Inflation: How Much Did You Spend? Food? Gas/petrol? Diesel?

[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

[Casey Claar]

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=AXYq78IDclE

The video is under 10 minutes. Scary. stuff.

I have a question -for everyone. What are the gas prices in your local area and how much have they risen in the last 1-2 weeks?

Today at the pump in California I paid $6:30 a gallon, a rise of roughly $1:50 a gallon.

I wonder how bad this is going to get.

My heart goes out to the areas mentioned in the video and can't help but wonder how far and how fast the trend might travel.

Deep breath.

[Johan (Keyholder)]

Posted by Casey Claar (here)
I have a question -for everyone. What are the gas prices in your local area and how much have they risen in the last 1-2 weeks?

Today at the pump in California I paid $6:30 a gallon, a rise of roughly $1:50 a gallon.

I wonder how bad this is going to get.

My heart goes out to the areas mentioned in the video and can't help but wonder how far and how fast the trend might travel.

Deep breath.

Answer for Casey Claar:

Different gasoil product prices : valid from 22.03.2026 in Belgium

Benzine 95 RON E10 1,8630 euro/l +++ regular fuel for cars
Benzine 98 RON E5 1,9290 euro/l +++ premium fuel for cars
Diesel B7 2,2890 euro/l +++ diesel for cars and trucks
Gasolie verwarming (H0/H7) (vanaf 2000 l) 1,3908 euro/l +++ gasoil heating for homes
Gasolie verwarming (H0/H7) (minder dan 2000 l) 1,4310 euro/l +++ gasoil heating for homes

In US$ per gallon, for diesel: about 10,5 US$ per gallon.... for regular fuel about 8,60 US$ per gallon

And Belgium is not the lowest in Europe. For instance the Netherlands and Germany are a lot pricier yet.

[rgray222]

Posted by Casey Claar (here)
I have a question -for everyone. What are the gas prices in your local area and how much have they risen in the last 1-2 weeks?

Today at the pump in California I paid $6:30 a gallon, a rise of roughly $1:50 a gallon.

I wonder how bad this is going to get.

My heart goes out to the areas mentioned in the video and can't help but wonder how far and how fast the trend might travel.

Deep breath.

Casey, I don't think that Europeans will have any sympathy for the higher gas prices in the USA. The European governments tax a gallon of gas at (roughly) 52-65% while Americans only pay (roughly) 15%. Amazingly, Europeans allow their governments to charge such outrageously exorbitant taxes on gas. If gas were taxed at over 50% in the USA, there would be rioting. I don't think that comment is an overstatement.

For Reference, Most of the prices are as of March 16 - 21, 2026

Saudi Arabia $2.34/gallon
Russia $3.44/gallon
East Coast USA $3.57/gallon
China $4.50/gallon
Brazil $4.54/gallon
Japan $4.69/gallon
Argentina $4.92/gallon
California $6.30/gallon (see note below)
Poland: $7.00/gallon
Spain: $7.57/gallon
Italy: $8.06/gallon
France: $8.41/gallon
Finland $9.00/gallon
Germany: $9.37/gallon
Netherlands $10.01/gallon
Malawi $13.02/gallon
Hong Kong $16.93/gallon (no sure why this is the case when the rest of China is much lower)

California has the highest gas taxes in the U.S., totalling around $0.90 per gallon from federal, state, and local sources. The state excise tax alone is 61.2 cents per gallon and increases annually with inflation. They also insist on a Special Gasoline Blend and have some meaningless carbon fuel standards. This is one of the reasons so many people are moving out of California.

Partial source: https://news.usgasprice.com/average-...-europe-china/

Some prices and tax info I looked up individually.

[sdv]

Posted by rgray222 (here)

Posted by Casey Claar (here)
I have a question -for everyone. What are the gas prices in your local area and how much have they risen in the last 1-2 weeks?

Today at the pump in California I paid $6:30 a gallon, a rise of roughly $1:50 a gallon.

I wonder how bad this is going to get.

My heart goes out to the areas mentioned in the video and can't help but wonder how far and how fast the trend might travel.

Deep breath.

Casey, I don't think that Europeans will have any sympathy for the higher gas prices in the USA. The European governments tax a gallon of gas at (roughly) 52-65% while Americans only pay (roughly) 15%. Amazingly, Europeans allow their governments to charge such outrageously exorbitant taxes on gas. If gas were taxed at over 50% in the USA, there would be rioting. I don't think that comment is an overstatement.

For Reference, Most of the prices are as of March 16 - 21, 2026

Saudi Arabia $2.34/gallon
Russia $3.44/gallon
East Coast USA $3.57/gallon
China $4.50/gallon
Brazil $4.54/gallon
Japan $4.69/gallon
Argentina $4.92/gallon
California $6.30/gallon (see note below)
Poland: $7.00/gallon
Spain: $7.57/gallon
Italy: $8.06/gallon
France: $8.41/gallon
Finland $9.00/gallon
Germany: $9.37/gallon
Netherlands $10.01/gallon
Malawi $13.02/gallon
Hong Kong $16.93/gallon (no sure why this is the case when the rest of China is much lower)

California has the highest gas taxes in the U.S., totalling around $0.90 per gallon from federal, state, and local sources. The state excise tax alone is 61.2 cents per gallon and increases annually with inflation. They also insist on a Special Gasoline Blend and have some meaningless carbon fuel standards. This is one of the reasons so many people are moving out of California.

Partial source: https://news.usgasprice.com/average-...-europe-china/

Some prices and tax info I looked up individually.

In my country there always has been a huge tax on petrol and diesel, plus VAT. The money the government collects is supposed to be ring fenced for building and maintaining transport infrastructure. Pretty much everyone is sceptical about how that tax revenue is actually used and firmly believes that a lot 'disappears' in corruption (over inflated government contracts). Vehicle licences, roadworthy inspections, tolls ... more tax revenue for government, that is supposed to be ring fenced for transport infrastructure.

1 April the increases for petrol, diesel, paraffin, gas, etc. kick in ... about 25%, which includes a huge increase in the tax levy. It is going to be bad!

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Casey Claar (here)
I have a question -for everyone. What are the gas prices in your local area and how much have they risen in the last 1-2 weeks?

Today at the pump in California I paid $6:30 a gallon, a rise of roughly $1:50 a gallon.

I wonder how bad this is going to get.

My heart goes out to the areas mentioned in the video and can't help but wonder how far and how fast the trend might travel.

Deep breath.

$2.89 a gallon everywhere in Ecuador. It rose by $0.13 last week, the only increase so far.



Edit to add, 17 April:

I've copied a number of posts about escalating gasoline/petrol and diesel prices due to the war in the Middle East, that were on the Breaking News thread.

Maybe we can continue to discuss this here, and also shared news about rising food prices which are sure to follow.



Meanwhile, in Ecuador, gasoline/petrol is now $3.02 per gallon, with dlesel $2.96. This is still super-cheap compared to most other countries, but a few days ago it crept up again by a second increment of 10 cents.

The Ecuador government used to heavily subsidize fuel costs nationwide. But a few years ago they withdrew the subsidies, triggering anger and protests by bus owners and transport companies large and small.

My guess is that the new prices have been subsidized again to try to cushion the blows and minimize the possibility of new protests. But even these modest price increases will have quite an impact on everyone here. (Including myself! )

If in coming months the prices reach $4/gallon, there'll be a major impact on many poor people, big trouble all round, and more protests to compel the government to step in with more subsidies. If the prices reach $5 or higher, it's hard to imagine what might happen here.

[shaberon]

In the south the pump is not that extreme, it is up by about $1/gallon over pre-strike prices.

After Covid, I've explained how we already inflated food for the next couple of years. It's already either more expensive or a smaller portion. I think there will be a swing because the first major bloc to take a big hit from the strikes are American farmers.

It could be a profitless business this year.

Plastic and chemicals can only go up, and then you can throw in disruptions of Helium, and rare earths that China has restricted, and some damage to the Aluminum industry.

Visually, I would say since before last Christmas, business levels are down. We're already coming from a position of "unimpressive". So, yes, I expect there will be a wave over a course of months where almost everything will increase, until, maybe, the human race can figure out how to distribute resources equitably.

[Bassplayer1]

Here in Southwest Ontario (1 hour drive from Toronto), gas has risen from around $1.27 a litre at the start of the war, and peaked to $1.89 last week. However, it was holding steady at around the $1.65-$1.69 mark this week, but is now back up this afternoon at $1.71. This confirms my suspicion about how much to take seriously the still blockaded yet 'open' Hormuz statements of today.

One thing that surprised me a couple of weeks ago when I was watching CBC News (I don't much care for the CBC News, but something appeared on my YouTube feed), where owners of Ethnic - especially Middle Eastern grocery stores in Toronto, were being interviewed about their inventory. They were all very concerned, confirming that they had already received notice from various suppliers that they will be getting reduced supplies at a higher cost, with some items - especially from Lebanon, no longer being exported for the time being, so what is left in the warehouse is all that is available.

Living downtown means that I am within walking distance of various ethnic supermarkets - Middle Eastern, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, Eastern European and Latin American - it's wonderful. But I'm concerned for the livelihoods of all these independent stores - all which did NOT GOUGE us with price hikes during 'corona' and nor due to the tariffs either. It's also worrying for the communities who rely on considerably cheaper, quality groceries.

I watched an Al Jazeera discussion earlier in the week, where for example, one guy was saying that India will have no choice but to stop all exports of rice and other food products in the next few weeks. This may be sooner considering that India, according to some analysts, has only a few days of fuel left, (if this is an accurate prediction).

[Abondance]

Diesel here ( and we are not the most expensive region, Paris is crazy) is at 2,19€/L (= 4,38$ per gallon) and gasoline E10 (mixed with biofuel) 1,97€/L ( =2,90$/gallon)


A large mobilization is planned by the fishermen, farmers, road haulers in Paris the 2d of May. Maybe the yellow vests will come back too if gvt doesn't reduce the oil taxes ( 55/60% of the price in France... Some people prefer to stop go working because costs are too high.

For remembering, the yellow vest movment has begun because of 1,40€/L of diesel, far far lower than today. The repression was so hard that they hesitate to move now.