Supply shortages lasted months, not years, and are largely over. Chip shortages are an exception. People did buy a lot more than they had been buying previously. This is very well documented.

It's been three years and prices have yet to come down. Interest rates have soared, and who knows how that's going to make new stuff appear. It's quite probable prices will never return to 2018 levels, and somehow this is the result of a temporary increase in people buying stuff. The system is fucked.

That’s inflation and sticky prices for you. The prices won’t go down. There was too much free money given away in the pandemic for that. But steps could be taken to reduce interest rates, if there was political will. Resuming student loan payments (and interest) would go a long way towards that.