Yes, of course 62% polled think the cost of everyday items have increased because annualized inflation is somewhere around 2.8-3.0%. So about .25%/month.

What's really shocking is the 38% who do NOT think the cost of everyday items has increased.

How is that possible?

I think I have an answer.

These are the 38% who aren't responsible to actually pay for anything, perhaps. Disconnected from the markets, and disconnected from reality. Democrats all, no doubt.

The Cleveland Fed has reported that inflation increased at .18% on a monthly basis in October 2025, which works out to about 2.18% annualized (if compounded monthly for 12 months) or 2.16% annualized if you don't compound monthly.

That is remarkably close to the Fed's "target rate" of 2%/annually.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile items such as food and energy, was up .25% for the month of October, or about 3% annualized. Still a bit on the high side but much, much better than 9+% during the Biden Armageddon.

The New York Fed recently reported that short-term inflation expectations have declined, but medium and long term expectations remain at about 3% annually.

It is no surprise that international stocks are finally outperforming U.S. stocks this year, after lagging considerably over the past 10-15 years (if not more).

That's to be expected and is actually healthy. That's why it's smart to have a diversified investment portfolio that includes a healthy amount of international stocks and/or international stock index funds, and not have excessive home country bias in one's portfolio.

Heather Cox Richardson is not an economist, by the way.