Once upon a time potatoes were what the poorest people in society would eat because they were so inexpensive.  But now we are being charged an average of $4.19 for a carton of medium fries at McDonald's.  There are many that are very upset about the rapidly rising cost of fries, and this is yet another example that shows that our standard of living is being absolutely shredded.  As costs rise, the labor market just continues to get even weaker.  So we are being hit with much higher prices at the same time that paychecks are stagnating and mass layoffs are occurring all over the nation.  So what is going to happen to our standard of living if these trends continue to intensify during the months ahead?

By about a two to one margin, middle-income Americans feel like their financial situations have gotten worse over the past year…

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment survey showed that 44% of middle-income respondents said their financial situation was worse than it was a year ago, while 23% said it was better, based on a three-month average ending in September. Those who feel worse off overwhelmingly said it was because of higher prices.