1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

Prices rose 3.7% over the last year, up from the 3.4% reported in August. In September alone, they jumped 0.6%, the biggest one-month increase since May. Inflation was on its way down from peak COVID. Then Trump launched his “little expedition” in Iran, and it spiked. Gas climbed almost 10% in a month. Plane tickets are up 22% on the year. In response, the Fed hiked interest rates for the first time in three years, and mortgage rates went right along with them. The data this month was so bad that another rate hike is now possible in October. The team at Fox Business didn’t take that news so well. They’re clutching their pearls over the idea of a rate hike before the midterms, as if it’s something being done to the administration and not the direct result of its policies. But even they can’t spin the numbers. When the White House tries, they usually mention Iran, saying that prices will come down right away once the war ends. But tariffs are also a big part of the story. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York looked at their effects on everyday prices through February, before the Iran war started. They found that Trump’s duties added almost 3% to the price of goods. It wasn’t just the imported stuff either. American-made goods also got more expensive because of the overseas parts many domestic manufacturers use. So there you have it. Trump’s tariffs were already pushing up prices, and the war made it worse. They’ll hide the data that they can, but the picture is clear as day. Trump’s economy is not working for Americans. It's working just fine for him, the other oligarchs, and their Russian handlers, though!