I can’t understand how people keep saying there are not many signs of inflation in the economy. And if they admit there is inflation they will point to the price of oil and how it is coming back down already.

My father runs a small sheet metal fabrication shop. The price of steel and copper have almost doubled in the last 18 months. Aluminum is now headed that way. He has passed on those increases to his customers. It is only a matter of time before those increases ripple through the economy.

There was an article in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel yesterday that illustrated the rippling. Kopp’s, a local frozen custard chain here in Milwaukee, is raising their prices. “The price of materials- everything from plastic forks to custard mix- have increased about 20% over the last couple of months”, says manager Bud Reinhart. Later this week, the price of custard will go up about 12.5% and the price of cheeseburgers will go up 10%.