That isn’t an indicator of current inflation. Past inflation, maybe.
People confuse “everything is expensive” with “inflation is currently high”. It’s an understandable misunderstanding, and part of the reason why Kamala lost.
It’s because of hysteretic effects from 4 years ago when they stopped production of cars and fewer cars were sold because people were staying home. Then there was a supply chain crisis because of the aforementioned shutdown.
It’s inflation because the dollar can buy less than it used to. Things being more expensive is inflation. You’re confusing inflation rate with inflation.
That’s literally the definition of inflation. “Inflation is a loss of purchasing power that reflects a rise in prices for goods and services over time.”
That definition is literally describing a change, as rate of change.
Inflation is a loss of purchasing power
Over the past year, we haven’t experienced a loss of purchasing power. We have a lack of purchasing power, but we lost it over the 2-3 years prior to the last year.
a rise in prices for goods and services over time
This is pretty much the mathematical definition of a rate of change. Like how speed is the rate of change in position over time. After a day of traveling, your position (prices for goods) may be way different than your starting point, but if you’re not currently moving, your speed (inflation) is NIL.
Inflation is the derivative, it’s a rate of change. It doesn’t say anything about absolute purchasing power. Past inflation contributed to raising prices massively. Currently, inflation is very low, so prices have stabelized to the new, higher level. To get them back down to pre-covid levels, you would need negative inflation (deflation), which most economists agree is a really bad thing. Instead, the goal must be to increase consumer purchasing power, by raising wages.
That’s sales, not prices. Sales are down because prices are up. For $27k I can buy a Toyota Corolla hybrid and almost a Toyota Prius. Used car prices are slightly down because people are trading in crap with 200k miles.
As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, that’s not inflation. That’s a lack of purchasing power, not inflation which is a loss of purchasing power. We lost that purchasing power over 2022 and 2023, but the difference in price between November of 2023 and now is relatively small.
I literally just bought these three items earlier today. I spent 8.
High end of $20 is either exaggerating, or you’re buying some fancier foods than me.
These are dollar store brands. $4 milk, 4 bread, 4 eggs, $12+ tax. Location matters, so do food deserts. Last I checked, $12 was more than half of twenty.
That’s a little under $10 where I am in Seattle. No tax on food here. If I feel like driving a little bit to Target, it’s only $8. I definitely know of food deserts though. The town I grew up in only has Safeway and Walmart. The IGA closed down. Looking at prices, they are about the same as they are here which sucks because the incomes are nowhere near what they are here.
I’m alright with a week of groceries for the four of us choosing $125/wk but I know that is difficult for some.
Go buy a good used car right now.
That isn’t an indicator of current inflation. Past inflation, maybe.
People confuse “everything is expensive” with “inflation is currently high”. It’s an understandable misunderstanding, and part of the reason why Kamala lost.
It’s because of hysteretic effects from 4 years ago when they stopped production of cars and fewer cars were sold because people were staying home. Then there was a supply chain crisis because of the aforementioned shutdown. It’s inflation because the dollar can buy less than it used to. Things being more expensive is inflation. You’re confusing inflation rate with inflation.
Inflation rate and inflation are the same. You’re confusing inflation with affordability.
That’s literally the definition of inflation. “Inflation is a loss of purchasing power that reflects a rise in prices for goods and services over time.”
That definition is literally describing a change, as rate of change.
Over the past year, we haven’t experienced a loss of purchasing power. We have a lack of purchasing power, but we lost it over the 2-3 years prior to the last year.
This is pretty much the mathematical definition of a rate of change. Like how speed is the rate of change in position over time. After a day of traveling, your position (prices for goods) may be way different than your starting point, but if you’re not currently moving, your speed (inflation) is NIL.
Did you see the used car prices a few years ago? They’re trending downward.
Inflation is the derivative, it’s a rate of change. It doesn’t say anything about absolute purchasing power. Past inflation contributed to raising prices massively. Currently, inflation is very low, so prices have stabelized to the new, higher level. To get them back down to pre-covid levels, you would need negative inflation (deflation), which most economists agree is a really bad thing. Instead, the goal must be to increase consumer purchasing power, by raising wages.
That’s sales, not prices. Sales are down because prices are up. For $27k I can buy a Toyota Corolla hybrid and almost a Toyota Prius. Used car prices are slightly down because people are trading in crap with 200k miles.
It is not.
https://www.cargurus.com/research/price-trends
Go buy eggs, bread and milk. Better part of a twenty.
As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, that’s not inflation. That’s a lack of purchasing power, not inflation which is a loss of purchasing power. We lost that purchasing power over 2022 and 2023, but the difference in price between November of 2023 and now is relatively small.
Oh neat! Inflation only exists if it happened in the last 12 months. /s
Accumulative inflation is a thing, and it is up 21.8% since 2020.
Corporate greed, not inflation.
I literally just bought these three items earlier today. I spent 8. High end of $20 is either exaggerating, or you’re buying some fancier foods than me.
These are dollar store brands. $4 milk, 4 bread, 4 eggs, $12+ tax. Location matters, so do food deserts. Last I checked, $12 was more than half of twenty.
That’s a little under $10 where I am in Seattle. No tax on food here. If I feel like driving a little bit to Target, it’s only $8. I definitely know of food deserts though. The town I grew up in only has Safeway and Walmart. The IGA closed down. Looking at prices, they are about the same as they are here which sucks because the incomes are nowhere near what they are here.
I’m alright with a week of groceries for the four of us choosing $125/wk but I know that is difficult for some.