis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Core Personal Consumption Expenditures index rose by the highest rate on record again in September. This is the preferred measure of inflation for the Federal Reserve. 

In light of the sustained high levels of inflation, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin remarked, "I think we need to put a pause button on government spending [and] get inflation under control." He also argued that “it’s the exact wrong time to be raising taxes," in reference to the infrastructure spending bill.

The “misery index” is the sum of the inflation rate and unemployment, and currently stands at 10.5%, joining the years of the Great Recession as the highest the index has been in decades. High inflation acts as a tax on real spending power, meaning the earnings of Americans are being rapidly devalued, leading to a jump in the misery index. The misery index is expected to fall in the coming months when supply constraints ease, which ZeroHedge reports should lower unemployment and inflation.

Real Average Weekly Earnings have decreased by 1.6% since October of last year, meaning that Americans’ spending power decreased on average because of the inflated prices of goods, services, housing and more.