Butter, corn or gas: which commodity had largest price increase since January 2020? 

Time lapse video of changes in inflation on 10 widely used commodities since January 2020 to May 2022. Courtesy of Interactive investor (click on image to see the progression from January 2020): 

Questions (may require watching the 1 minute video several times): 

• As of June 2022, which item had seen the largest price increase since January 2020? largest decline since January 2020? 
• What trends do you see with prices in the months immediately after the onset of the pandemic (April/May/June of 2020)? What commodity had the sharpest decline?
• In what month do you start to see price inflation across almost all categories?
• Energy or food: which category of commodities experienced price increases first? What month did you start to see price increases in these categories?  
• What did you notice about price changes from January 2022 to May 2022? What do you think might be some of the causes of these changes? 
• Which of these price increases in commodities is most apparent to you? 

I hope that they keep updating this video as this could be a great hook into a series of activities about how inflation affects our own personal finances. 

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Looking for additional activities on inflation? You have lots to choose from as you review the results of the NGPF search tool. 

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About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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