Inflation

RECENT AND EXTREME INCREASES IN INFLATION BITE INTO THE WALLETS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS

BY ELIJAH DE CASTRO

As infation raises the cost of everday items like gas, food and rent, Ithaca College students have begun to feel its effects on their wallets. Since early 2021, the United States economy has experienced a surge in infation, creating an increase in the costs of goods and services and decreasing purchasing power. The United States’ infation rate grew from 1.4% in January 2021 to 7% by December 2021, according to Statista. Also, from February 2021 to February 2022, the infation rate increased by 7.9%. This is the highest the infation rate in the U.S. has been since 1982, according to tradingeconomics.com. In 2008, in the middle of the major recession from 2007 to 2009, the average rate of infation was 3.85%, according to infation.eu. Additionally, infation typically affects people under 30 — particularly students — disproportionately. The causes of this ongoing surge are the global supply chain crisis and corporate price gouging. Junior Nick Mattera said the rising cost of food has been a growing problem for him. Mattera, who is from Queens, said one of the things he liked about going to school upstate is the lower food prices than in New York. However, Mattera said the rising cost of living in Ithaca has made his fnancial experience more on par with where he grew up. “I was really struggling just in general with getting food last semester,” Mattera said. “I couldn’t really justify spending like $40 to get one entree delivered to my house through Grubhub. It was killing my wallet.” Delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash have been found to be raising their fees throughout the pandemic, despite increased delivery demand making them record profts. These practices have recently landed Grubhub in legal trouble. On March 21, Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine fled a lawsuit against Grubhub, according to Newsweek. The lawsuit claimed that Grubhub had hiked up prices for consumers and charged hidden fees. Additionally, the lawsuit alleged that the company had exploited restaurants in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2021, a similar lawsuit was also fled in Massachusetts. Steven Novakovic, instructor in the Department of Finance and International Business, said that while infation does make items more expensive for the average consumer, some infation is a sign of a healthy economy. Novakovic said that in mid-2021, most economists explained the ongoing increase in infation as the economy’s natural and expected response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as rates of infation continue to rise, it has become clear that there are causes of infation that run much deeper than just the pandemic. “Going back a couple months ago, most perspectives were that it was temporary,” Novakovic said. “Now more and more people are starting to say, ‘Well, we might need to just suggest that this is the new normal.’ This means there needs to be some actions taken.” Kevin Adelman ’14 is the co-owner of Bickering Twins, a Latin American restaurant and tequila bar on The Commons that is popular among students at Ithaca College and Cornell University. Adelman said the ongoing infation surge has increased the costs of items the restaurant needs, like takeout containers, chicken and

Freshman Jem Taylor-Minier gets groceries from Walmart. College students have been hit hard by inflation. Kevin Yu/The Ithacan

Some food items have nearly doubled in price, making it more challenging to purchase necessary household items. Kevin Yu/The Ithacan