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

In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

lemonde.fr

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 59 posts

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#31

Post by ljf »

rad_gruchalski wrote: post #15
eur0pa wrote: post #2

It was inevitable. Whole chickens now cost €7.99/kg, up from €1.99/kg last year. Eggplants are priced at €3.99/kg, compared to €0.99/kg previously. Even basic apples now cost €2.99/kg, up from €0.99/kg. The cause of this increase is not due to war, but rather it is a result of pure speculation driven by greed.

> Whole chickens now cost €7.99/kg, up from €1.99/kg last year. Where did you buy a whole chicken last year for €1.99/kg?

Here in the UK you could by a (cheap) whole chicken for £3 until recently, would be at least 1.5kg. Now a basic chicken is £3.66 at tesco for a 1.2kg chicken

But likely the supermarket won't actually have many of these and the only choice will be the 'middle' price chicken for £6

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#32

Post by nradov »

eur0pa wrote: post #2

It was inevitable. Whole chickens now cost €7.99/kg, up from €1.99/kg last year. Eggplants are priced at €3.99/kg, compared to €0.99/kg previously. Even basic apples now cost €2.99/kg, up from €0.99/kg. The cause of this increase is not due to war, but rather it is a result of pure speculation driven by greed.

That's not how speculation works. Speculation is buying an asset and holding onto it based on the hope that prices will rise, then selling. No one is hoarding a huge supply of whole chickens and eggplants in a warehouse somewhere. There may be some speculation happening with commodity grains because they can be stored for a while. But meat and fresh produce spoil quickly, and cold storage is expensive.

As for greed, people were just as greedy a couple years ago. So that's not a plausible explanation.

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#33

Post by [deleted] »

marksbrown wrote: post #30
quickthrowman wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.” -Anatole France

This from a lousy novel about the impossibility of divorce. The phrase you're uttering is from a flighty aristocrat who in the novel sees virtue in poverty. Perhaps in stead of pithy phrases we could engage with the topic at hand?

[deleted]

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#34

Post by piuantiderp »

pastacacioepepe wrote: post #21

Less energy available -> less goods produced -> goods and resources diverted from civil to military production -> supply can't keep up with demand -> prices raise -> inflation Raising the interest rates is just dumping the issue on the people in order to keep demand in check. Did I get this completely wrong or does it make sense? (unironically asking) Feels to me like this is largely a consequence of the geopolitical…

Never forget, you are the carbon they want to reduce.

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#35

Post by klyrs »

paxys wrote: post #27
rad_gruchalski wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Whole chickens now cost €7.99/kg, up from €1.99/kg last year. Where did you buy a whole chicken last year for €1.99/kg?

It should be obvious that the numbers are made up. Europe has not had 400% inflation in the last year.

Prices do not inflate in lockstep.

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#36

Post by jkepler »

pastacacioepepe wrote: post #21

Less energy available -> less goods produced -> goods and resources diverted from civil to military production -> supply can't keep up with demand -> prices raise -> inflation Raising the interest rates is just dumping the issue on the people in order to keep demand in check. Did I get this completely wrong or does it make sense? (unironically asking) Feels to me like this is largely a consequence of the geopolitical…

Not disagreeing with your sequence of events, as reduced energy production and wars do send prices higher. But, there's another sequence to consider that I think is simultaneously happening:

economic production makes a widget representing 100,000th of overall economy > prices set based on 100,000th of all money in existence > the banking system quadruples existing money in the system > the widget's price (eventually) quadruples as people realize there's a ton more money chasing the same number if goods.

And, at least according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve bank's numbers, the US Dollar money supply has increased some 13x since the 2008 financial crises, and 5x since the beginning of 2020. Ballooning the world's reserve currency like that will have disastrous inflationary effects /at some point/. The fact its happening now, while tragic, seems wholely foreseeable.

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#38

Post by nebulousthree »

temp10298385 wrote: post #19
aimbivalent wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

I strongly disagree that QE policies and central banking are socialist. In fact, I would argue that QE, as it has been enacted since its inception after the collapse of Japan’s credit bubble, is closer to the opposite since it strengthens capital’s control over labour. The mechanisms of which are asset price inflation, financialization, austerity which reduces spending on public goods, poor wage growth, and so on. Th…

Hello ChatGPT, good to have you!

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#39

Post by nebulousthree »

cr1895 wrote: post #13

Getting “gecontroleerd” in the self-checkout supermarkets in the Netherlands seems to be happening to me way more frequently than it ever did previously (sometimes every visit). I’ve never missed scanning an item, which is something as far as I understand used to be a flag for more frequent checks.

Is that like a pat down search at the supermarket??

Re: In supermarkets across Europe, inflation is leading to a surge in food theft

#40

Post by krolley »

nebulousthree wrote: post #39
cr1895 wrote: post #13

Getting “gecontroleerd” in the self-checkout supermarkets in the Netherlands seems to be happening to me way more frequently than it ever did previously (sometimes every visit). I’ve never missed scanning an item, which is something as far as I understand used to be a flag for more frequent checks.

Is that like a pat down search at the supermarket??

It's a human check after you use the self-scanning checkout, they verify that what's on your receipt is what's in your bag.
Post reply on HN