31–40 of 132 posts
I think this has a lot to do with the under counting of inflation. If you go back to 80s methodology inflation has been much larger that what they've let on.
They should use the dollar menu at mc donalds to track food price inflation.
Shhh, don't look at that. Just focus on "U.S. GDP grew at a 4.9% annual pace in the third quarter, better than expected (cnbc.com)" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38025177 and celebrate. Sure, 90% of Americans under 50 will never be able to buy a house. They are one injury away from bankruptcy. But the GDP!
This is a byproduct of the US political polarization. The state of the economy (and every other attribute of the US) has become a football game, and you must agree with your team on the state of it per whatever the talking head coach says, lest you grant the opposing team a "win". This ruins honest discourse about the state of things.
I eat a lot of eggs and meat, and their prices are at least 50% higher than last year, not 6%. Inflation measures are such a joke.
But the average person doesn't eat only eggs and meat, which is what the 6% reflects.
Shhh, don't look at that. Just focus on "U.S. GDP grew at a 4.9% annual pace in the third quarter, better than expected (cnbc.com)" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38025177 and celebrate. Sure, 90% of Americans under 50 will never be able to buy a house. They are one injury away from bankruptcy. But the GDP!
Aren't age-adjusted homeownership rates roughly the same for millennials as it was for baby boomers? I won't argue that it's harder and more expensive, it sure is, but millennials seem to prioritize it enough to do whatever it takes to own a home, so home prices keep going up.
I think this has a lot to do with the under counting of inflation. If you go back to 80s methodology inflation has been much larger that what they've let on.
The United States is almost 250 years old. "Ever" and you only looked at 30 years is some first-rate hand-wringing bullshit.
What this article really says is that we are spending more money on food not prepared at home, and food not prepared at home is more expensive, duh.
FAH = food at home
FAFH = food away from home
So, eating out is killing our wallets. Not really a surprise considering "dollar menu" items at McDonalds now cost $6 and a halfway decent lunch is upwards of $17-20.
It's too hard to change habits in the short term, but I fully expect that over time people are going to start cooking more and cutting back on restaurant visits and the industry is going to take a huge hit because of it. Prices are simply out of control. Even more so considering the default tip expectation has crept up from 10% to now 20-25%.
Before the doomers run away with this thread, real spending on food prepared at home is down . This is more than off set by increased spending at restaurants. This returns to the pre-covid trends.
The bucket of chicken meal at KFC is $36
McDonald's combo meals are $11 instead of $6
Lattes seem to be $2 more
Still spending almost double a week on groceries than I was 2 years ago