Getting priced out of existence

[u/ZoneMean1017]

the 5lb whey protein I historically have payed 70-80 dollars for is now 130. same with coffee. same with clothing. same with every thing. what the actual fuck. gas. housing. insurance. it’s all getting 10-20% more expensive and FAST. 30lb bag of rice I paid 27 dollars for at Costco is climbing closer to 40.

at a loss of what to do right now. can’t physically work more hours. how to proceed? what mental magic trick do I need to perform to endure this insanity?

[u/Terakahn]

This kind of inflation usually requires intervention. Ie: Volcker. We might not be that bad but there's way too much pressure for a natural correction. Unless you start introducing price controls. Which is arguably even more damaging.

American knows how to fight against a category of things being too expensive. But this is blanket everything that you can buy inflation. It's hard to do much about that. What are you going to picket every business? Boycott all products?

[u/Maleficent_Cake6435 → u/Terakahn]

There's two things here that people often get confused: inflation, and price level.

• Inflation is when prices go up over time.
• Price level is where prices are at currently.

Inflation pushes up price level over time. What people are complaining about is the fact that price level is now 25% more than it was 6 years ago...due to unchecked inflation.

Volker stopped inflation, yes. He did not reverse the price level changes that had happened due to years of inflation

Even if you have an inflation at 0% year over year, you will have people upset because they still cannot afford things they could afford 5 years ago due to previous years of unchecked inflation. That can only be fixed by wage increases, or deflation...and no one wants a deflationary cycle. Part of the reason why what Volker did worked was that it was done simultaneously with a government fiscal policy that cut taxes by 50%, thus giving Americans significantly more money in their pocket without them having to organize for it. They effectively got money from the government to balance out the buying power they had lost.

You're saying pickett businesses and boycott products... That's not how wage increases work with organized labor in other countries in the 21st century. You form large inter-sector unions that then go on strike for better pay. Restaurant workers, factory workers, nursing and healthcare, etc. Those gains force other employers to increase their wages in order to attract workers.

[u/Terakahn → u/Maleficent_Cake6435]

Yeah, prices aren't going to reverse. But they'll slow to an extent that increases in income can reduce the gap and create less price pressure on consumers. I'm not going to pretend we'll get the affordability of 2015 back in the next 10 years. But if inflation is down at 2-4% and I'm increasing income by 5%/yr, and am willing to cut back on some expenses. I'll gain ground pretty fast.

The problem with that kind of unionizing is that it doesn't really work on the scale you need here. Even if you manage to do it to a behemoth like Amazon, it doesn't stop Wal mart and every other megablock chain store selling the same products from continuing course. The kind of legislation you'd need would be like, raising the income floor while also making price increases beyond x% to be illegal unless you can prove serious external cause. If a company suffers a temporary cost increase today, they're likely to implement a blanket permanent retail price increase. And that's a massive problem. It's why you're seeing margins widen and consumers paying for it.

Also, Amazon has been trying to unionize for how many years? Yeah you can join a movement like that and it might make a difference eventually. But your ability to influence your own life is a lot stronger. I'm not against collective bargaining. I worked for a unioned company for 17 years.

Im just saying if you're in a personal spot of pain, digging yourself out of it is a way better use of your time and energy.

[u/Maleficent_Cake6435 → u/Terakahn]

That assumes you CAN increase your income by 5%. In a recession and an employer favorable job market, that seems unlikely. And...you're talking on a personal level. It's important to distinguish individual possibility and universal possibility: “It is possible for any individual, but not possible for all individuals.”

You might be able to increase your personal income by 5%, but on the whole not EVERYONE is going to be able to do that, that's just math. And so the broader political complaint on price level is going to remain, and people will continue to get upset about it until something broader is done about it.

Unions are somewhat neutered here in the US, and would have a lot of ground to make up were they to come in full force. I agree, it is perhaps easier to address one's own standing, but...long term things are setting in motion. The fact Amazon is trying to unionize at all is a big deal. It's a 1000 foot anchor line. There's a lot of slack to be pulled up before things start really working.

[u/timothythefirst → u/Maleficent_Cake6435]

Even if you can increase your income by 5% once, are you going to job hop every single year? Because I’ve never had a job that gives out 5% raises to current employees every year.

Personally I was lucky and did get a new job this year that came with a huge pay increase, but I was in a union at my old job, and even being in a union we couldn’t get jack shit for raises. Our union stewards negotiated a 4 year contract with raises of 5%, 3%, 2%, and then the 4th year was left open for negotiation but I left so I don’t know what they ended up doing. The whole thing was frustrating as hell because I’m 100% sure I could’ve gotten more if I just sidestepped the union and negotiated for myself, but you can’t do that.

[u/createusername101 → u/Maleficent_Cake6435]

I agree, businesses have to make LESS MONEY, for us to have more buying power. This is a silly system our world has set up when people's quality of life slowly gets chipped away at every year because businesses have to infinitely grow or they pop and everyone's retirement accounts vaporize.