Industrial agriculture is fueled by petroleum. If the price of oil goes up XXX then the price to produce food will go-up proportionately. Same with transportation. A few years ago fuel was in the $30/bbl range. With India & China entering the 20th century and with the worldwide unrest especially in and around oil producing states, market and speculation forces have combined to effect a 40% increase in petroleum costs.

Fortunately, the yearly increase in productivity (and the downward pressure on wages due to international competition and illegal immigration) in the USA has largely compensated for the petroleum price increase. Unfortunately, productivity will not increase in perpetuity. Another large boost in petroleum prices would likely put us into an economic turmoil like when Nixon froze prices -- with the attendant shortages. And that started-up that awful inflationary spiral that reached its maximum under Carter.

One good thing about inflation is that paying debts with inflated money is cheap. The downside is that wages and salaries lose ground -- it's a hidden taxation.

I lived in a South American country where inflation was so great that exchange and interest rates changed several times in a day. I was getting paid in dollars so I did great! Pensioners in that country had a terrible time.

B