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Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

bloomberg.com

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Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#551

Post by chartpath »

whoisninja wrote: post #518
novok wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an index that isn't a 'consumer price index' but a 'cost of living index' instead then? An index that includes the basics of life like food, energy costs, shelter, transport, education, healthcare and some basic consumer goods? I think the issue most have with CPI is it's often sold as a cost of living index by media, politicians and policy makers and it makes people feel unheard as a result. "My cost of liv…

http://www.chapwoodindex.org/

Interesting, thanks!

Not an index per se but the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives publishes living wage reports, here is how they calculated it in the last one (2019): https://www.policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/upload...

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#552

Post by jbay808 »

AlexandrB wrote: post #317
bryanlarsen wrote: post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For rich people.

Also for people that put their life savings as downpayment on an overpriced house.

Maybe the government can raise rates and offer some kind of refund to people who bought their first house in the last year?

Otherwise, the number of people in that "put their life savings as a downpayment on an overpriced house" category is only going to grow, making the problem worse when the collapse eventually happens.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#553

Post by ghayes »

kbelder wrote: post #533
andrepd wrote: post #513

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> general 'let them eat cake' style behaviors saying that iPads are 'so much cheaper' This is a good visualisation of which things got cheaper and others got more expensive, over the last 20 years in the USA. It shows how a "consumer price index" in which, for example, the price of tobacco is weighted at >50% the price of education, can make it seem like it's all okay. https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_au…

Maybe the Libertarian in me is coming out when I look at that chart, but it sure seems that the sectors of the economy that increased in price the most are also the most regulated and subsidized.

Without delving into the data, wouldn’t a plausible explanation be that we regulate and/or subsidize those industries _because_ they are the most inflationary? Industries with downward price trends don’t often need consumer protections.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#554

Post by handoflixue »

andrepd wrote: post #513
novok wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an index that isn't a 'consumer price index' but a 'cost of living index' instead then? An index that includes the basics of life like food, energy costs, shelter, transport, education, healthcare and some basic consumer goods? I think the issue most have with CPI is it's often sold as a cost of living index by media, politicians and policy makers and it makes people feel unheard as a result. "My cost of liv…

> general 'let them eat cake' style behaviors saying that iPads are 'so much cheaper' This is a good visualisation of which things got cheaper and others got more expensive, over the last 20 years in the USA. It shows how a "consumer price index" in which, for example, the price of tobacco is weighted at >50% the price of education, can make it seem like it's all okay. https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_au…

It seems like for TVs, it's more that you get a better TV for your money, not that people are spending less on them? A cursory Google search suggests $500-$1,000 was the norm in the 90s, and that seems to be about what people are spending these days too. I can find a nice 24 inch one for $100, but I expect you could find cheaper TVs in the 90s too.

(http://www.tvhistory.tv/tv-prices.htm)

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#555

Post by whoomp12342 »

Robotbeat wrote: post #396

Cars are much safer and (for the same given size) go a lot farther for the same amount of fuel. They’re also faster, more reliable, last longer between maintenance (used to be 3000 miles between oil changes, now it’s... 7500 miles or so), more comfortable, and with more useful features (navigation, phone integration, etc). As far as homes, there HAS been real estate inflation, but homes are now better insulated, have…

not all homes that were inflated improved as such

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#557

Post by LockAndLol »

Maybe if we didn't throw up to 50% of our food away in "developed nations" there'd be:

A. More left for the rest

B. No need to produce the amount produced right now

C. Reduced impact on the environment

But yeah, let's think about that ,once we do actually have a crisis, as a last resort. Keep stuffing your bins with food you didn't eat and wondering why prices soar.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#558

Post by novok »

em500 wrote: post #510
novok wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an index that isn't a 'consumer price index' but a 'cost of living index' instead then? An index that includes the basics of life like food, energy costs, shelter, transport, education, healthcare and some basic consumer goods? I think the issue most have with CPI is it's often sold as a cost of living index by media, politicians and policy makers and it makes people feel unheard as a result. "My cost of liv…

The CPI includes shelter, food, energy, transport, education, medical care, clothing, recreation, and others, with weights that by and large make sense to me: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2020.htm What do you think is missing, or mis-weighted?

People constantly cite that CPI excludes things like housing costs, or if we probably dug into it more excludes stuff in strange ways. It's also probably a global thing, some countries do exclude it completely, others do not so it can confuse things:

Ex:

https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/04/excluding-housing-c...

http://www.chapwoodindex.org/

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#559

Post by jjav »

andrepd wrote: post #513
novok wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there an index that isn't a 'consumer price index' but a 'cost of living index' instead then? An index that includes the basics of life like food, energy costs, shelter, transport, education, healthcare and some basic consumer goods? I think the issue most have with CPI is it's often sold as a cost of living index by media, politicians and policy makers and it makes people feel unheard as a result. "My cost of liv…

> general 'let them eat cake' style behaviors saying that iPads are 'so much cheaper' This is a good visualisation of which things got cheaper and others got more expensive, over the last 20 years in the USA. It shows how a "consumer price index" in which, for example, the price of tobacco is weighted at >50% the price of education, can make it seem like it's all okay. https://cdn.substack.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_au…

That is a wonderful and very telling graph. Also interesting to note that everything that has becomes cheaper is optional spend (except clothing) that one can do without. Everything above the line which has become more expensive are things which are more necessary.

Re: Food Prices Are Soaring Faster Than Inflation and Incomes

#560

Post by dang »

kingkawn wrote: post #63
imtringued wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That aljazeera link doesn't sit right with me. I mean, just look at that first picture. It's a small child sitting in a sandy place with a stainless steel bowl with porridge like food inside. There is no civilization in sight. Maybe some village houses, which represent the bare minimum shelter needed. So now you get to ask yourself, should I feel pity or should I recognize that this child is not living in an environm…

You gotta feed people to be able to do the restructuring. Your logic is hollow to someone starving. Also impressive you’ve attempted to resurrect the idea of “civilizing” people.

Would you please stop posting flamewar comments to HN? The GP may not have been a great comment but "resurrect the idea of “civilizing” people" is a wild and gratuitously hostile stretch. The site guidelines ask you not to do that.

"Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith."

You've done it before, and even worse—for example here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26342816. And generally your account has been making a habit of posting unsubstantively and/or aggressively. We've asked you many times in the past not do to that, and we ban accounts that keep breaking the rules this way. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and using HN in the intended spirit, we'd be grateful.

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