Inflation

“Inflation,” written by Earnest Jackson and recorded by him with Sugar Daddy and the Gumbo Roux at Sea-Saint Studios in New Orleans in 1975; unreleased until 2022.

Earnest Jackson, the song’s writer and lead singer, wrote “Inflation” in the music room of Southern University and A & M College in his native Baton Rouge. Band members included guitarist Freddie Wall, bassist Randy Jackson, and keyboard player Kinny Landrum. The song never found an outlet.

Some background: Inflation in 1975 was 9%, and then-president Gerald Ford tried to fight it with a much-mocked and ineffective PR campaign called WIN (“Whip Inflation Now”).

In 2022, NPR’s Planet Money economics podcast learned of this unreleased 1975 recording, was understandably interested, and formed a record label to finally release it.

More:

“Unreleased Earnest Jackson song ‘Inflation’ becomes sensation, resonating with modern woes,” Anna Kaufman, USA Today

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How Did Everything Get So Expensive?

Around the world, everything is more expensive. Why? Monetary factors, supply shocks, market concentration, and corporate price gouging. A Vox video by Liz Scheltens.

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Pizza Inflation Slices Through New York

The quintessential New York street food is a slice of pizza. While pizza-shaped objects appear in other cities, travelers and ex-New Yorkers have long considered the cheesy wedges of neighborhood slice joints throughout the Five Boroughs the ne plus ultra, exemplar and cornerstone of the city’s unique curbside cuisine.

Pandemic-related supplychain snags and inflation have now hit New Yorkers where they eat. The average cost for a cheese slice in the Big Apple is now 3 dollars.

More:

“Mapping the Death of NYC’s Cheap Slice,” Sarah Holder, Bloomberg

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Photo (Cheese slice, Joe’s Pizza, 14th Street, NYC) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht,NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.