Egg prices are at record highs. Can Trump crack the problem?
Last September, then-vice presidential candidate JD Vance stood in a grocery store aisle in Reading, Pennsylvania, wielding a poignant political prop: a carton of eggs, which he used to pillory Democrats' "inflationary policies." While the photo op ended up getting attention for the wrong reasons (for one, Vance claimed the eggs cost $4 a dozen while clearly visible signs behind him showed they were selling for $2.99), the argument was an effective one. Polls before and after the election showed the economy and inflation were the most important issues for a plurality of voters, while around 7 in 10 said they were "very concerned" about food prices. Both President Donald Trump and Vance regularly pledged to reduce the cost of everyday items, like eggs, if elected.
But egg prices did not go down on "day one" as Trump promised. In fact, the latest monthly consumer price index showed that the average price of a dozen eggs reached a record high of $4.95 in January. While eggs are just one product, they're a useful case study in how many factors can influence the price of food, and what — if anything — the president can do about it. The reality is that the White House is limited in how much influence it has over the price of goods in a free market, and the actions that Trump has taken so far are more likely to increase those prices than decrease them.
"Some of the proposed policies of the Trump administration could have pretty significant consequences for the U.S. agri-food system," said David Ortega, a food economics professor at Michigan State University. "The tariffs, even the mass deportations — these are policies that are inflationary. Instead of bringing costs down, they're going to do, almost certainly, the exact opposite."
Here's the very basic explanation for why egg prices are currently so high: There is an outbreak of bird flu infecting flocks of egg-laying chickens across the U.S. When flocks are infected, they either die from the disease or are killed to prevent further spread. Fewer chickens = fewer eggs = lower supply = higher price. But according to Ortega, there are other factors at play, too, including the general inflation we've seen since the pandemic.
https://abcnews.go.com/538/egg-prices-record-highs-trump-crack-problem/story?id=118801386
= new reply since forum marked as read
From Turkey.
That's an art of a deal!?
