It is paranoid of me to envision conversations planning this, a conspiracy amongst corporations? I don't remember ever seeing prices rise so steadily, so quickly (and I am old).
You don't need much of a conspiracy when virtually every industry, everywhere has gone through significant consolidation.
It's even a problem for the military. Private contractors are gouging the US Government to the tune of *billions* and we can't do anything about it because critical parts, once produced by a few competitors, now have only one producer.