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These are the best new articles, videos, podcasts, and other resources we have found to teach inflation. They bring economics to life by showing students real-life examples and current events.
 

News Articles

(Listed from most recent to oldest)

Thanksgiving Dinner Costs Are Down Again | American Farm Bureau Federation (Nov. 20, 2024)
Prices on common Thanksgiving items are in flux, with lower turkey and milk prices, but higher prices on cranberries. Perhaps surprisingly, demand for turkey is down! It’s also the perfect time to remind your students that supply and demand shifts alter the price of one good, changes to a representative bundle of goods represent a change in the overall price level. For a refresher, be sure to check out our video on measuring inflation.

Here's the inflation breakdown for October 2024 — in one chart | CNBC (Nov. 13, 2024)
Year over year inflation clocked in for Oct. at 2.6%, but inflation isn’t evenly distributed. Eggs are up 30%!

Tostitos and Ruffles shrank their bags of chips. It backfired | CNN Business (Oct. 16, 2024)
The customers have spoken-no one likes chip shrinkflation. Sales have fallen enough that PepsiCo, maker of Lay’s, Doritos, and Ruffles, is increasing product size in an effort to regain sales.

Why toilet paper keeps getting smaller and smaller | The Hustle (Aug. 16, 2024)
Toilet paper math and sizing is intentionally confusing. It’s a classic case of shrinkflation.

Defying inflation? How Arizona Iced Tea (mostly) maintains Its 99-cent price tag | Salon.com (July 7, 2024)
Arizona Tea’s CEO wants his tea to remain priced at 99 cents so much that he prints the price on the cans, but that doesn’t stop bodegas and other retailers from marking up the price.

Inflation gauge slows, adding to signs of price relief for consumers | NBC News (June 12, 2024)
Monthly inflation clocked in at 0%, and with year-over-year inflation at 3.3%. But cumulative inflation since 2020 is at 22%, approximately the same increase as between 2008-2018! Be sure to check out the great visual chart showing price fluctuations by category over the last year.

McDonald's and other food giants are struggling in the inflation economy | Quartz (May 6, 2024)
McDonalds prices are up 100% since 2014.

Even Cookie Monster hates 'shrinkflation.' Here's what that is and how much it matters | Quartz (March 4, 2024)
Cookie Monster's cookies are getting smaller but the price isn't going down.

Prices rose more than expected in January as inflation won't go away | CNBC (Feb. 13, 2024)
January’s 12-month inflation number clocked in at 3.1%, with shelter prices up 6%.

Meet the worst offenders on ‘shrinkflation’: dollar stores | Fortune via Yahoo Finance (Feb. 12, 2024)
Dollar stores are shrinking package sizes to continue to attract price-sensitive consumers, but you’ll get a much better deal if you shop somewhere else.

'Home Alone' fans shocked by almost 250% increase in grocery prices since iconic shopping trip | Fox 11 Los Angeles (Dec. 8, 2023)
Kevin’s grocery haul for $19.83 in 1990 would cost $72.28 this year! Last year, it rang in at $44.40.

China is 'on the verge of deflation' — and plunging pork prices aren't helping | CNBC (Dec. 12, 2023)
While most Western countries are battling inflation, China is facing deflation in housing and also in pork prices.

While All Inflation Feels Bad, Housing Inflation Is the Worst | MSN (Nov. 16, 2023)
Consumer sentiment about the economy is worse than the inflation numbers alone would suggest. Prices are much higher than 3 years ago, even if they haven’t changed much lately, and for first-time home buyers looking now the iconic “American dream” of home ownership is even more out of reach.

Chipotle is raising prices again | CNN Business (Oct. 11, 2023)
Your burrito is about to get more expensive. But Chipotle doesn’t expect the price hike to decrease earnings. This article ties in elasticity to inflation.

Beyoncé Caused Inflation? ‘Renaissance’ Tour May Have Boosted Sweden’s Costs, Economist Says | Forbes (June 14, 2023)
Just one single lady with a ring on it doing her own little thing brought up Sweden’s inflation rate by 0.2%. Prefer video? Check out this CBS news segment.

Graphics

CPI, Percent Change From a Year Ago | FRED
FRED is the go-to place for all macroeconomic indicators. Take a look at the CPI, percent change from a year ago (seasonally adjusted).

Price changes in consumer goods and services in the USA | Our World in Data
The graph shows how prices of services were rising faster than prices of goods before the pandemic.

Bloomberg Venezuela Café Con Leche Inflation Index | Bloomberg
Venezuela has stopped publishing statistics, so Bloomberg has been recording the daily price of a basic cup of coffee with milk (cafe con leche) to measure inflation. It’s not quite the BigMac index, but it’s still very revealing of the country’s economic crisis. Be sure to look at the “all time” graph so you don’t get fooled by the currency redenomination in which they chopped 6 zeroes off the bolivar.

Global inflation and interest rates tracker: see how your country compares | Financial Times
This inflation tracker is regularly updated so you can compare inflation rates and policy rate changes across the globe. Did you know that teachers can get free access to the Financial Times by signing up here?

Videos

Always Sunny teaches inflation | Youtube
A fun intro to inflation featuring a couch dilemma.

Shrinkflation: Consumers getting less for their money | CBS News
If the price of a box of your favorite ice cream has increased, you have probably noticed. But do you always remember to check the weight of the good? This video pairs well with the articles about shrinkflation above.

What The Tooth Fairy Tells Us About The Rising Cost Of Parenting | Planet Money
There’s no denying it - the price of a going baby tooth is increasing way faster than the inflation rate. Why is it such a good time to be a toothy kid? It all boils down to income elasticity of demand.
Resource: Worksheet

What is the Consumer Price Index? | NBC News
Pique your students’ interest with this quick introduction to CPI and chained CPI.

Measuring Inflation | MRU
What is inflation and how is it measured? This video explains it all. As an added bonus - students will get a tutorial on using FRED to obtain macroeconomic data.
Resource: Calculating Inflation Interactive

Podcasts

Are rotisserie chickens ‘inflation-proof’? | WSJ Podcasts
In May 2022, inflation was higher than it had been in 40 years. Yet, Costco has maintained the price of its signature rotisserie chicken despite the increase in labor, fuel, and feed costs. Why is Costco willing to take a loss? How has it managed to keep the cost of its signature product down over the years? What does the future hold for Costco’s rotisserie chicken? Use to discuss costs of production, shifts of the supply curve, and inflation.
Resource: Worksheet

Inflation is crushing rural America and may even drive people to the cities | NPR 
Rising costs aren’t distributed equally. Neither are higher wages. Some rural households are trying to figure out whether moving closer to cities can lower fuel costs and position them to find higher-paying jobs.

The Indicator From Planet Money Probes Inflation's Sneaky Cousin: Shrinkflation | The Indicator from Planet Money 
Another great resource about this sneaky way to increase prices without increasing prices: shrinking the size of the bag! Is your favorite consumer item shrinking in size?

How do you measure inflation? | NPR Planet Money 
If you’ve ever wondered how the BLS measures inflation, this podcast explains the precision and process of measuring inflation.

What is CPI and what exactly does it measure? | Marketplace
A nice explainer podcast on the definition and limitations of the CPI.

Additional Resources

Money and Inflation Unit Plan | MRU
We have created a unit plan on inflation. It’s full of interactives, videos, and news articles! Check it out!

Cost of Living Game | Storyline
Can you guess what price trends in the US look like? Find out with this trend guessing game.

The Billion Prices Project | MIT and Harvard
Rather than relying just on CPI, this was a cool project that scraped data on billions of prices from all over the world to explore macroeconomic questions.

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