In 1777 a British nobleman, panicked over American revolutionaries’ success against the crown, told Adam Smith that if the present trend continued, “the nation must be ruined.”
The Father of Capitalism wasn’t worried: “Be assured, my young friend, that there is a great deal of ruin in a nation.”
The citizens of the United States, in the third decade of the 21st century, appear to agree. No matter how many fresh hells are added to the nation’s dance card, pitchforks and torches are nowhere to be seen.
Hosts who have yet to assemble the components for Thursday’s meal are in for a shocker. The American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual estimate of the price of a “classic Thanksgiving feast” — “turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a veggie tray, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and coffee and milk, all in quantities sufficient to serve a family of 10 with plenty for leftovers” — is up 20 percent in 2022. Driving to Aunt Muriel’s house won’t be easy on the wallet, either. Gasoline is 17.5 percent more expensive, year-over-year, according to the Consumer Price Index. (Electricity has spiked by 14.1 percent.)
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