Ryan Perez

Inflation is like a balloon or a broken merry-go-round.

It is confusing and might make you a little angry.

I just needed to get that off my chest.

Okay, here goes.

Things today cost more than they did when your grown-ups were kids.

And Alder is right.

A dollar today will probably be worth less in the future.

It'll buy fewer things.

And it's because of something called inflation.

But it's not something to be afraid of.

It just means that prices of a whole bunch of things went up.

Except there are times when inflation might go up so fast we really do notice it.

And it makes buying the stuff we need more difficult.

Like right now.

Now, the folks of the Federal Reserve are trying to slow down that inflation, but they've got to be careful they don't slow down the rest of the economy, too.

It might take some time for us to see if their plan worked or it didn't.

It definitely won't happen overnight.

I'm sure that will go over great with your parents.

Try that one out, kids.

Ask your parents for a raise because of inflation.