This post was inspired by CCN and MSNBC rants over the price of eggs.
I started a presidential year in February ending in January, but it makes little difference to these calculations.
Food Price Change Under Trump, Total 4 Years
- Food at Home: +6.3 Percent
- Food Away from Home: +12.4 Percent
- Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs: +9.4 Percent
- Dairy: +5.5 Percent
- Cereals: +4.4 Percent
- Fruits and Vegetables: +6.2 Percent
Food Price Change Under Biden, Total 4 Years
- Food at Home: +22.9 Percent
- Food Away from Home: +25.3 Percent
- Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs: +26.9 Percent
- Dairy: +17.2 Percent
- Cereals: +20.4 Percent
- Fruits and Vegetables: +14.6 Percent
Extra Inflation Biden vs Trump
- Food at Home: +16.6 Percent
- Food Away from Home: +12.9 Percent
- Meat, Fish, Poultry, Eggs: +17.5 Percent
- Dairy: +11.7 Percent
- Cereals: +16.0 Percent
- Fruits and Vegetables: +8.4 Percent
Let’s Discuss Eggs
In the 25 days since Trump’s inauguration, CNN has mentioned “egg prices” 45 times. But in the 25 days before the inauguration, CNN NEVER mentioned “egg prices.”
On MSNBC, in the 25 days since Trump’s inauguration, they mentioned “edge prices” 80 times. But in the 25 days before the inauguration, MSNBC mentioned “egg prices” just 1 time.
Eggs Percent of the CPI
Unfortunately, Fred (the St. Louis Fed Data Repository) from which I download data, does not have eggs individually.
Eggs are part of the broader CPI grouping meat, fish, poultry, and eggs.
For all this angst over eggs, the BLS notes eggs are 0.172 percent of the CPI. Food is 13.691 percent of the CPI.
This means eggs are only 1.3 percent of the average food basket.
CPI Food Index Levels Since 1970
If we are going to start blaming presidents for food price (is that really a good idea?), then it’s pretty clear which president is to blame.
Expect Higher Food Prices
Produce Price Index (PPI) food indexes only date to 2009 so the index starting date is different from the preceding charts.
Looking ahead, if the surge in PPI food prices sticks, the price of food is about to accelerate once again.
Immigration Policy and Inflation
Immigration policy will come into play many ways.
About a third of farm workers are illegal immigrants and that might have a big impact on food prices if labor prices or spoilage increase as a result of Trump actions.
On the other hand, the surge in immigration may have fueled a surge in the price of rent.
Then again, illegal immigration helped hold down labor costs on building homes. And illegal immigration provides many fast food and hotel cleaning jobs.
There are many immigration cross currents that are very difficult to access.
I suggest proceeding cautiously rather than the “Deport Them All” cries we hear.
Related Posts
February 12, 2025: CPI Much Hotter than Expected, Core CPI Hotter than Expected
Don’t expect the Fed to be cutting interest rates soon.
February 13, 2025: Producer Price Index (PPI) Soars Led by a Surge of Positive Revisions
The PPI was hotter than expected, and that was on top of huge positive revisions. But long-term bond yields dropped. Why?
November 7, 2024: The New Home for Hispanics is the Republican Party
Please play this PBS video interview of Florida rep. Maria Salazar on Hispanics, Trump, and deportations.
I am still hoping and somewhat expecting a sensible immigration policy. Deport them all will make a big mess. Click on the above link for discussion.
NO WAY IN H*LL these numbers are right. I watched a can of coffee under O-Biden go from 3.98/32oz to 7.98/17oz. I watched a jar of olive oil go from 2.98/16oz to 9.98/12oz. I watched hamburger go from 2.98/lb to 7.98lb. I could go on and on for a hundred pages. Food has, at a minimum, qaudrupled in price under O-Biden. Eating out is the same way. A burger fri and cocke is 14 dollars and it used to be 5. These numbers are waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy off the mark.
Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. The last year of Trump saw the deficit rise from $4 Trillion to $6 Trillion. BIDEN KEPT IT AT $6 Trillion the full 4 years given us credit card prosperity.
ALL major news media reports in duplication exactly the same story line. Right now it’s complete silence on government waste zilch. You have to go to the conserative channels to get whats going on. It’s so obvious the deep state has been paying these cockroaches what to support.
Replacing steaks, chicks and eggs with marine oil mackerels and wild sardined, which cost $2/$4 for three days, are better for your health.
good luck with that diet.
Inflation is purely the result of individuals willingly paying higher prices. No Presidents need be involved. But because we are no longer a nation of responsible people, we happily let the media give us someone to blame besides ourselves.
Yes a risk on attitude from consumers and investors is partly required, but those people wouldnt be able to spend carelessly if they werent flush with cash from all the money printing done by the Republican and Democrat Uniparty, so Congress, who pass the deficit spending bills and the presidents that signed them, are definitely to blame as well as the Federal reserve for “buying” the debt with money printing, which also fuels cheap debt speculation in assets, particularly people turning houses and real estate into gambling chips or hoarding RE as a hedge because they think the govt might destroy the currency.
What’s cooking? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the growing united free states of confederate America, one oligarchy, indivisible, with justice and liberty available for purchase by all….including illegal aliens from tariff paying countries on a case by case basis. Bunga bunga, baby.
An economy that depends on “cheap” immigrant labor (legal or illegal) is not a sustainable economy, IMO. One likely change is that such labor becomes unavailable, , much like Britain experienced in the 1920s and 1930s when servant labor got better paying jobs, and the nobles could no longer afford to staff their mansions like their parents had.
Exogenous events might send the markets down.
Isn’t that always true? Do you have something more specific or timely in mind?
It’s a Bagehot’s plan to rule the British Empire with an iron fist. Hamas will sit on the bench under the Bagehot’s plan. If they don’t ==> hell on earth.
The dems 70Y authoritarian regime – which increased “gov goodies”, corruption, crime, bureaucracy and invasion brigades, under the banner of freedom – have lost. Trump’s tariffs first 30 days results: the border crossing is down 90%. The criminal gangs have been arrested and deported. The homeless illegal people will have to work and pay taxes to Trump. India and S.K. will cut their high tariffs. The Ukraine war will be over. Nobody want the Palestinians. nobody, including Egypt and Jordan. Within a decade or two it will be one country with three regional states, under different names, with a strong central gov in Jerusalem, which inhibits destructive centrifuge force that can break a country apart, as in the EU, were different people, with different language and religious live together, instead of killing each other.
Obesity is a bigger problem than food prices. Over 100 million Americans are obese. Drinking water and taking vitamins for a couple of weeks would fix two problems. Lose some weight and save a lot of money:
https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult-obesity-facts/index.html
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/how-long-can-you-live-without-food
Take their car keys away.
Take their knives and forks away
How about energy inflation? I stopped by Costco today to fill-up with premium gas. The price has increased 80 CENTS/gal in 14 days, from 4.40/gal to $5.20/gal today!
We’ve got a new metric under Trump now – A gallon of gas is equal to the price of a dozen eggs.
Thanks Donald!
Costco is a left-wing operation. $2.94/gallon here. Can’t you charge your car with a solar panel?
My last stop at CostCo was $2.47. Get a hybred and stop griping.
CA taxed the poor and the middle class in the pump.
It’s taxes you pay at the pump and you voted in those revenuers.
What economic silliness. Federal gas taxes have not increased since 1993. You should check Google (it’s really quick, I promise) before posting idiocy
No need to worry about food prices. Trump has promised to eliminate inflation.
His tariffs will usher in our new Golden Age.
I just wish he would hurry up with it all. Stop delaying the tariffs.
Stock market up.
Be happy , rich upper 10%
Food prices up.
Be happy, poor lower 90%
Everybody is now equal.
This is the government inflation policy.
The rich gets richer benefited from the sake of poor.
Walmart made a new all time high today, but turned red. I buy fruits and veg from WMT. Some stuff from WMT online. What I buy didn’t cost more. WMT didn’t hike to preempt Trump’s tariffs. E is next week. Between Aug and Dec it was backing up above/below 2022 high. Since Jan it was taking off. It might stall or have a correction.
Buy less food, fatties!
meanwhile did you catch this? With Trump’s Help, Intel Could Hand Control of Chip Plants to TSMC The question now is whether the Trump administration thinks an ailing national champion like Intel is better off in the hands of a foreign company or if the administration needs to search for another solution. With Trump’s Help, Intel Could Hand Control of Chip Plants to TSMC – The New York Times (archive.ph)
Using AI to check the price of eggs in China starts off with a sensible reply:
“A chart showing the price of eggs in China from 2016 to 2024 would generally demonstrate a fluctuating trend, with noticeable spikes during periods of avian influenza outbreaks, but overall showing a gradual increase in price per dozen egg”
But the data at either end of the time frame does NOT support the statement:
“According to available data, in 2016, the price of a dozen eggs in China was roughly around 11.82 yuan”
“current average price in China hovering around 11.9 Yuan for a dozen eggs as of early 2025”
I’d call a 0.08 Yuan increase over 9 years amazing, not gradual.
.08 x 0.14 USD Yuan equivalent = $0.0112…basically 1 penny.
Not bad for a “socialist democracy and a people’s democratic dictatorship”…NOT that I suggest we give it a try.
Cherry picking endpoints is the bane of economic analysis. Was 2016 an avian flu year or for some other reason a year with unusually high prices? Could the current ongoing economic depression in China have lowered prices temporarily?
BTW, are egg prices in China even set by market forces, or are state mandates/subsidies in play?
“CNN and MSNBC rant over the price of eggs”
The reason is obvious, but the question is who cares what these deep-state bribed propaganda outfits say any more?
It’s an egg… what can it cost… ten dollars?
I recall hearing that an egg is not only incredible, but also edible! That may explain the premium.
Exactly… each is a priceless miracle!
I thought we were talking about those Russian eggs!
Nobody really cares I don’t listen to those channels. Eggs, milk and all meats are under attack from the food safety police. They want those items out of your food supply to be replaced by synthetics.
I have yet to see protests outside the Federal Reserve building or CONgress for handing out funny money like candy thereby debasing the US dollar (which is the root cause of all this inflation.)
All I’m hearing is crickets. All I’m seeing is scapegoating. Blame the people actually responsible for this.
As became evident through DOGE, everything is running on autopilot. Why would geriatric invalids want to change anything?
They would want to change things if the people held them accountable at the ballot box, but most people have very little understanding of whats going on. They dont know that inflation is caused by Congress overspending and that the Fed monetizes the debt. The Uniparty is taking advantage of people being uninformed. The people should know that it is our duty to elect responsible leaders. And for the corrupt reckless leaders spending us into this massive debt burden, they have been told right from wrong and they will be held accountable for doing wrong, even if the voters fail to notice.
Yes.
“…inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.”
Milton Friedman
The rise in egg prices is due to the bird flu outbreak – nothing to do with Trump or Biden. However, letting the unelected president Ellen Musk take a sledgehammer to the FDA and CDC is probably a bad idea.
If the unelected Musk trims the payroll of unelected bureaucrats that’s fine with me. Other unelected people: judges, journalists, congressional staffers, lobbyists, NGO grifters, State Department regime changers & color revolution instigators …
Imagine if Biden had asked George Soros to go through the federal bureaucracy and fire whomever he wanted, would you be happy with that?
No. Because George Soros is an asshole.
Wouldn’t even lend me any Grey Poupon.
Musk isn’t firing whomever he wants. He’s not cutting whatever he wants. He’s making recommendations.
Food safety and public health will fall to the states.
Meanwhile a massive measles outbreak in Texas. Coming soon to a red state near you.
Yeah, caused by un vaxxed, undocumented illegal immigrants let into the country by Biden and his cohorts.
I had it in my youth.
Wonder how those measles got into Texas.
It’s the culling of birds that produce eggs, which is affecting egg prices. Healthy birds are culled along with the sick, in a flock. The CDC and FDA are corrupt. RFK Jr. is now head of HHS, which oversees both agencies, in need of serious reform.
Not a bad statistical piece, marred by your too frequent muddle-headedness:
“I suggest proceeding cautiously rather than the ‘Deport Them All’ cries we hear.”
Deporting illegals is a property rights issue: they’re trespassing on your and my undistributed property interests in citizenship.
If a trespasser sets up housekeeping in my garage, I might derive some economic benefit if he chases the hornets away, but I don’t want my ownership compromised by claims of adverse possession or the “birthright” claims of the kids his missus drops. So I’d rather hire a fumigator to deal with the hornets, even if it costs me a bit in the short term. Capiche?
Some do capiche, but they’ll never admit it.
If a lot of people really want the immigrants out, then they voted for the wrong reps, because the Republicans currently have a majority in Congress and Trump to sign a law making e-verify mandatory with strict penalties and no loopholes, but the Republicans and Trump arent doing that, because they want the immigrants that do the difficult work they do to stay here and thats most of them.
USA has plenty of home grown agriculture workers who earn more from welfare, AFDC, section 8, and food stamps than they would working. Part of the problem is welfare not a lack of illegal invaders. Part of the problem is American subcultures that do not honor labor. I have worked hard labor in 95 degree heat, 90% humidity for $1.00/hour and $2.15/hr when gasoline cost $0.39/gallon.
I know that eggs were not very long ago, about 25 to 30 cents per egg. Now, they range between 55 to 80 cents a piece. Deli turkey was 4 to 7 dollars a pound, now 12 to 15 dollars a pound. Bread has doubled in price, so have hamburger and all other meats. Dairy has doubled or more. One gallon of milk was around two bucks, now well over three. Butter and cheese have doubled. The government data is skewing prices lower. Food prices have more than doubled in the real world.
Are you people REALLY that poor? It’s 80 cents ffs!
Are you so out of touch to realize eggs are in everything? It’s not the amount of the item; it’s the increase. People are struggling with great-paying jobs because of mortgages and car payments, and all insurance and food costs have been doubling. A single person needs to make well over 100k a year to afford a home, not to mention over 100k for the down payment.
So what are you talking about, poor people? This significantly affects the middle and the higher middle class.
We are not even mentioning retirees on fixed incomes. They are getting slaughtered. Sheetz, dude, is, your nose is in the upper atmosphere? And, guess who Trump won over of all classes? 20-30 age group. They see zero hope.
And? You’re out, what, tens of dollars in a month? I repeat, are you REALLY that poor? Is THAT all Prosperity Jesus loves you?
Every dollar matters to the 50% who are just scraping by each month.
Even for prosperous savers, tens of dollars a month is real money. Save that & invest for 20 years and you have one more semester’s worth of tuition when your child goes to college. Or a chance to exit the onerous mortgage a few months early. Or a few extra months of actual retirement.
If you’d earned your money the hard way you’d have spent at least 5-10 years scrimping and saving and you’d understand this.
I’d call you ignorant, but the data I provided is common. Therefore, that leaves stupid as the only option for your comment. Personal credit is higher because folks are paying double for groceries, not ten bucks, you idiot. It’s also obvious that Jesus would hate you with your Pharisistic opinions. You’re pathetic, dude.
Consider oatmeal.
I’ll tell you what people are considering: Hollow point or green tip ammo.
Muh aigz! Muh aigz!
Who you gonna get, Rambo? Who’s the evil genius behind egg prices?
Gruel!
Also add chopped walnuts to the oatmeal to get a lot of protein from plant based foods. No need for milk or eggs in the morning. Almond milk is good with coffee.
Almond “milk” isn’t milk. Walnuts are not as nutritious as eggs, and on a per calorie basis I expect they’re also quite expensive? Anyway, humans didn’t evolve in a vegan environment.
Walnuts are loaded with calories. If you look at the cost per gram protein, nothing comes close to animal protein. Greek yogurt is a great sources, but buy it at Whole Foods. The price of their 32 oz 365 brand organic Greek yogurt can’t be beat.
Too much protein kills, 60 units is sufficient.
Almond milk isn’t milk.
And children need real milk in the morning.
These are flying off the shelves….
https://www.amazon.com/100PCS-Trump-Did-That-Stickers/dp/B0DWMZ6DBM/ref=sr_1_1
Yes, for those with severe TDS
Personally I love these stickers. Not just the Trump ones but the Biden ones, the Obama ones etc.
It’s an excellent gauge of what side of the aisle people in your neighborhood stand on on how disgruntled they are at a specific items (gas prices, egg prices etc).
The CPI next update is Mar 12. Feb 12 was Jan update.
12 month inflation based on PCE (the Fed Reserves preferred metric) is 2.6% as of last December. The next report for January inflation data is on 28 February.
OTOH, under Biden, fentanyl was cheap and widespread.
It suddenly disappeared? Wow! We did nothing, and it worked!