14 | JULY 7 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

Y

ou have noticed that 
prices are going up. 
Gasoline at the pump, 
fruits and vegetable at the 
supermarket, and more or less 
all other products, suddenly 
cost more money. That is 
inflation. 
What impact does inflation 
have on producers?
Melina Bronfin, a master 
gardener and 
herbalist, has a 
small business, 
Sunny Squirrel 
Farm LLC, selling 
garden plants, 
houseplants, 
syrups, salves and 
craft items on the internet and 
from her home in Oak Park 
(Sunny Squirrel Farm was 
profiled in the June 16 Jewish 
News). Inflation has an impact 
even on this little business. Her 

material costs have gone up, 
and the cost of fuel to get the 
material has gone up. 
Bronfin says, “I had to start 
by raising my prices a bit 
due to higher material costs.” 
But she has to take care not 
to make prices too high. She 
observes that “my customers 
have the same problems.” 
Rising prices can extinguish 
demand. If the price gets 
high, people can decide to do 
without. 
Other producers, though, 
can raise prices without much 
fear that people will stop 
buying. People need to heat 
their homes and drive to work. 
On those expenses, people 
cannot cut back much. So, 
when petroleum producers 
pay more for limited supplies 
of oil, they charge more for 
heating oil and gasoline. They 

now record record-breaking 
profits. Inflation has winners 
and losers. 
What impact does inflation 
have on consumers? 
Holly Eliot of Ann Arbor 
says she copes with inflation 
“the same as we’ve always done 
— buying as little as possible.” 
Most people living on 
a fixed income, though, 
have little ability to buy 
less. They typically spend 
on pressing items like food, 
clothing, shelter and basic 
transportation. 
Eleanor Aharoni and her 
husband, both therapists, 
planned and carefully 
budgeted for their retirement 
in Farmington Hills. The 
unexpected recent surge 
in inflation leaves her 
“devastated.”
“Being on a fixed income,” 

she says, “has challenged our 
budget, including buying food, 
travel, lifestyle and hopes 
for the future. All of this has 
changed.”

CAUSES OF INFLATION 
Retired teacher Gilbert 
Sniderman, asked about 
how he deals with inflation, 
prefers to explain the causes of 
inflation. He begins with the 
Russian invasion 
of Ukraine. 
The Russians 
have effectively 
blocked exports 
from Ukraine, 
one of the world’s 
largest producers 
of wheat, barley and sunflower 
oil; the war has also limited 
exports from Russia itself, 
a major exporter of these 
foodstuffs. With a diminished 
supply of food and the 
continued demand for food, 
the price of food must rise. 
As a result of the invasion, 
many countries are trying to 
wean themselves off Russian 
petroleum products. Other 
petroleum producers — 
corporations and countries — 
have not replaced much of that 
oil. The need for oil remains, 
so the price rises. Higher fuel 
costs also drive up the prices of 
everything shipped. 
Sniderman refers to Tom 
Stevenson’s article, “Not War 
Alone,” which appeared in the 
May 12 London Review of Books. 
Stevenson notes that the price 
of grain and of oil increased 
well before the invasion began. 
When it looks profitable to 
keep supplies short, producers 
keep the supply short. Investors 
who speculate on anticipated 
price changes arguably make 
those fluctuations so much 
greater. 
The COVID 19 pandemic, 

Melina 
Bronfin

Gilbert 
Sniderman

What Americans can expect from rising inflation rates.
Inflation 101

LOUIS FINKELMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

