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12 Days of Inflation: Here's How Much the Gifts from the Popular Christmas Tune Would Cost in Biden's America

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Since President Joe Biden took office, inflation has caused significant price increases on everyday items. This Christmas season, it is not just groceries and gas that will cost Americans more.

Each year for the last 38 years, PNC Financial Services Group has released an annual “PNC Christmas Price Index.” It calculates the prices for each of the 12 gifts from the classic song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”

According to PNC, the Total Christmas Price Index totaled $41,205.58. This represented a 5.7 percent increase since 2019.

The company compared this year’s prices to 2019 instead of 2020 because it provided “a better gauge of the impacts of inflation, before the pandemic’s effects took hold of the global economy.”

In December 2019, the economy was in a healthy place under then-President Donald Trump. The same cannot be said for December 2021 under President Joe Biden.

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The regular Consumer Price Index stands at 6.2 percent, significantly higher than the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent inflation, CNN reported.

The price increases were felt most heavily by the six geese-a-laying, which increased a whopping 57.1 percent to $660.

No items on the list decreased in price. The four calling birds, seven swans-a-swimming, eight maids-a-milking and nine ladies dancing each stayed the same from 2019.

Two turtle doves would cost you $450 this year, representing the second-highest increase in price at 50 percent. PNC said they represented “volatility in the markets overall so far in 2021.”

The three French hens increased 40 percent in price to $255, and five gold rings increased 8.5 percent to $895.

Both live music-related gifts, the 11 pipers piping and 12 drummers drumming, increased 7.1 percent. The pipers would cost $2,943.93, while the drummers required a payment of $3,183.17

Ten lords-a-leaping would cost $11,260 this Christmas, a 12.6 percent increase from 2019. PNC said the rise was “in part due to increased wages.”

Finally, the partridge in a pear tree costs $222.68 in 2021, representing a 6 percent increase from two years ago.

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Obviously, many of these items would not be on the average American Christmas list. With that said, the price increases do reflect a harsh reality Americans are facing every day.

PNC also calculates a “core” Christmas index, which removes the swans because they are “the most unpredictable gift from the index.” This is supposed to give a slightly more accurate idea of inflation since the last Christmas season.

In 2021, the “core” index cost $28,080.58. This was an 8.6 percent increase from 2019, representing an even grimmer picture than the 5.7 percent increase in the total index.

Are you concerned about prices this Christmas?

Under former President Donald Trump, the Christmas price index never rose more than 1 percent from year to year. This year’s 5.7 percent increase is the largest since 2013, when former President Barack Obama was in the first year of his second term.

With the holiday season now upon us, Americans are facing the most expensive Christmas in quite some time.

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Grant is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He has five years of writing experience with various outlets and enjoys covering politics and sports.
Grant is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a bachelor's degree in journalism. He has five years of writing experience with various outlets and enjoys covering politics and sports.




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