as the midterm elections begin skyhigh prices for essentials like food and gasoline have become a major line of criticism leveled at democrats who control the white house and congress in fact the issue may be enough to drive the incumbent party out of power just as it has helped fuel government turnover across the globe some experts told abc news global inflation during the pandemic era has helped drive public opposition toward incumbent parties and politicians contributing to shifts in power across a host of countries over the past year some financial experts told abc news while experts cautioned against generalizations that diminish other issues or political dynamics at play within a given country they noted how frustration over living costs has animated efforts to change political leadership in ways that resemble voter sentiment in the us leading up to the midterm elections this is a global inflationary shock many countries are seeing inflationary pressure they havent seen since the 1970s and 1980s robert kahn the managing director of global macrogeoeconomics at the new yorkbased eurasia group told abc news its driving a level of unhappiness among populations thats definitely putting pressure on governments more gas prices could decide the midterms heres why a lot of what were seeing and feeling is a us manifestation of what everyone else is dealing with he added in brazil where president jair bolsonaro cut taxes on fuel and electricity in an effort to slash prices over the months preceding an election that concluded in october the nation nevertheless replaced him with a leftwing challenger meanwhile in england prime minister liz truss responded to the highest inflation in four decades with an economic policy centered on tax cuts and energy price controls her tenure in office lasted just 44 days before market reaction and political disarray led to her stepping down over the summer colombia elected the first leftist president in its history as the inflation rate soared near 10 while in sri lanka a mass uprising led to the removal of the countrys sitting president as protesters cited frustration over the fastest inflation rate in asia when essential prices explode in ways that people cant pay them anymore its like some basic social contract breaks isabella weber a professor of economics at the university of massachusetts amherst told abc news people go to work and earn money and they can buy stuff that covers their basic needs on the market she added if they feel their wage isnt sufficient to cover these basic needs then this basic contract starts to crumble for too many people which brings social and political consequences the pattern this year matches a high rate of leadership change amid inflation crises around the world over the last half century according to research authored by kahn and eurasia group ceo maziar minovi examining 57 inflation shocks since 1970 they found government turnover in 58 of cases further when there was an election during or within two years