I don't know, it seems like there has been a fair amount of reporting about closing or struggling SMBs and farms, and there's also the economy changing to make more and more of the spending come from upper income, which will be less price sensitive and the question of whether various things could have gone down in price otherwise.

The popular zeitgeist seems to reject the inflation numbers because of perceiving it to be higher, too.

I do agree it's probably not inventory, but the frequent changes to the policies may also be part of it too.

And then there is the bit where the reporting agencies can no longer be trusted.