There's got to be a couple trillion dollars worth of friction in international shipping. There have to be tech plays here for someone.
UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
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Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#52Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#53As someone who doesn't live in the UK, the impression I get from headlines is that the UK is becoming poorer by the day, the NHS has collapsed, crime is exploding, poverty is rising, most people can't afford anything anymore, the Royal Mail is hanging by a thread, and the economy is in free fall. What's the reality? In London and outside?
Economy is not great but certainly not in free fall. Most people are ok. Crime is no worse than in other major European countries. There are no riots in London (looking at you, Paris...)
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#54Demand for food is inelastic, so it makes sense that companies are raising prices as high as possible since people still have to eat. Generally this leads to price competition from other food brands, but when single companies own dozens/hundreds of food brands it’s easy to act like a cartel and keep prices high.
If there is anything that drives antitrust action, I imagine it would be food supply.
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#55> This saw select fruit and vegetables rationed in UK supermarkets, due to shortages caused by bad weather conditions in the South of Europe and Northern Africa and many growers having to cut back due to rising costs of heating greenhouses. Besides the obvious degradation of the energy and fertilizer markets from the war in Ukraine, the collapsed Pound is probably the biggest factor here.
Not really, the biggest factor is how supermarkets source their produce in the UK.
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#56Is this at least partially Brexit related? For comparison, the US has seen food go up by around 10% over the same time period, which is pretty high but also far from 18%. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/overlook...
The telegraph will do anything to deflect from admitting brexit was is and continues to be a moronic act.
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#57Is this at least partially Brexit related? For comparison, the US has seen food go up by around 10% over the same time period, which is pretty high but also far from 18%. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t02.htm
A better comparison would be other EU countries and I'm seeing food inflation estimates for ~22% in Germany at the top of Google. 0. https://tradingeconomics.com/germany/food-inflation#:~:text=... . 1. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/germany-inflation...
Thanks, probably not Brexit related then.
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#58This was predicted when Ukraine was invaded. Russia and Ukraine were the world's leading producers of the ingredients in fertilizer. They are now no longer exporting, and many countries in the world are getting 50% or more of their calories from import. Things will get better before they get worse.
> They are now no longer exporting, and many countries in the world are getting 50% or more of their calories from import. Things will get better before they get worse.
It's not like they wouldn't like to export when they could. But they are not allowed to export due to various sanctions and limitations. It's almost like one side taking half of the world as hostages and letting them hunger, so they could harm and blame the other side.
But yes, "Carthago delenda est" no matter the costs and victims.
Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#59https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edict_on_Maximum_Prices >The Edict on Maximum Prices is still the longest surviving piece of legislation from the period of the Tetrarchy. The Edict was criticized by Lactantius, a rhetorician from Nicomedia, who blamed the emperors for the inflation and told of fighting and bloodshed that erupted from price tampering. >During the Crisis of the Third Century, Roman coinage had been great…
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Re: UK: Food inflation rises to 18.2% as it hits highest rate in over 45 years
#60Meanwhile in Sweden the CEO of ICA, the largest supermarket chain in the country (53% of the market) said yesterday: "It is actually the consumer who controls what they are prepared to pay for a product. In the end, it is they who decide." https://omni.se/icas-vd-det-ar-kunderna-som-avgor-matpriset/...
The consumer decides what they are prepared to pay for a product, unless the demand is inelastic. And for food overall, the demand is inelastic. Consumers cannot just say "food is too expensive for me, so I think I'm going to to go without it this month".
They can choose between the individual products they buy, so it wouldn't be a problem if just some food items got expensive. But the price of food overall is inflating.