Blame who or what you want for inflation, but what is going on in every boardroom of every company in the country is mostly to blame. It started with the free money, ( some needed it, some didn't) corporate America saw it as discretionary income and they wanted a piece of it. Add supply chain issues, (some real, some not) shortages ( again some real, most not) and companies that that could jack up prices BECAUSE THEY CAN (like Hodgdon)and then blame the above mentioned issues as an excuse.
Even the little guys are getting in on the rip off. The party store by my marina is taking a 7lb bag of ice. Splitting into to two bags, calling them 4lb bags, and charging a buck more (2.69) that last year. He had the balls to tell me when I bitched that there was an " ice shortage". Needless to say I go up the street and get a 20lb bag for 3.99.