Post by jeffolie on Apr 21, 2008 17:38:15 GMT -6
For over a decade you have seen high, often double-digit, annual inflation rates in college tuitions, housing prices, and health insurance. More recently you’ve witnessed gasoline, heating oil, natural gas, and food price inflation. Soon you will see prices go up at the local Made-in-China big box mart, thanks to rising wage rates and a strengthening currency in China.
The primary cause of our inflation is the depreciating dollar, now off more than 50% against the euro over the past several years.
As goods and services prices are rising the US economy is slowing. Jobs are starting to dry up. Competition for the remaining jobs prevents workers from to demanding salary increases. Rising household expenses and stagnant wages result in a household cash flow squeeze. Households drain savings and increase household debt as inflation cuts into household cash flow.
Food makers are starting to reduce the size of items like candy bars and cutting back on the number of chips in a bag of chips. Expect food that fits into a box or a bag to decline in volume. Notice that bag of corn chips that used to be full is now one quarter empty, that jug of laundry detergent that used to be good for 30 loads will now do 24, and so on.
Substitution of lower cost and quality ingredients is the most subtle.
Poor service due to cutbacks in personnel: Over time you may notice it takes longer to find someone to help you at the local Home Depot, or you are waiting longer on the phone to speak with technical support, or the experts you talk to turn out to not be so expert as you are put through layers of less expensive and lesser trained personnel before you get to talk to the one high cost expert who actually knows what they are talking about.
You will find a giant load of new fees.
Inflation is more than higher prices, it is also a lower quantity and quality of goods and services for the same price, lower quality services, and new fees.
www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=34140#post34140
The primary cause of our inflation is the depreciating dollar, now off more than 50% against the euro over the past several years.
As goods and services prices are rising the US economy is slowing. Jobs are starting to dry up. Competition for the remaining jobs prevents workers from to demanding salary increases. Rising household expenses and stagnant wages result in a household cash flow squeeze. Households drain savings and increase household debt as inflation cuts into household cash flow.
Food makers are starting to reduce the size of items like candy bars and cutting back on the number of chips in a bag of chips. Expect food that fits into a box or a bag to decline in volume. Notice that bag of corn chips that used to be full is now one quarter empty, that jug of laundry detergent that used to be good for 30 loads will now do 24, and so on.
Substitution of lower cost and quality ingredients is the most subtle.
Poor service due to cutbacks in personnel: Over time you may notice it takes longer to find someone to help you at the local Home Depot, or you are waiting longer on the phone to speak with technical support, or the experts you talk to turn out to not be so expert as you are put through layers of less expensive and lesser trained personnel before you get to talk to the one high cost expert who actually knows what they are talking about.
You will find a giant load of new fees.
Inflation is more than higher prices, it is also a lower quantity and quality of goods and services for the same price, lower quality services, and new fees.
www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=34140#post34140