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Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

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Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#141

Post by Lawtonfogle »

stvswn wrote: post #46

This analysis ignores inventory costs. Those who can afford to buy in bulk accrue a cost to holding inventory in their dwelling. This can manifest in two ways: 1) the storage space physically necessary to hold the TP and 2) the capital tied up in owning this before you need it. To put it another way, maybe poorer people can afford to buy in bulk, but in their apartments they have no place to put a gigantic package of…

The space issue seems to be a non-issue until you scale up to multiple bulk products. Unless you are talking about people living in either a shelter or the housing units that are basically a bed and everything else is communal.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#142

Post by ars »

randomgyatwork wrote: post #137
droidist2 wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true! http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZAeV-8Ay5Go

I bought one of those in Japan, unfortunately it doesn't fit my current toilet.

Like this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005IT4C6G

There are other similar ones for even less.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#143

Post by dangerlibrary »

SilasX wrote: post #140
dangerlibrary wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> which doesn't happen. My point is that it does , just not as often.

And we have a term for "a theory which only accounts for a small, unrepresentative subset of phenomenon": it's called a bad theory, which was my original point.

The alternative theory you seem to be putting forth is "poor people remain poor because they make bad decisions and have no impulse control."

I would call that a bad theory.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#144

Post by PhasmaFelis »

jethro_tell wrote: post #107
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> That kind of wealth is available to many people, but I think that most people can't see it, unfortunately. I don't much like beer. Something about the taste, maybe the hops, I dunno. Every time I tell someone I don't like beer, they say "Oh, you just haven't had _good_ beer! You should try this one!" And I try it, and I don't like it. Some folks can acquire a taste for beer, given enough exposure. I've given it ple…

The kind of wealth that doesn't have dependants

That, too. Good luck getting a hungry child to "see the wealth" in not eating for "a few days."

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#145

Post by jdietrich »

protomyth wrote: post #131
AndrewUnmuted wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly one of the problems with EBT. Knowing that all the state benefit income is fast approaching, businesses do everything they can to ensure they sell as much cheap Chinese-made goods, horribly unhealthy food products, and (cold) sandwiches (never hot, that's not something EBT covers) as they can. Every month this causes huge boom-bust cycles in neighborhoods and local businesses, which adds to the perpet…

What exactly do you suggest to fix the problem with EBT?

Many states already stagger EBT payments throughout the month, which prevents the boom-and-bust caused by the sudden influx of spending power.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#146

Post by eru »

Sven7 wrote: post #125
eru wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Since the crowd around here can't exist without an increase in poverty, [...] How does that work?

In so many ways. You can find the pattern everywhere once you start looking. On a recent trip I saw the after effects of a Nokia factory closing. Now one would think given the boom in phones it wouldn't be an issue for the employees to get new jobs. Two years after loosing their jobs the majority were involved in evangelical churches or multilevel marketing schemes. Disruption does many useful things, but I feel the…

Everyone has a smart phone these days when they used to have a feature phone (or even earlier, no mobile phone).

That's a big benefit to billions of people. The few people working in phone factories are a drop in the ocean.

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#148

Post by jethro_tell »

PhasmaFelis wrote: post #144
jethro_tell wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The kind of wealth that doesn't have dependants

That, too. Good luck getting a hungry child to "see the wealth" in not eating for "a few days."

Ha *few hours

FTFY

Re: Why the poor pay more for toilet paper and just about everything else

#150

Post by dnautics »

eru wrote: post #147
elchudi2 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Prices of goods usually adjust quicker than salaries

Do we have statistics on that?

it's pretty much true all the time, except notably in the US during the 50-60s when we had wage led inflation.

moreover, having wage increases lag price increases is a part of the policy reason for having state-driven inflation, in the name of employment.

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/13/the-case-for-hig...

"Yet when you have very low inflation, getting relative wages right would require that a significant number of workers take wage cuts. So having a somewhat higher inflation rate would lead to lower unemployment, not just temporarily, but on a sustained basis."

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