Answer: 

Questions:

• Have you noticed inflation (the increases in prices) in items that you or your family purchase in your own lives? Examples?
• What impact does inflation have on family budgets?
• How much do you think that prices have to go up before it impacts consumer behavior and their purchase decisions?
• What do you think are the causes behind this spike in inflation?

Have your class predict the CPI for the 12 months ending January 2022 and the class could earn a $100 gift card. Details on the contest which ends on 2/10 at 8:30am ET. 

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

 Behind the numbers (CNBC): 

"Inflation plowed ahead at its fastest 12-month pace in nearly 40 years during December, according to a closely watched gauge the Labor Department released Wednesday. The consumer price index, a metric that measures costs across dozens of items, increased 7%, according to the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, CPI rose 0.5%...

The annual move was the fastest increase since June 1982 and comes amid a shortage of goods and workers and on the heels of unprecedented cash flowing through the U.S. economy from Congress and the Federal Reserve."

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Learn more about inflation by completing an NGPF On-Demand on Inflation: Will It Stay or Will It Go? 

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.