I don't live in the US so I have to rely on statistics. Might well be true what you are saying. I just took some inflation rate provided online.
Though the numbers would still not match the increase in 500%. I don't know details about the whole market though, just the simple numbers I got from looking for five minutes.
Oh yeah, we've been living with high inflation rates here in the U.S., but they've managed to do it so subtly since the financial crisis that barely anyone has noticed. It's been mostly in the things that people rely on every day or every month (with the exception of gasoline and clothing). And keeping wages flat over a decade is a form of inflation in and of itself. A double whammy that has cut people's purchasing power by at least 30-40%. Couple that with high personal debt, and people feel trapped. All their money is going to pay debts, they have no savings, and no longer have discretionary spending to buy things. The U.S. GDP is 70% consumption!
And I think it's going to get worse in the coming decade.