Ahead of the November 8 midterms, FRANCE 24 takes you on a tour down the Mississippi River with a series of reports by Fanny Allard. The fourth of five episodes brings us to Memphis, Tennessee, where high inflation is forcing small business owners and farmers to reassess and alter their practices.
The home of the blues, which has the second-highest poverty rate for cities of more than 500,000 residents in the US, is now contending with high inflation. Sandy Othmani runs a car service in the city, and for the first time in 20 years, she has had to raise her hourly rates by $15 due to cost increases.
“It’s not just the gas, the insurance has gone up, the price of the cars has gone up,” Othmani said. “Just even the drinks that we put in the car for the customers, that’s gone up, napkins, everything’s gone up!”
Inflation reached almost 9 percent in the US South in September, nearly half a point higher than the national rate.
Othani is considering selling her company because things are so bad. For now, she tries to keep her gas bill as low as possible.
“With $30 I could fill it up (before) and now you’re looking at $58-60 to fill it up.”
Othmani blames the Democrats for her troubles.
“Every time we’ve had a Republican president the country seems to be doing really well. Trump – for all his problems, he ran the country like a business and it was working for us.”
Inflation isn’t just hard on small businesses. It’s also wreaking havoc among farmers. Marvin Roddy grows soybeans just outside of Memphis, in the Mississippi Delta. This year, he’s operating at a loss.
“I farm approximately 300 acres and my operating costs went from roughly $200 an acre to $300-320 an acre. I just want to be able to produce some quality product, yet at the end of the day make a profit to pay our bills as farmers.”
Diesel and fertilizer prices have doubled. To keep afloat, Roddy has come to rely on his fellow farmers.
“We try to utilise some equipment that I may have that [Roddy] doesn’t have, instead of us both buying the same things,” said farmer Zooland Woodard. You know, just trying to cut costs.”
Recent polls have consistently shown the economy and inflation are by far the number one priority for American voters. Among those voters, a majority trusts Republicans more to fix the economy.
Click on the player to watch the report by Fanny Allard and Kethevane Gorjestani
