Biden Administration has advised “that Americans may face higher prices and some empty shelves this Christmas season.” See “‘There will be things that people can’t get,’ at Christmas, White House warns,” by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jarrett Renshaw for Reuters, October 12, 2021.

The piece attributed this to “global supply bottlenecks chocking US ports, highways and railways ….

Supply chain woes are weighing on retail and transportation companies, which recently issued a series of downbeat earnings outlooks. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve last month predicted a 2021 inflation rate of 4.2%, well above its 2% target ….

Inflation is eating into wages. Labor Department data shows that Americans made 0.9% less per hour on average in August than they did one year prior ….