[Diverdave]

As much as I would like to blame all the higher prices on "Greed", in fact it isn't entirely true, or even mostly true.

Due to runaway inflation, caused buy insane federal spending the value of your dollar has been seriously reduced.

Once we went off the "Gold Standard" the value of the US dollar was based on the value of the US economy. Not actually a bad idea, unless you start printing money faster than the economy grows. Whenever there is a federal budget deficit that means that the "slice of the pie" represented by a single dollar just got a little smaller. Your savings are worth less and your take home pay will not buy what it would last year.

We are a very equity seeking and compassionate country, which is also not a bad thing, I blame all the Disney movies that I grew up watching. I want everyone to be well fed, well educated, and happy. Again, none of these things is fundamentally a bad thing, but they make me vulnerable to being scammed.

In 2024 the government will spend $1,500,000,000,000 more than they earn, or $4,300 for every man, woman and child in the US. Inflation is how we each pay for that overspending.

Every business must make a profit or go out of business. When wages, taxes and the cost of your operation go up you can shrink your profits, lower your costs by reducing the quality of your product, raise your prices or go out of business.
Many small businesses have done all four, in that order.