‘248% Increase In Price’: Video Reveals Kevin McCallister’s Grocery Bill In Biden’s Economy
Editors’ Note: This little exercise performed by a TikTok user is illustrative of how painful inflation is, especially for the poor who don’t own assets to any extent. They get through life largely by living from paycheck to paycheck. It has been 33 years since the movie was made so if you divide the 248% inflation by 33, you get an average inflation rate of 7.5% per year. This is the hidden “tax” levied on the populace by a government and central bank that can’t control spending, and pay for their excesses by depreciating the value of money. In December of 1990, the S&P 500 was about 330 and today it is almost 4600. Gold was about $400 per ounce at the end of 1990, and today it is $2,080. Both advanced much faster than Kevin’s grocery basket. So those who can afford to buy assets and leave them alone for the long term, have done OK, but most of us can’t put the bulk of our wealth in investments. The policies of deficit spending, allegedly justified by programs to “help the poor”, turn out in fact to be policies that hurt the poor the most. We would not need to fund government through money printing if our political leaders would balance the budget and we got back to a system of stable money that held its purchasing power.
Kevin McCallister would need more than $20 to pay off his grocery bill in President Joe Biden’s economy.
TikTok user Geoffrey Lyons determined that the shopping trip in “Home Alone” would not be as affordable in 2023 as it was in the film, which was released in 1990, according to the New York Post. Many were left wondering how the math of modern inflation would impact this Christmas classic.
Kevin’s shopping list consisted of the following ten items: TV dinner, a load of Wonder Bread, frozen Mac and cheese, cling wrap, a half-gallon of milk, tide laundry detergent, toilet paper, a half-gallon of orange juice, a pack of army men and dryer sheets, according to the outlet. With a $1 off coupon for the orange juice, Kevin paid $19.83. (RELATED: Joe Pesci Reveals Worst Injury He Suffered While Filming ‘Home Alone’)
Lyons revealed the current price of each item on Kevin’s grocery bill in the United States, concluding that the child would have to fork over $63.73 before tax, the outlet reported. The total would be $68 including the coupon — a 248% increase in price from 30 years ago.
“So, I broke it down, $4.50 for the orange juice. $4.50 for the saran wrap. TV dinner: couldn’t find the same one, so we did $5 for that one because it had the food inside,” Lyons said. “$13.00 for the Tide. $3.00 for the Wonder Bread. $3.50 for the frozen mac. $4.60 for the milk. You got $8.79 for the dryer sheets. You got $8.00 for the toilet paper, and you got just $9.00 for the toy soldiers.”
The video received more than 3 million views and several comments expressing shock at the economic shift.
“A $100 bill is the new $20 bill,” one user wrote.“
I bet the cashier’s wage is still the same in 2023,” another commenter wrote.
“Self-checkout I’m still paying 19.38 today,” a third user wrote.
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This article was published by The Daily Caller News Foundation and is reproduced with permission.
Image Credit: YouTube screenshot of the movie Home Alone produced by 20th Century Fox
