Real wages have been stagnant while the money supply ever increasing. This wasn't the case until 1971, when the US removed the gold peg: https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
Europe is interesting in that certain parts of the Euro zone run high deficits and need bailouts while some of the others are disciplined. I don't have a clear theory for why inflation in Europe has been stagnant all along.
Inflation has also been <2% for decades in the Euro area, Switzerland, and other jurisdictions.
> most in the US live paycheck to paycheck and are hurt by inflation.
If you live pay check to pay check, you don't care about inflation. You care about real wages.