Americans' refusal to keep paying higher prices may be dealing a final blow to US inflation spike
The great inflation spike of the past three years is nearly spent — and economists credit American consumers for helping slay it. “While inflation is down, prices are still high, and I think consumers have gotten to the point where they’re just not accepting it,” Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, said last week at a conference of business economists. A more price-sensitive consumer helps explain why inflation has appeared to be steadily falling toward the Federal Reserve's 2% target, ending a period of painfully high prices that strained many people's budgets and darkened their outlooks on the economy.