Inflation: How Much Did You Spend?

[Bill Ryan]

For those who can't see Telegram posts, the Sky News article is here:

https://news.sky.com/story/food-infl...ances-12870884

Food inflation hits another record high as pressure mounts on home finances

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/61941

[Bill Ryan]

This report, from the Financial Times, no less, is interesting. It seems to give the lie to the much-touted claim from all EU governments that the rate of inflation is much lower.

(It'd also be good to see the figures for petrol/gasoline prices, and household energy bills!)

https://t.me/DDGeopolitics/64686

[Johan (Keyholder)]

From shopping experience here locally - in Belgium - the real prices have gone up way more than the numbers indicate above...

[Casey Claar]

The price of some items really astounds me. The one that has me boggled currently is BLEACH. Is it the same in other areas, I wonder? Always a cheap item to purchase in the past ( .99 - $3 ) is now upwards of 7.99. I mean that's just crazy for something that is so simple to produce. And apple juice, $18+ a gallon? What the heck. And when did crap food, like potato chips and French fries, etc.. go so richter? It really is a mad, mad world we see today.

[Ernie Nemeth]

cellery is $3 a bunch, usually it's under a dollar this time of year...

[Bill Ryan]

An interesting headline from Zero Hedge today.

Out of Control Inflation: It now takes at least $177,798 for a Family of 4 to Live Comfortably in the US

(...the interesting article continues)

A personal comment: in Ecuador, an expat family of 4 could live very comfortably indeed on $40,000 a year, and most probably a lot less.

[Bill Ryan]

An interesting tweet about the raging inflation in the US, that can hardly be kept hidden any more:

https://x.com/jimiuorio/status/1795436512533971176

The text:

Good morning..reminder that the inflation was an intentional, calculated, policy decision…they took your spending power to bailout heavily indebted government entities…have a great day..

And the interesting stats:

[shaberon]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
Good morning..reminder that the inflation was an intentional, calculated, policy decision…they took your spending power to bailout heavily indebted government entities…have a great day..

I can't remember if I posted it in this thread, however, it may apply to many countries. It concerned what happened financially during the Covid hysteria.

When inflation happens, there are a few contributing factors that can be placed in a ratio. Wage increase is part of this. Comparatively, that sloughs "extra cash" into the market, so prices go up. But this is usually a sleight-of-hand, since your wage didn't really go up as much as the price did.

So, at first, of course, you had billions of tax dollars tossed into what were virtually no-bid contracts on these serums, which is its own kind of scandal, as well as, in that way, dumping extra cash into the market.

Once the roof was raised and we had a year or so to measure the swell, it turned out that the contribution of wage increases to inflation was:


12%


However the contribution of corporate profits was:


48%


which is historically unprecedented in a titanic manner.

The typical contribution of business loot is around 5-6%.

Here is an easy one for me to track, which is not listed in the chart:


Property Tax...54%


I can't think of anything more counter-productive than that.

This is post-Covid Happytalism, if I am to believe the folks at Davos continue to tick.

Last time I checked, no significant changes have been implemented, such as re-instating Glass Steagall, or the use of Lawful Money. If nothing has been prevented, this must be it. Everything costs a lot more. If something was less than $10, and it went up by a dollar, it went up more than 10%. That's pretty thick.

I'd rather poke my eyes out with both forks, than prove most items are tracking like the tax. As an adult, I'd say I've watched the Same Thing get More Difficult, just for daily basics. This last hurdle was a record-setter. It's like it's All Bad, and then it's All Bad all over again. Just drastic.

I remember times when I was young, before working, when the minimum wage was around $5 an hour, because it meant you could realistically survive on it. Nothing major, you'd be in a cheap apartment or a trailer park maybe, but you could do it. It was basically easy and feasible. That's why so many people quit school, because you could just go live.

The same things are now ten times as much, but minimum wage isn't $50 an hour.

[scotslad]

Since the covid-19 pandemic, rising inflation, interest rates and cost of living, we have seen dramatic increases on the cost of everything going up from utilities to fuel, to food.

But, if according to accounts in the Daily Mail, then even those folks in the Hamptons are
complaining when a woman was charged $20 for 2 tomatoes. (apparently).

There are many elections happening around the world this year, here's hoping its time for positive change and put the people first - not the shareholders, stakeholders of lobbyists, but the common man so they can afford to buy and cook their food.

What will be the impact of all the current "change" - more higher costs of everything
or will the "elected" do the right thing and bring order to the chaos...time will tell.

If true, then there's a lot to be said for going off grid, becoming self sustained and growing your own food.

Is this mis-reporting, fear mongering or a state of the times in terms of supply and demand?

I seem to recall recently in scotland in the local news it was stating the cost of eggs (let alone morgages and rent) in Newyork was getting nonsensical - all contributing to high living costs.

Is this happening everywhere, and will the new change bring prices down, or have we to wait until Elon Musk turns his attention to revolutionising agriculture and food chains for here on earth and not just Mars?



More HERE:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...rk-tiktok.html

[dim]

It is the infinitesimal number of us ready to take on the staggering amount of the inconvenient introspection we need to realize what we deem as normal causes the collapse of this civilization.
And not the tomatoes.

[Inversion]

I went into Jersey Mike's sandwich shop this morning and ordered a mini at 4.5 in/11.4 cm that was ten dollars. I almost walked out when he was cutting the bread. I imagine in the future we'll walk into restaurant and be served a large pill on a plate that costs fifty dollars.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lZ8xYyyfUgM

[Inversion]

A man who suffered from asthma died because his inhaler went from $66 USD to $537. The family has filed a federal lawsuit.

dailymail

Cole Schmidtknecht, 22, who had battled chronic asthma since childhood, was denied his life-saving inhaler when he went to collect his prescription at a Walgreens pharmacy in Appleton, Wisconsin on January 10, 2024.

According to the lawsuit obtained by Newsweek, the Walgreens pharmacist should have contacted Cole's physician about alternative treatments, but failed to do so.

The pharmacist 'never provided Cole with any more affordable workarounds to obtain his usual inhaler for his chronic asthma,' the lawsuit read.

Schmidtknecht 'repeatedly struggled to breathe, relying solely on his old 'rescue' (emergency) inhaler to limit his symptoms, because he did not have a preventative inhaler designed for daily use,' according to the lawsuit.

The legal battle will be heard by US District Judge Byron Browning Conway, a Biden appointee, according to Law and Crime.

This comes just months after Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione was charged with murder for allegedly gunning down Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare on a Manhattan sidewalk on December 4.

01/31/25 (0:37)

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=4LlfdhxxTYg