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Rising food and energy costs have pushed the already soaring U.S. inflation to another four-decade high. According to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the February Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 7.9% over the past 12 months. CPI measures the weighted average prices of goods and services, such as gas, food, medical care, and more.

The surging prices not only force more and more Americans to re-think their budget but also invite industry experts to share their thoughts. Recently, one such Bloomberg article has gone viral. NYC-based labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci wrote a piece headlined 'Inflation Stings Most If You Earn Less Than $300k'. Later on, Bloomberg shared it on social media, and it got widely mocked by anyone with a Twitter account.

You see, Ghilarducci shared tips on dealing with inflation which people all over thought were extremely out-of-touch and delusional about the reality. She wrote that if you want to "lessen the blow" of inflation, it’s time to substitute lentils for meat and let your pet die of cancer. People quickly started sharing their reactions online, so scroll down to see what they had to say.

Bloomberg’s recent opinion piece with tips for surviving inflation "if you earn less than $300k" received backlash on Twitter, with many people sharing their reactions

Image credits: economics

Image credits: bopinion

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    #2

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    Richard A Petro
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Do you mean, as "Arrowsmith" suggested (Or ingested, perhaps), we should "eat the rich"?

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    #3

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    Persephone
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yes, their advice doesn't apply to them, so all peachy for them...

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    People were left upset and rightfully confused after reading the article. After all, it blatantly attempts to share pieces of advice on how to pinch pennies if you’re unlucky enough to make less than $300K every year. However, some tips the labor economist and expert in retirement security offered seem innocent enough. Well, at least at first.

    Ghilarducci’s op-ed reads: "To deal with gas prices, it’s worth reconsidering public transportation if it’s an option where you live. Fares are up about 8% compared with 38% for gasoline. Now may even be the time to sell your car."

    Well, public transit might be an essential everyday necessity for many people across the country. It allows to reach jobs and schools, do shopping, have access to healthcare, and other services while also being a sustainable form of mobility. However, according to The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), 45% of Americans have no access to public transportation.

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    Another tip that caught the attention of the Twitter-sphere was when the economist said that households might consider swapping out their meat for lentils. "Meat prices have increased about 14% from February 2021 and will go up even more. Though your palate may not be used to it, tasty meat substitutes include vegetables (where prices are up a little over 4%, or lentils and beans, which are up about 9%)," she wrote.

    #8

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    A Jones
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    right, buying in bulk is way cheaper. Especially for things like soaps and stuff. 1 large bottle of dish soap saves me a full year of dish soap and reduce plastics. I'm trying to be more green and save green, even well prior to the inflation BS.

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    #9

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    Caro Caro
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    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And they say chimps are vegetarian.... Maybe they thought the tyrant was made of lentils ;)

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    Yet, there was one more suggestion that immediately struck a chord with the users — advising them to skip out on their pet’s medical bills. "If you’re one of the many Americans who became a new pet owner during the pandemic, you might want to rethink those costly pet medical needs. It may sound harsh, but researchers actually don’t recommend pet chemotherapy — which can cost up to $10,000 — for ethical reasons," the scholar explained.

    "Harsh" may be an understatement. Many social media users viewed this suggestion as straight-up dark. They had some more severe remarks to say about the article and its writer, and as you can see from this post, they did not hold back. Even when Bloomberg Opinion reshared the article on Twitter, they wrote "nobody said this would be fun". Well, folks online certainly didn’t think it was.

    #11

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    Mazer
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Welcome to America, the melting pot of the world. Where the scum floats to the top and those at the bottom get burned

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    People started talking about how yet again the privileged members of society who hold positions of power explain what those who earn less should be doing with their personal lives and finances. Some were baffled that this financial news site shared such advice to those struggling every day with such a lack of consideration.

    #14

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    Puppeteer Saint
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    All publicity is good publicity.. If they're talking negatively about you, at least they're talking about you.

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    According to the Washington Post, wealthier Americans have stronger protections shielding them against increasing prices. And that is why inflation won’t affect them as much. They already own homes, have substantial retirement savings, and their investments will probably outpace inflation in the long run.

    Meanwhile, lower-income workers usually feel only the negative side of inflation. "Their rent goes up. Their heating oil prices go up. Their grocery bills go up. And there’s no room for higher prices in their already stretched budgets. Plus, with stimulus benefits and child-tax credit payments long gone, many have exhausted their financial cushions."

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    #17

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    M O'Connell
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    "End profit" is a bit extreme. If businesses operated on a non-profit basis they would have little in the way of capital to fund growth. I am very anti-price-gouging though.

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    Xavier Jaravel, a London School of Economics professor said that for low-income Americans, a small change in disposable income is very difficult to cope with. "Every bit of additional inflation just reduces purchasing power. If you have a large income, which often goes with the fact that you’re saving a lot, then losing some of your purchasing power is not a big cost."

    #19

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    Mazer
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The worst part of this…our Government is good with it being this way

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    #21

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    Persephone
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Share the bath water... last 1 in is gonna smell like a rotten egg! Boil bath water on the stove to avoid paying for gas to heat it!!! (Thanks you rich privileged f**k wads for the advice)...

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    #23

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    K Witmer
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'm surprised it doesn't say kids instead of dogs. The conservatives hate living breathing children.

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    #24

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    -
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sounds nice when taken out of context, but... https://starbuck2022.com/policies-issue/

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    #27

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    DennyS (denzoren)
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Honk honk....lentils is the world super saver we didn't know we needed. Lol

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    #28

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    Who the What
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    2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If you don't make 1.5x the amount of money the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES does, inflation really stings! Edit: Okay, apparently the president makes 400,000 dollars. Sorry, but also WHAT THE HECK!?

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    #30

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    Mazer
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    After reading this raise hands if you feel you need an antidepressant or stiff drink

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    #32

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    Mazer
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You know who you are, remember all those homeless people you once shunned or made fun of??? Now do you get it? You are closer than ever to being a new member of tent city.Yeah, they played by the rules too, did everything they could to live right.

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    M O'Connell
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I figured a long time ago that the 25lb bag of very nice basmati rice costs the same per-pound as the 1lb bag of mostly broken crummy store-brand rice.

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    #39

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    Mazer
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    HA, this is so delusional. Those people don’t even think about it. They hire pesto do that for them

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    Mazer
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    No amount of condiments or seasoning will improve the flavor. It’s just bitter, bitter and more bitter

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    #45

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    Katarzyna B.
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yeah I'm not spending 4 to 5 hours trying to get to and from work, the work day is already long enough. Hello, live in LA.

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    #47

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    DennyS (denzoren)
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Let them eat cake!.....What's that out there making that slashing metal noise?

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    #50

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    Miguel justino C
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I’m in full agreement with this. Most people won’t suffer until they have too though. It’s one byproduct of American first world privilege. Baby boomers that say “pull up those bootstraps” we’re lucky enough to be wearing boots. So many are stuck wearing sandals.

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    #53

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    Say What
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Y'all ran to CA in droves and priced out the natives. Now you know how we feel.

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    #54

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    Mazer
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Just waiting for the boyfriends to recover so they can push us back home!! The key is, look good no matter what

    #55

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    Mazer
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    More backwards thinking. We need to get back to knowing our neighbors, to learn to barter and trade for services and/or goods. It’s legal and it can be a way of life saver

    #56

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    #57

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    M O'Connell
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Some of the richest a-holes in the country got that way as a result of manipulating the fossil fuel markets over the last hundred years. Fighting fossil fuels is key to moving forward as a society.

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    #58

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    Mazer
    Community Member
    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    THE WORST OF BAD IDEAS. You don’t want to go to jail, don’t want an arrest record if you get caught. This idea is a perfect example of backwards thinking. Calling it thinking is pushing the parameters of reality

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    #59

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    Catherine Binder
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Isn't the national purge just around the corner? Say hi to your neighbors for me.

    #60

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    Novel Idesa
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Hey, here's a novel idea. Why don't we stop accepting the lie that this problem has anything to do with which party happens to be in charge at the moment, stop letting the elite turn us against each other, and fight the real enemy which is the corporate elite who actually run this country. Just a suggestion.

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    #67

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    Anne Reid
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The same government spent that much A DAY FOR TWENTY YEARS on the war in Afghanistan!

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    #69

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    Novel Idesa
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    2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Please don't fall for this b******t. If it was the Republicans in office when this happened, the Democrats would say say it was their fault. The blame doesn't lie with the current dominant political party in office, but with the corporations and 1%ers who put them there. Partisanism is a smokescreen, don't let it distract you.

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