For the first time, AAA says the national average for a gallon of regular gas is at $5.01 in the U.S., and top economists are warning America's inflation crisis is about to get worse before it gets better.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise key interest rates by a half-point Wednesday, trying to cool inflation without tipping the economy into a recession.
A leading economist told CBS' Face the Nation most of the current inflation 'could have been avoided' if Fed acted earlier.
Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, said, "I think you've got to be very modest about what we know about this inflation process. And I fear that it's still going to get worse. We may well get to 9 percent at this rate."
Some analysts expect interest rates could rise by three-quarters of a point in the months ahead.
Former Federal Reserve Vice-Chair Roger Ferguson told CNBC, "Maybe aggressively, maybe 50, 50, 50 (basis points), maybe even a 75 until we get inflation under control. And that means, frankly, risking the possibility of, as (Fed) chairman Powell said, 'Some pain.'"
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says there is nothing to suggest a recession is in the works.
But former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers told CNN he disagrees.
"I think given where we've gotten to, it's more likely than not we'll have a recession in the next two years," Summers said.
Grocery prices are up nearly twelve percent from a year ago - the largest spike for eggs, meat, and bread since 1979.
Gasoline prices are expected to go higher and are already more than double the prices that were closer to $2 a gallon when President Trump left office.
"These prices are tearing me up. Everything is going up except our paychecks," said Baltimore resident Anthony Haley.
Patrick De Haan at Gas Buddy said, "Refining capacity is down two million barrels a day compared to what it was three and a half years ago. And that's the worry. We have very little margin for error."
The owner of one gas station in Minnesota appears to be just as frustrated as his customers, putting up a sign saying: "We hate our gas prices too."
Joe Biden blames inflation on the war in Ukraine.
"It's outrageous what the war in Ukraine is causing. And we're trying very hard to make sure that we can - we significantly increase the number of barrels of oil that are being pumped out of the reserves we have," Biden said.
Biden also says inflation is his top priority, but it's not clear what he can do about it.
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