To ask if rising living costs are ever going to come back down?

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Just reading another thread about rising food costs and got me wondering, are prices ever actually going to come down? The future looks really depressing atm, we already struggled to keep our head above water but now it seems things are much worse. Our monthly food bill has gone up significantly, same with gas and electric and some weeks I struggle to even put petrol in my car.

What has actually caused these ridiculous price rises? Surely the government will have to step in sooner or later? It's 2022, we shouldn't be living like this!

Meant to add though, that what is bothering me, is that this government appear not to care a jot, in reality. And do next to nothing about the situation.
And worse, perhaps they will not do anything to even try to stop it.

Other countries are affected by price rises and have similar inflation. However, because of Brexit we also have huge and sudden labour shortages, low productivity keeping wages low, and a big hit to trade affecting the cost of both imports and exports.

Unlike some other causes (e.g. temporary shortages in labour due to Covid that all countries a facing), we are unfortunately stuck with Brexit forever, and as a result will suffer for longer.

My hope is that a labour or labour coalition government will negotiate a better deal and reduce the impact a little.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers the answer is - a lot.

We sell live chickens into Moy Park for 55p - 75p per chicken. They sell onto supermarkets packaged and labelled for £2.24 - 2.71 and by the time it reaches the shelf in the supermarkets it's £5-7.

Someone is getting fat off the price rises and it sure as shit isn't the people producing it.

We do actually offer meat and veg boxes for sale locally - we charge more than our supermarket contract but significantly less than the customer would pay if they were buying from the supermarket.

The supermarkets are making an absolute fortune. Get savvy about where you shop and buy from your local veg man or farmer - less food miles and cheaper.

There aren't many jobs where it takes 6 years or more to train to do it

I agree that companies need to step up training, but for a lot of skilled jobs you also need ability, training alone isn’t enough.

The supermarkets are making an absolute fortune. Get savvy about where you shop and buy from your local veg man or farmer - less food miles and cheaper my husband had this idea about using our local butchers and was shocked how expensive it is. In London, milk veg and meat to your door or from small independent shops is way more expensive.

I think we will see (1) more people living ar home until they marry / settle with long term partner, (2) people having fewer children, (3) make do and mend attitude, (4) thrift as a virtue

The UK has been through difficult times before, and will again in future

I think clothes should be more expensive anyway, fast fashion is ridiculous, people don't need 15 pairs of £10 jeans that only last 1-2 years, they need 2 pairs of £50 jeans that last many years.

People should be able to afford food staples like bread and vegetables, but we've all got used to ridiculously cheap meat in UK for years now and it's just not necessary for people to eat that much meat. I love meat but we don't need it every single day, it should be more of a luxury.

It's cost of raw materials and transport. The supermarkets aren't the ones making profit out of higher prices.

Tesco made a pre tax profit of over £2bn last year up by over 200%. There must be a lot of people at the top doing nicely out of that while the cashiers and store staff were working their socks off during the pandemic

Its brexit.

It's not the sole cause but is making the situation much harder weather, it will also last longer than on the continent.

I think clothes should be more expensive anyway, fast fashion is ridiculous, people don't need 15 pairs of £10 jeans that only last 1-2 years, they need 2 pairs of £50 jeans that last many years.

But this assumes one is going to have £50 spare at the point you need a pair of jeans. Not everyone is buying cheap because they think it's disposable, they're buying cheap because it's what they can afford. Lots of more expensive things work out better value over time, but you have to have the means to buy them in the first place. Its like when people cite batch cooking as a way to save money....but you have to be able to afford larger amounts of the ingredients at the same time, which is prohibitive if you're in a very tight budget.

@Lillygolightly

Prices never go down. I don’t know what relevance it being 2022 is, we’ve had years of prosperity and now the bill’s arrived.

Surely you mean Austerity?

Lack of proper funding of the NHS, lack of funding for council services, wages that have stagnated so much that they have fallen far behind inflation. We all work the same or harder and we are just getting poorer!

Since when has anything ever gotten cheaper?!! It doesn’t we all just continue to kill ourselves trying to make ends meet.

Working people shouldn’t have to be visiting food banks!!! People in a country first world and rich like ours shouldn’t be visiting food banks whatever their circumstances!!!

It’s only going to get worse, and the longer we all keep putting up with this government…because if you believe they can’t do more, or that they can’t do better for those who really need it (instead of all the tax breaks they give their donors and rich mates….PPE contracts, huge furlough payouts written off) then frankly your a mug!

It’s actually sickening to see what a pass Borris the Tory party get from some people no of course they didn’t cause the pandemic, oh and at least they know what a woman is!!! What effing good is any of that….their austerity measures directly contributed to our ability to handle covid….and what good is knowing what a woman is when your not HUMAN enough to understand that someone working 40 hours a week shouldn’t have to go cold and hungry….but hey they are all alright they partied while we all locked down and with now their £2,000 pay rises, it makes and absolutely mockery of the general public!!! They do it and they do it knowingly, because they know they will get away with it, because we let them!!

All of this. 100 times over.

Prices won’t come down much, if at all. Wages won’t catch up much, if at all. It’s a permanent downgrading of our standard of living for the majority of people.

And people voted for this sadly.

@Lillygolightly

Prices never go down. I don’t know what relevance it being 2022 is, we’ve had years of prosperity and now the bill’s arrived.

Surely you mean Austerity?

Lack of proper funding of the NHS, lack of funding for council services, wages that have stagnated so much that they have fallen far behind inflation. We all work the same or harder and we are just getting poorer!

Since when has anything ever gotten cheaper?!! It doesn’t we all just continue to kill ourselves trying to make ends meet.

Working people shouldn’t have to be visiting food banks!!! People in a country first world and rich like ours shouldn’t be visiting food banks whatever their circumstances!!!

It’s only going to get worse, and the longer we all keep putting up with this government…because if you believe they can’t do more, or that they can’t do better for those who really need it (instead of all the tax breaks they give their donors and rich mates….PPE contracts, huge furlough payouts written off) then frankly your a mug!

It’s actually sickening to see what a pass Borris the Tory party get from some people no of course they didn’t cause the pandemic, oh and at least they know what a woman is!!! What effing good is any of that….their austerity measures directly contributed to our ability to handle covid….and what good is knowing what a woman is when your not HUMAN enough to understand that someone working 40 hours a week shouldn’t have to go cold and hungry….but hey they are all alright they partied while we all locked down and with now their £2,000 pay rises, it makes and absolutely mockery of the general public!!! They do it and they do it knowingly, because they know they will get away with it, because we let them!!

You've nailed it!

Two weeks ago Sunak said (Financial Times)

Rishi Sunak has admitted that the UK’s dismal recent trade performance compared with other G7 countries “might well be” because of Brexit.

The chancellor, who supported Britain’s exit from the EU, also told MPs on Monday he knew in advance that Brexit would affect trade, although such admissions by Leave campaigners were rare at the time of the 2016 referendum.

“It was always inevitable if you change the exact nature of your trading relationship with the EU, that was always going to have an impact on trade flows,” Sunak told the House of Commons Treasury select committee.

His comments were a rare recognition from the chancellor that his own political choice in 2016 was contributing to Britain’s economic problems.

The chancellor was answering questions about last week’s Spring Statement and was asked why Britain’s trade performance had failed to recover from the pandemic as quickly as all other advanced economies

Prices do go down. Over the past few years the cost of petrol have go up and down a few times. I remember fuel being as much as 1.40 and as low as 1.10 at various times. If the price of petrol and diesel drops then the cost of food will come down, supermarkets will want to be as competitive as they can afford to be.

I have no idea about the cost of energy, but I suspect something will be done about the price cap or VAT, we are only 2 years away from a general election and the tories will want to keep the elderly and middle classes on side. They won’t get many votes if people have lived through 2 winters in freezing houses struggling to feed themselves.

@Moaningturtle

Prices do go down. Over the past few years the cost of petrol have go up and down a few times. I remember fuel being as much as 1.40 and as low as 1.10 at various times. If the price of petrol and diesel drops then the cost of food will come down, supermarkets will want to be as competitive as they can afford to be.

I have no idea about the cost of energy, but I suspect something will be done about the price cap or VAT, we are only 2 years away from a general election and the tories will want to keep the elderly and middle classes on side. They won’t get many votes if people have lived through 2 winters in freezing houses struggling to feed themselves.

The price of raw products do go up and down I agree

Iirc wheat has shot up and fuel, fertiliser

Some of these are tied to Ukraine war

@MarshaBradyo that’s true, I think peoples eating habits will change to account for that but ultimately we will be able to feed ourselves, just not how we used to. It’s going to be a tough few years but I do think the media are whipping up a bit of a panic.

@MissBattleaxe

Prices were going upong before Ukraine was invaded. I fully blame the Tory government.

How simplistic. Blame everything on Boris.

Did you miss the news that inflation is 8.5% in the USA, 8.5% in France and 7.3% in Germany.

Is that the fault of the Tories too?

And before the lefties all pile in with their "Tory Scum" comments, I'm not a Conservative voter either, thanks.

@Fizbosshoes

I think clothes should be more expensive anyway, fast fashion is ridiculous, people don't need 15 pairs of £10 jeans that only last 1-2 years, they need 2 pairs of £50 jeans that last many years.

But this assumes one is going to have £50 spare at the point you need a pair of jeans. Not everyone is buying cheap because they think it's disposable, they're buying cheap because it's what they can afford. Lots of more expensive things work out better value over time, but you have to have the means to buy them in the first place. Its like when people cite batch cooking as a way to save money....but you have to be able to afford larger amounts of the ingredients at the same time, which is prohibitive if you're in a very tight budget.

This. We all know £100 boots last far longer than £30 boots but you have to have that £100 to start with. There are people who struggle to find £30.

Do you know what the debt-based economy is? Fiat currency? Hyperinflation?

Do you understand the implications of creating money from debt and what has to happen when there is more debt than there is cash to pay that debt?

This is a good article on rising commodity prices - nickel, wheat, fuel etc post Ukraine war

www.wsj.com/articles/how-wars-costs-reach-far-shoresto-american-farms-supermarkets-retailers-11646597823

@mrziggycoco No! Could you enlighten us?

If the rate of inflation went to zero for everything prices wouldn't come down, they'd stay the same. You'd have to wait for incomes to increase to find your standards of living improve.

In reality, I suspect some food will come back down, because the UK grocery retail sector is actually quite competitive, and it's a mature market. If a supermarket wants to grow its business it can't just grow the market by getting people to buy more things unless incomes increase dramatically. If it jacks its prices up and its competitors don't, customers will walk out the door. All it can really do is steal customers from other retailers by offering a better proposition. That might be through product range, delivery options, or free blow jobs at the checkout, but it's much more likely to be through price.

The problem with falling prices - deflation - is that once consumers think prices will fall, they stop buying. And that is absolutely disastrous for advanced consumer economies: read up about Japan's 'lost decade' if you want. All that quantitative easing was done after the credit crunch simply to stop prices falling, which is what everyone feared at the time.

Food and energy (and, to an extent, housing) have relatively inelastic demand and almost no price elasticity, so they could fall. But anything else - consumer electronics, clothing, furniture - will only fall as retailers go bust.

[quote ColonelPine]@mrziggycoco No! Could you enlighten us?[/quote]
You can either go and research those terms or you can pick one and I will elaborate.

@GrazingSheep

The causes are simple. Climate change. The war in Ukraine. The pandemic.

Brexit isn't on your list