STICKER SHOCK: “Supermarket check-out counters have never been
places of undiluted joy, and last week shoppers who queued up at
them were looking glummer and glummer. The reason was that food
prices, almost stable for six years, were jumping upward. And food
was only one of the areas affected by an inflationary surge that
was raising the cost of just about everything from haircuts to taxi
rides to money itself.”

Sound familiar? Clayton Vecellio of Lewis Run dropped off the
article which appeared in Life magazine – on Sept. 9, 1966!

Here’s more of what was written at the time. Perhaps you’ll see
some analogies.

“Everyone could agree that inflation has been brought on by the
booming U.S. economy, by government expenditures on Vietnam and
Great Society programs, by the spiraling cost of labor and by
industry’s desire to spend more and more for new plants and
equipment.

“In essence, prosperity has created more and more demand for
available goods and services, pushing prices up and diminishing the
dollar’s buying power.

“But there was little agreement on a remedy, or indeed on how
serious the problem really is. President Johnson has avoided tax
hikes and relied instead on increases in interest rates. As a
result, money is so tight that home buyers, for example, are having
to pay up to 7 percent to get a mortgage.

“As concern mounted that tight money might chill the economy too
rapidly, former President Truman warned that it could lead to a
‘serious depression.’ Indeed, this very apprehension helped beat
the stock market down to its lowest level in almost three years. At
week’s end, the President was reported considering repealing the 7
percent tax credit allowed business on capital investment, which
would add ,2 billion to business taxes and take some steam out of
soaring capital expansion.”

Looking at the photos with the story, it was obvious that it was
awhile ago. A clerk was seen actually ringing up prices on a cash
register!

The caption said that a “bundle” of groceries checked out cost
,25.96 compared to the previous year’s price of “only ,25.05.” A
can of tuna fish was up from 31.9 cents to 36.4 cents. A pound of
bacon had gone from 86.5 to 96 cents; and a half-gallon milk, from
46.8 cents to 49.3 cents.