Bidenomics is ruining the affordable cost of fun in America.
Nearly 60 percent of Americans are cutting back on spending on live entertainment — including amusement parks, rock concerts, and the performing arts — as prices continue to soar through the roof, according to a new survey of 1,000 individuals conducted by the Wall Street Journal and Credit Karma.
Many Americans are being forced to eliminate fun from their budgets altogether.
Roughly 26 percent of the survey’s respondents said they don’t spend any money at all on live entertainment, up from 16 percent before the pandemic.
One analyst dubbed the phenomenon “funflation” — the latest sign that American households are being crushed by President Joe Biden’s economic policies.
Ticket prices for live events rose at a startling rate this year, triggering a phenomenon analysts have dubbed “funflation” https://t.co/GStvoxFHaD
— WSJ Business News (@WSJbusiness) October 17, 2023
The cost of admissions and fees rose faster than the prices of food, gasoline, and other necessities in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditures Survey.
That’s saying something. As Breitbart News reported, food-at-home prices have soared 19.6 percent since February 2021.
Disney themes parks are feeling the effects of a sour economy.
Before the pandemic, Julie Gibbs, a 52-year-old mother who works in university administration in Indiana, traveled to Walt Disney World in Orlando twice most years. Sometimes her extended family would gather at the resort and in its theme parks for special occasions, according to the Journal.
But with Disney hiking prices to astronomical levels, she and her family are opting to gather at a condo in the beach town of Destin, Florida — thereby spending about half of the typical $6,000 price tag of their previous Disney trips.
“With Disney, they have their hand out and they just want more and more from me, and I hate that feeling,” she told the newspaper.
Bank of America analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich used the term “funflation” in a recent investor note.
“Anything live, anything experiential is just going through the roof,” she wrote.
As Breitbart News reported, Disney recently once again hiked the price of admission for Disney World in Orlando and Disneyland in Anaheim, with some passes skyrocketing by as much 21 percent.
Concert tickets for major names like Taylor Swift and Bruce Springsteeen have also reached obscene levels.
Earlier this year, the Bruce Springsteeen fanzine Backstreets announced it was shutting down operations after 43 years, with its publisher and editor-in-chief saying fans have lost interest because they can no longer afford to buy tickets, which have soared as a high as $5,000.
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