Yesterday, a lot of news and memes were being tossed around the interweb about the recent inflation hike in the US. The figure being bandied about was 9.1% and while that might be an astronomical figure for most people in western societies, it is just a walk in the park for me.
I'm not going to stand here and pretend to know the nitty-gritty of this stuff. However, due to my society, I am a student of pain and pain doesn't scare me.
I know this reported inflation figure will most likely have far-reaching on a global scale and the damage it could cause is insurmountable to my very limited mind but I have to say, the figure doesn't scare me at all.
Nairametrics reports that the consumer price inflation in the US spikes to 9.1%. So, what this means in essence is that your income in the dollar is 9.1% more useless.
If you throw in capital gains and income tax into the midst, you will find that a lot of households in the US are going to be rekt. From my limited understanding of how the credit system works in the US, I know that most people use credit cards and live in perpetual debt. I wonder how the CPI inflation will affect most households.
What is fascinating about this situation is that Nairametrics describes the 12-month increase in CPI as a "skyrocketed" figure. The CPI pumped from 8.6% to 9.1%, a whopping 0.5% jump in the CPI and I agree that is messed up.
Been through hell
When you've been through hell, you'll be able to dance on hot coal. All I'm saying is that in my society if we experienced 0.5% consumer price inflation per year, I would be the happiest person on earth.
Life is all about perspectives I guess. How I feel about a 9.1% consumer price inflation figure takes nothing away from how people in the US are affected by it.
What I'm saying is that US households have every right to think that it is an absolutely horrible event but at the same time, I also have the right to feel that this figure is a blessing. Both truths can exist at the same time.
Here's the thing, ask most Nigerians about how life is for them and you'll hear a very grim story. The value of most households' income has halved in the space of a year.
Forget all the data you see on the internet, people on the ground will tell you the real story and I shit you not when I say the price of everything except petrol has doubled. They use the stagnant price of petrol which is a sham because it is heavily subsidized, to offset the other inflation figures in the country.
In summary
I often feel like a fraud when I see world economics and political issues popping up on my Twitter timeline. I feel like I don't even deserve to hear about these issues because they are so over my head and beyond my scope of reasoning.
I'm still living in the stone age like a caveman with no electricity or water supply. So the concept of a 0.5% CPI inflation being regarded with superlatives is definitely out of my pay grade.
I like to be honest about my perception of life and I can't talk as someone that I'm not. I would once again like to state that I'm not trying to take anything away from the Americans complaining about the situation because it is within their rights to do so. They have high standards and it is the reason why they're among the greatest countries in the World.
As for me though, I can only dream of the day when a 12-month 0.5% hike in Consumer price inflation will be regarded as a problem in Nigeria. I don't think it will happen in my lifetime.