The Sconi

Mark Stephenson, director of dairy policy analysis at UW-Madison, recently said the rise in inflation could impact Wisconsin farmers for years to come.

"I think that one of the things we are going to see, with the kind of wage inflation we have, is that people are going to invest in labor-saving technology, and at the farm level that means automation,” Stephenson told WQOW.  “Honestly, inflation at these levels we haven't seen for 40 years."

The United States is in the midst of a 39-year high in consumer prices, according to recent December inflation numbers. The last time inflation was this high was in 1982, according to Fox Business. 

"Inflation at a nearly 40-year high is not something the Federal Reserve can ignore. While gas prices are starting to decline, there is still plenty of food inflation,” said Danielle DiMartino Booth, the Quill Intelligence CEO and a former adviser to then-Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher. “There is a risk now that inflation has become entrenched in households’ psyches, which further pressures policymakers at the Fed to be more aggressive in their tightening stance."

According to FactSet, the producer price index (PPI) for final demand increased 9.6% over the previous year after going up  0.8% in November. Economists had been predicting an annual gain of 9.2%. 

Excluding the cost of food, energy, and trade services, prices rose 0.7% for the month, putting core PPI at 6.9%, the largest gain on record. Experts had predicted gains of 0.4% and 7.2%, respectively. The results showed the monthly gain was faster than estimates but the year-over-year measure was a bit slower.

Inflation is already a concern among voters. A recent Morning Consult poll found 60% are “very concerned” about inflation, 27% are “somewhat concerned”, and just 3% are not concerned at all. With 93% of Republican voters and 83% of Democratic voters concerned about inflation, plenty of blame is being directed at the Biden Administration. President Joe Biden’s approval rating fell to the lowest on record in the most recent left-leaning Morning Consult/Politico polling, with just 43% of Americans approving of the president and 53% disapproving.

Another recent poll, this one conducted by ABC News-Ipsos, found that 69% of Americans disapprove of how Biden has handled inflation, while just 28% approve. Along party lines, 94% of Republican voters say they disapprove, while 54% of Democrats say the same. Among independents, 71% disapprove. When it comes to the economic recovery, 57% say they disapprove of Biden's performance so far.

It doesn’t get any better on other issues. ABC News reported Biden's approval ratings have dropped when it comes to crime and gun violence, with 36% and 32% of those surveyed approving of his handling of those issues, respectively.

In response to this crisis,  Biden recently stated that he thinks inflation is at “the peak,” and that it will subside with the passage of the “Build Back Better” Act, which calls for spending trillions and increasing the debt, C-Span reported.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham discussed how that spending bill goes hand in hand with inflations on Dec. 10, saying, “My hope is that" Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat representing West Virginia, "will say, ‘Stop, shelve Build Back Better until we find better answers to where inflation is headed.”