When you hear terms like "modern monetary theory" and "quantitative easing" you need to realize these are plays on the real problem. Debasement of the value of the currency. Like all Ponzi Schemes throughout history, our dollar is debt based and only works as debt increases. Yet as debt increases the value of the dollar decreases. This is what causes inflation, which you see as things costing more and packages getting smaller. Now I am not discounting supply and demand cycles as they play in to this, yet more dollars chasing fewer goods increases demand and thus prices. This is exactly how every empire in history fell. I could give you a 10 hour seminar on this, complete with charts and graphs. I could blame the past 20 Democratic administrations and be spot on, yet this holds exactly true for the past 20 Republican administrations and be just as spot on...
Go look at the real meaning of the story of the Wizard of Oz and the bankster behind the curtain and you will see how far this goes back...