I'm convinced the extreme inflation post-COVID was caused by greedy companies realizing that many working-class families had managed to save and build a nest-egg during quarantine, and that they could jack up prices on necessities to bleed them all dry.
If inflation had been the result of wage growth increasing the price of labor, profit margins wouldn't have soared they way they did.
I've been pretty intrigued by regional communities in the fediverse era, since knowing your users' likely location allows you run your server nearby to maximize performance.
Having just learned about midwest.social, that got me curious -- what region is the server running in?