Hence “Inflation” is a loaded term that has come to encapsulate other issues consumers are feeling, like wage stagnation, wealth inequity, seemingly high taxes with rising debt and borrowing costs, enshittification, supply issues, purchasing power issues, and other systemic problems like that.

I don’t like it. It’s unscientific and masks too much. But when Americans say “inflation,” I really think they’re expressing feelings for much more than that.