Cost of living conspiracy? 🧐

[Neverendingdust]

Don your tin foil hats people! I’ve fallen down a cost of living rabbit hole and the more I think about it the more it maybe starts to make sense… the food price threads got me pondering if there’s more to this than meets the eye…

Cynical me is wondering if this whole situation is actually a clandestine coordinated global effort to encourage us all to consume fewer resources going forward? We have all been used to an over abundance of choice and convenience which is then driven by low prices which in turn encourages over consumption and so the cycle continues. Particular attention goes to the majority of us who aren’t wealthy or powerful, it’s a lot of cogs to keep turning long term especially as the populations grow further, our current rates of consumption are unsustainable.

Is it a supply chain issue induced by Covid or is it an artificially designed geopolitical/supply chain issue brought in to slow us down?

Could our choices be deliberately narrowed by stealth to get us used to having less? The sheer amount of wasted food from overstocked supermarkets would see a shift to them carrying fewer lines, limiting meats and dairy produce for example which have always been known to be environmentally unfriendly, perhaps reducing supplies of imported goods which are also bad for the environment such as fruits and meats as they slowly become unaffordable luxuries.

Yes we have Brexit to cast some blame on to but food and fuel prices prices are increasing everywhere and yet as far as I can tell wages aren’t exactly playing catch up in any nation…

Butter, cheese, milk, meat, clothing, fuel, cosmetics, fruits and so on are all fast becoming considered purchases for most average income brackets whereas before people would think nothing of buying in excess.

Thoughts?

No, because western economics in particular are about getting us to consume more, be bigger, better, to “grow”. Getting people to consume less is against everything they stand for - even if it would be good for people, the world, the environment.

I agree, who does it profit to have us all consuming less?

Agree with Daisypond.

I think there is something going on but I have no clue what.

Apparently Bill Gates has bought thousands of acres of farmland in the states and loads of food production sites have burnt down over there too. Could all just be a coincidence I suppose 🤷🏻‍♀️

The ones who are charging us more for items we can not live without ie the huge organisations that own all the brands we buy. We consume less but pay more.

You’d still eat the same food or thereabouts- you’ll pay more for it but buy less so no waste and no huge revenue loss to the companies. It’s actually the ideal scenario for the big corporations, leaner production, use less resources, better PR for their social responsibility strategy. It’s actually a win win for them. Their profit margins stay the same but they minimise waste, same for the supermarkets, all that out of date food they throw away and write off won’t have to be produced anymore, the environmental impact will shrink too.

Oh please. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Be honest OP have you read this somewhere as a theory or is this your original thought? Not judging either way.

I think this theory requires a level of coordination and competence beyond our esteemed leaders.

Who are you suggesting is behind it all?

Some of the biggest bikes in food inflation are in counties that could hardly be described at wasteful with it.

tradingeconomics.com/country-list/food-inflation

Turkey though, bloody hell 😮

Hikes, not bikes.

My thoughts exactly!

I'm clearly thick but what are the numbers? Comparative inflation, %, what? On what produce over what time?

It’s mostly due to Ukraine war, plus pandemic globally

But rising costs are one of the few things that will dampen demand

Hearing about food shortages in developing countries is a bit concerning though

A combination of both? I think it has merit as a theory and the more I read about the sudden synchronised inflation of everything it makes me go hmmm. Perhaps the effects of the pandemic and the Ukraine presented an opportunity?

What happens over the coming months should elaborate further on where this theory goes. I know without sweeping policy changes and a massive reduction in prices we’re going to see widespread austerity in a considerable chunk of the population.

Hoe that looks like in a years time is anyone’s guess.

I think certainly supermarkets are just taking advantage to over-inflate prices to rip off their customers.

If it genuinely was increased costs, all supermarkets would be increasing prices by similar amounts for the same items. But time and time again, I'm noticing one supermarket putting up, say a tin of soup by a ridiculous amount, maybe 50%, but a different supermarket has only increased it by 10% (both were similarly priced a few months ago). These are branded items, not own names, so no justification at all for one shop to increase prices by so much when another isn't.

I'm finding myself shopping around a lot more than usual as I won't pay overinflated prices when items are a lot cheaper elsewhere.

We consume less but pay more.

Yes, this is a good point.

I don’t think it’s a concerted effort in any way

Just supply and demand affecting market price globally

Maybe the leaders of the leaders?

Its only a matter of time before the environmental impacts of our global over consumption starts hitting us hard. Food scarcity amongst a growing population would be a disaster but then again so would suddenly rationing commodities in an effort to ease off our unprecedented demand to swerve environmental catastrophe.

Increasing the prices though, well that’s another story. How to ease the insane environmental burden of factory farming and dairy industry yet still keep the producers financially happy would be to simply make less but charge more, right?

Can’t afford to regularly eat meat? Tough, it’ll have to be a luxury. Gone are the days of cheap meat every day, instead you’ll have a few meat dishes in the week and go veggie the rest of the time.

We have an obesity problem that would also be solved relatively crudely by making food more expensive. Not unaffordable though. They still want you to buy, but buy less. Filling the cupboards with snacks and junk food to nibble on out of boredom will be too expensive for many households, so theoretically people would be tempted to eat less?

🤔

It’s beyond me - I traveled in Eastern Europe recently and it’s (still) cheaper to eat out at a swanky restaurant there than to buy food in over here. Essentials were flumpence in the supermarket. That made me think our fetid corpse of a country is still taking a good Brexit fisting.

But whatever the answer is, I’m pretty sure there’s no conspiracy (especially not one involving Bill Gates).

It’s a fine line to tread if it is orchestrated - and I’m inclined to think it’s not as I can’t credit ‘leaders’ with that much foresight or sense of wider responsibility - pushing people in to poverty and hunger risks pushing up birth rates, alongside things like crime and rebellion because people living in unstable circumstances tend to have more children for a variety of reasons and also tend to follow more basic instincts to ensure their needs and wants are met.

Governing a population experiencing a decline in living standards isn’t particularly fun and significantly diminishes what it means to be ‘rich’.

Which country was it?

I think the key word here is stealth. I agree the prices can be uneven across all the major supermarkets but that could just be a case of them slowly playing catch up, cashing in on the illusion they’re cheaper when actually they’re more or less the same.

Many people are saying packet and portion sizes are slowly decreasing, good old shrinkflation, the offer prices are also higher albeit slightly but still higher all the same. If the prices continue rising slightly but steadily then before you know it you’re looking at ways to make dinners more economical, making you look at your waste rates. Everyone tightens their belts, the suppliers slowly reduce - everything and everyone slowly becomes more lean…

A friend of mine was ranting about the food production sites and cited one in my hometown and one in San Antonio, Texas (we live in Houston).

The processing plant in my hometown has been empty for 20 years. I know, my cousin worked and lived near there. It has been abandoned and caught fire due to a homeless person starting a fire in it to keep warm. The same thing for the plant in San Antonio. It's been abandoned for decades.

The woman kept going on and on with some batshit theory and didn't want to listen that those plants were not operational. Some people just want to see what they want to see.

pushing people in to poverty and hunger risks pushing up birth rates

Does that happen?

Surely it would have the opposite effect if those in poverty realise they can’t feed their kids properly as it is? I think the difference between the 1st and 3rd world is education, here they will see the economics of having a second, third, fourth child don’t add up any more when it becomes apparent help from the government doesn’t cover the basics.

Certainly average earners would reconsider having large families if feeding them and enjoying a fulfilled life gradually became more expensive?