Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 67 posts

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#11

Post by poulsbohemian »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

While it may be anecdotal, what you are sharing is really compelling, as feed in my (rural) area hasn't noticeably increased.

This is the gist of what I see in a lot of sectors - there's price seeking happening. I'm finding going to the local restaurant supply store, prices are still what I would expect for the things I buy. Those same items are 3x at the national brand grocery stores. That tells me it's not about supply and demand or you'd see price increases universally, rather than only at those stores that are gouging their customers to see if they can get away with it.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#12

Post by tomcar288 »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

and not just table scraps, you can give them all kinds of stuff growing in the garden, even some weeds. or have some cabbage that didn't work out, give it to chickens etc.

sadly, there are so many HOAs that crack down on this kind of stuff and don't want people to be self sufficient.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#13

Post by JohnFen »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

But if you keep chickens, be sure to harden against rats. In my town, they're considering making it illegal to keep chickens because people are careless about chicken feed. All the additional easy-to-access food has caused the rat population to explode into a real problem.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#14

Post by [deleted] »

msrenee wrote: post #10
ibn_khaldun wrote: post #3

This is a terrifically written article.

Is it? The only source they cite for the claim of price-gouging is a group that's against large scale animal production and GMOs. They've got their own reasons to make the accusation. Honestly, it's probably true, but then they discuss meat production where there are definitely some illegal trust activities going on and say that that group has not seen the same increase in prices. Do we not remember the last time avi…

[deleted]

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#16

Post by StrictDabbler »

ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

I would be interested in a breakdown of your savings vs. your expenses and labor time on chicken raising.

I just ran a very generous estimate and I would shocked if your savings at peak egg price are more than $4 per labor hour. To get to that number I assumed $5 per dozen at the grocery store, five chickens at your house, an enormous production and consumption of eggs, very cheap overhead, and only thirty minutes a day of chicken care and harvesting.

Few households can benefit from a $4 an hour second job. Great hobby if you're doing well, of course, but a really bad use of finite time for anybody else. Let alone how few people have the land.

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#17

Post by twawaaay »

Lots of companies playing on two fronts to maximise their earnings.

On one side they try to excuse not giving raises, laying of employees.

On the other side they use it to increase their prices.

This would be fine if not for the fact they usually actually increase, not decrease their margins.

General public is inept financially and does not understand we are being lied to.

Even assuming there exists an economic downturn (which I do not believe there genuinely is one), it is not fine to complain about it when all you do is shift all the costs to the next person.

I think current situation can be best explain as a series of excuses going viral between corporate C level execs. "They did what?! I guess if they got scott-free... what's stopping us from doing it?"

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#18

Post by nobodyandproud »

msrenee wrote: post #10
ibn_khaldun wrote: post #3

This is a terrifically written article.

Is it? The only source they cite for the claim of price-gouging is a group that's against large scale animal production and GMOs. They've got their own reasons to make the accusation. Honestly, it's probably true, but then they discuss meat production where there are definitely some illegal trust activities going on and say that that group has not seen the same increase in prices. Do we not remember the last time avi…

The article also mentions:

- Inflation, which can’t explain the price rise; as beef and chicken (meat) did not increase at the same rate.

- Excess profits earned compared to earlier quarters; also difficult to explain if the company in question faced a massive loss.

How is this not relevant?

Re: The price of eggs in America cannot be explained by inflation alone

#20

Post by Arrath »

StrictDabbler wrote: post #16
ed25519FUUU wrote: post #6

We keep a small flock of backyard hens. Our feed prices went up by about 50%, but that was negligible for us given the retail price of eggs and how little commercial feed we buy. I think many homes would benefit from even a few birds, which can be fed almost exclusively from table scraps. It’s a win/win. Chickens compost for you and keep the food from going in a landfill, and you get eggs.

I would be interested in a breakdown of your savings vs. your expenses and labor time on chicken raising. I just ran a very generous estimate and I would shocked if your savings at peak egg price are more than $4 per labor hour. To get to that number I assumed $5 per dozen at the grocery store, five chickens at your house, an enormous production and consumption of eggs, very cheap overhead, and only thirty minutes a…

Also worth considering is the taste difference. Having raised chickens and eaten the eggs, they taste worlds better than store bought. I found that intangible to be worth something in the economical calculation.
Post reply on HN