Anthony Esposito said the latest inflation data may look modest on the surface, but it signals meaningful progress for everyday Americans. Appearing to break down a small uptick in prices, the Ascalon VI Capital CEO argued that the bigger story is not the monthly increase itself, but how far inflation has come down from its recent peaks.
Esposito pointed to the annualized producer price index holding near 3 percent, down from roughly 5 percent a year and a half ago, and consumer inflation hovering around 2.4 percent after having surged well above 8 percent during the Biden years. In his view, those figures show that the pace of price increases is slowing and beginning to normalize, even if prices themselves remain elevated.
More importantly, he said the easing inflation trend is finally translating into higher real wages. For the first time in about five years, Esposito noted, real wages are up roughly 1.5 percent, meaning paychecks are starting to stretch further at the grocery store and in everyday purchases. That shift, he argued, marks a tangible improvement in household purchasing power after years of being squeezed.
While acknowledging that inflation remains “sticky” and difficult to fully tame, Esposito said the trajectory is encouraging. He cautioned that reversing the cumulative price increases of the past several years will take time, but maintained that the process is working. His message was one of cautious optimism: the damage took years to do, and fixing it will require patience, but the economy is finally moving in the right direction.
