Huh. My favorite brand of organic eggs disappeared for about 6-8 weeks and then reappeared - but I hadn't noticed much higher prices, because I was already buying the high end segment (better eggs). Gas prices bottomed at 2.79ish (I saw 2.74) and then rebounded a bit to 3.09-3.19, although I saw a couple of 3.29s and a 3.39 at a rural speedway on the interstate. Diesel prices remain locked in at a dollar higher than ethanol gas prices, which is strange - I remember the 80's and 90's and diesel prices remained higher gas but stable - not anymore - although the differential over a year ago has dropped.
Back before Thanksgiving, the local Scouts did their annual pickup food drive collection (I do give money to the foodbank - but these are kids trying to do their bit), so I picked up various (new, not expired!) staple goods at the store for them. Rice, dried beans, canned tomatoes, Uncle Ben's, dehydrated potatoes, a six-pack of ramen in a cup, that kind of thing - all those prices were in the reasonable range, maybe .10-.20 cents higher at most.
I watch beef prices pretty closely - the Walmart steak price is 10.97$/lb, which is 1$ higher than the per pound price in January 2019. A big piece of chuck roast is 5.47$ - which is pretty close to where it was circa January 2019. Overall, those kinds of prices are roughly 10-15% or less higher than where they were four years ago. Veggies are currently suffering their seasonal scarcity, but bell peppers are 1.25$ each, which is about the high price I see every winter, for years now. If there's a difference, it's a mild decline in quality and availability. (Parsley quality is terrible every winter but it's abysmal this year. As are the cucumbers - carrots and potatoes are ok.)
Snack foods - are ridiculous. I pick up the family-sized m&m's for my elderly step-father every week: a year ago 8.92 would've been the price at Walmart, 10.97 the price at the Martin's/Giant. A month ago it was 10.94 and 12.97, just after new year's it was 12.94 and 15.98. I see the same pattern in soft drinks, cookies, not quite so much in the breakfast isle. It seems that segment of manufacturers are leaning hard into gouging to boost profits ahead of an anticipated recession.
Overall, I don't see anything to warrant the flipping out about inflation I've been seeing from the usual suspects for the last two years. It reads to me that we took a one-time 10% increase in the base price level over four years (oil excluded), with some anticipatory profiteering to offset potential wage increases.
Huh. My favorite brand of organic eggs disappeared for about 6-8 weeks and then reappeared - but I hadn't noticed much higher prices, because I was already buying the high end segment (better eggs). Gas prices bottomed at 2.79ish (I saw 2.74) and then rebounded a bit to 3.09-3.19, although I saw a couple of 3.29s and a 3.39 at a rural speedway on the interstate. Diesel prices remain locked in at a dollar higher than ethanol gas prices, which is strange - I remember the 80's and 90's and diesel prices remained higher gas but stable - not anymore - although the differential over a year ago has dropped.
Back before Thanksgiving, the local Scouts did their annual pickup food drive collection (I do give money to the foodbank - but these are kids trying to do their bit), so I picked up various (new, not expired!) staple goods at the store for them. Rice, dried beans, canned tomatoes, Uncle Ben's, dehydrated potatoes, a six-pack of ramen in a cup, that kind of thing - all those prices were in the reasonable range, maybe .10-.20 cents higher at most.
I watch beef prices pretty closely - the Walmart steak price is 10.97$/lb, which is 1$ higher than the per pound price in January 2019. A big piece of chuck roast is 5.47$ - which is pretty close to where it was circa January 2019. Overall, those kinds of prices are roughly 10-15% or less higher than where they were four years ago. Veggies are currently suffering their seasonal scarcity, but bell peppers are 1.25$ each, which is about the high price I see every winter, for years now. If there's a difference, it's a mild decline in quality and availability. (Parsley quality is terrible every winter but it's abysmal this year. As are the cucumbers - carrots and potatoes are ok.)
Snack foods - are ridiculous. I pick up the family-sized m&m's for my elderly step-father every week: a year ago 8.92 would've been the price at Walmart, 10.97 the price at the Martin's/Giant. A month ago it was 10.94 and 12.97, just after new year's it was 12.94 and 15.98. I see the same pattern in soft drinks, cookies, not quite so much in the breakfast isle. It seems that segment of manufacturers are leaning hard into gouging to boost profits ahead of an anticipated recession.
Overall, I don't see anything to warrant the flipping out about inflation I've been seeing from the usual suspects for the last two years. It reads to me that we took a one-time 10% increase in the base price level over four years (oil excluded), with some anticipatory profiteering to offset potential wage increases.
elm
so