What the US economy needs is a cheap date
date night was becoming a financial strain.
There has been a lot of theorising about why so many Americans feel worse off economically. True, real wages are now finally increasing, the labour market is great, the stock market is up, and consumers are spending. But none of this amounts to a complete picture of Americans' quality of life. And people will tend to think it has declined if things they value feel like a stretch.
According to the US Department of Agriculture, spending on food took up more than 11% of income in 2022, the latest year for which data is available — the highest in 30 years. It is a stunning turn.
Food once dominated household budgets. In 1933, Americans spent 25% of their money on food. One of the great triumphs of modern agriculture and late industrialisation is that food became so much cheaper — both at the supermarket and in restaurants. Dining out was once a rare luxury for most Americans, even the relatively well off. In 1930, «food away from home» (the government's designation for eating out) was only about 3% of US disposable income, and about 13% of total food budgets. In 2022, it was about 50% of food budgets. The reason is not that eating out became more expensive; it's that it became more common.
Since the pandemic, all food has become more expensive. Food prices are up more than 25% since January 2020. Grocery prices have gotten better lately, up just 1.2% last year — less than the rate of inflation. But restaurant
