Stop falling for the trap of latching on to the price of an item (eggs, beef…) as the message. The issue is affordability. From 2001-2023 wages failed to keep up with rising costs. Medical premiums rose 301% Travel expenses were up 170%. Rent grew by 131%. The cost of raising children grew by 107%.
There’s a reckoning approaching
WAGES, PEOPLE
Is America great yet?
AFFORDABILITY. compact. concise. I LIKE IT.
😢
The reason things like eggs get fixated on is bc the average voter does not understand statistics. Harris made forceful arguments about the good aspects of the economy, but they were macro. Trump uses gas or eggs to hype his message. It works especially well if you make things up....
you're too sophisticated for the American electorate. republicans get their message thru because they dumb it down to the level of MAGAts (dumbest people on earth) Democratic voters don't need this shit explained to them - they know The target needs to be the 40% nonvoters (almost as dumb as MAGAts)
With wages failing to keep pace, researchers find that consumers’ real spending power decreased by 4%, on average. The rich are getting richer and wage earning average Americans can’t even go to the movies and dinner. Explain the big picture! www.cnbc.com/2025/06/13/m...
I decided to write an entire article on this topic. I think we are missing the bubble not talking about just being able to afford life. Even the number of Americans not taking summer vacations have increased because daily life is too expensive. open.substack.com/pub/fpwellma...
The Democrats screwed that pooch in 2024. Inflation hit a lot of us hard and they just told us we were wrong. I was always going to vote Dem, regardless. But I'm sure it hurt turnout, at least.
The real problem is people don’t or won’t take the time to reason out why something is the way it is. Biden and democrats weren’t saying things aren’t expensive they were saying look at who is keeping them expensive. Still are. That’s why Harris introduced the national law against gouging.
Robert Reich documented the severity of the gap for years. Worst it's ever been, including the last Gilded Age. I expect Debtor Prisons next. Storming the Bastille is too far away.
I have not saved a dime every dollar I make goes to property taxes groceries and insurance. We have not done one big ticket item in years, ie Home repairs. Thank god my husband is handy, we live in a very expensive tourist area and have lived there our whole lives but locals are really struggling.
Just went to the Oregon coast which is normally packed and no parking to be had at the beaches and scenic areas. Plenty of parking. Restaurants seemed on the quiet side as well.
Every damn word of this. The difference between how I grew up in a solidly middle class, one income family and now isn’t even comparable. I’m so tired of waking up and going to bed worrying about making ends meet. I can’t even think about vacations or retirement.
We just got back from Japan and were shocked at how cheap it was to eat there. We could feed our family of four a high-quality, filling meal for less than $10 each without even really trying. Surely could have done it cheaper here. Food here is just so expensive!
We used to talk about George Orwell's book "1984". Perhaps a reference to another of his works is required:
I know this seems complicated but here is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. First, Republicans then Democrats went hard on the price of eggs. "THE EGGS ARE TOO DAMN HIGH!" Then that funny thing happened like it does. They fell down a bit. Trump victory!!! It's all too high.
What also is not talked about is just straight up price gouging. It became much more obvious during Covid. Here we go again with the tariffs. During Covid there were recordings of board meetings admitting they were going to ride the high prices as long as possible
I don't think eggs coming down a bit was necessarily a "victory" for Trump. Anybody that makes a trip to the grocery store these days knows that virtually every single thing is going up. Trump is not winning on inflation.
An easy graph on how this whole trickle down thing has been a con...
Still 6 where I go to store
Let’s not forget:Avian flu outbreaks led to the culling of millions of laying hens, sending egg prices soaring. Supply plummeted, demand stayed steady, and consumers felt the pinch. Even now, the market remains shaky—one outbreak away from another price surge. Food security depends on animal health.
Sure…. But tie the drop to something Trump did…. I’ll wait
Single items, especially food items, can be substituted. But a house or apt cannot. Neither can childcare--if the adults in the family all work.
Thank you for this. This is exactly the problem with how this is reported but it goes beyond this. In order for SOCIETY to stay around, societal NEEDS must be met: Food, shelter, education, and healthcare being a primary few. Societal needs are a requirement for society, so they should be socialized
If there isn't enough food for society - it starves. If there isn't enough shelter for society - it dies to the elements. If there isn't enough healthcare for society - it dies to illness and disease. If there isn't enough education for society - it regresses, and self-implodes. These are NEEDS.
I looked at my bank account today we've already spent $600 at the grocery store this month, there's 2 of us! Nothing fancy just food. I didn't spend this much when there was 2+ teenagers eating here every meal everyday just 5 years ago
Reaganomics end result as it slowly eroded families' ability to live. Republicans and Dems alike have allowed this.
The rich getting richer benefits no one but the very rich. It is bad for people in general and very bad for our planet! #TaxBillionairesOutOfExistence #TaxMultiMillionaires90Percent or more!!
I was working my first full-time job in the 70s when the country was in a panic about inflation. But my salary mostly kept up and my housing costs were fixed. I made a nice profit when I sold my house in 1980. Only paying attention to headline inflation is as stupid as fretting about bacon prices.
Daycare for two kids for a month, is bigger than people’s monthly mortgage payment.
The message should be about fairness vs. greed. Pay disparity. Disparity in justice system (the real Epstein issue). The kiss cam issue is about disparity- rules for you not me. I have always believed that unbridled greed could be the biggest threat to capitalism
Greed and racism are the two through lines in American history. Since Day One.
The most infuriating part is that the linked article points out this information, then immediately jumps to recommending that people get additional jobs instead of, y'know, questioning why that's necessary
...makes you wonder why corporations are continually "rewarded" with gov't contracts, subsidies, tax breaks and other perks paid by hard-working Americans, yet many fail to pay a livable wage...
Yes. This. When you look at the percent of your most recent raise and it was less than the percent increase of prices.
I agree with you, but costs need to be addressed. Why is it OK for my grocery bill to be half my rent every payday? Wages are a problem but this rapid rise in costs needs to be up there too. These companies are raping us in wages and costs.
If there’s a way to buy from a local farmer, that’s a great way to save money, eat better, and support a local small business. I didn’t realize how bad grocery veg was until I had really fresh. It doesn’t need salad dressing because it all has flavor!
True but once there is inflation due to real, imagined or manufactured “crisis” the prices generally do not go back. We need to hold companies accountable period on all aspects of this.
The crisis manufacturer in chief needs to be held accountable too. I have a feeling it's going to get worse before it gets better whether it's wages or costs.
Oh yes, absolutely!! All of them need to be held accountable to the fullest.
Rumor has it that Ronald Reagan had something to do with it.
Reagan altered the direction of our entire economy. His massive restructuring of tax codes redistributed wealth upwards so the rich could piss on us and call it trickle down economics. The GOP has been doubling down on it at every opportunity since and we've given them many opportunities.
Reagan sure did. I remember in the 80s all the farmers across northern Ohio selling off at auctions. Inflation, union busting and low stagnant wages was eating us all alive and all Reagan could do was push trickle down, well 40 years later and still nothing is trickling down 🫤
Our tears are.
Oh, something is trickling down, but it sure isn't wealth.
That's why typical households are significantly worse off and have substantially less than they did in the 1980s. Or perhaps not.
Reagan’s economic policies are the reason we have less buying power GB had his counter-“cousin”Margaret Thatcher to implement much the same. Reduced taxes on the wealthy, while inflation ticked on, average wage earners were told, not to worry the benefits from these policies will “trickle down to us
The graph directly shows that the typical American household has *more* buying power than when Reagan was in office, nearly 40% more. (The same is true, but less so, for the typical Brit). There are plenty of reasons to oppose Reaganomics, but being worse off than in 1989 is unlikely to be true
In today’s income dollarsHow many years does it take a family to pay off a car?How many years does it take your family to pay off a house in today’s income? In the 80s, you could finance a car for three years and pay it off. You could also get a 15 or 20 year mortgage eventually own your home.
That graph is an overall average. What it doesn’t show is the growing disparity in wealth distribution. Lower income earners have seen their purchasing power shrink while those at the top have seen their power increase. That’s Reaganomics in a nutshell. Take from the poor and give to the rich.
He did. I was 10 when I watched him destroy us. And I watched my grandmother smash the tv. In real time. She was so against Reagan and Reaganomics and she loved him as an actor. But she couldnt watch his movies anymore after that
Same with my dad. He liked Reagan as an actor but hated his policies and swore that he started the country on a downward spiral.
He did. Being an only child, I got to watch and listen to he adults around me. He definitely did. My mom could actually be a single mom before him. I remember when she needed HUD and Welfare, it was after him and she was a waitress. SMH.
Wow!
There's a whole thread. bsky.app/profile/twes...
Yup. Goes back further than 2001
Yup! Another horrible president.
The gap between haves and have nots is wider than ever and growing. It can be that straightforward bc for the majority of Americans, even ones 'doing ok', they *should * be doing better if not for the dragons at the top hoarding gold
Left out insurance premiums for both homes, autos and probably renters as well. And we’re going to see the prices of a lot of everyday merchandise skyrocketing with those tariffs.
In some places one can’t even get insurance anymore.
When we first married, county & state sales taxes on autos were tax deductible as well as the interest on car loans. Plus interest earned on savings accounts was not taxable. Today, the tax write offs on private jets just increased in the BBB and the Trump first term yacht write offs remain .
Every. Word. Of. This. 🔼 NOT the individual item "cost"...It's the OVERALL SUM TOTAL that has sky-rocketed! NOT luxury items or extravagances...It's basics and necessities! Thank you for saying it so well, Fred. You always do...
Thank you
No, thank YOU, Fred...Always!
Is the issue lying thieving pig$ at the top TAKING everything???
This is why I call, scream, bullshit when I watch the professional bullshit artists on CNBC, continually say how healthy and resilient the consumer is. The markets are now one big Ai driven ponzi scheme that will crash. Take the money and run before it’s too late.
There are about 40% of Americans who are mired so deeply in the Trump cult that they would gladly become destitute and starve as long as they took a few libs with them.
That's the result of trickle-up economics. Tax the Rich.
We can’t have a government for the people as long as billionaires own the politicians. Billionaires are the problem.
You are 100% right. But you have to sell it to people who get their news in 200 word sound bites and think Trump is the savior. The price of eggs helps with that. If Americans were to demonstrate the ability to think globally about anything then we wouldn’t have Trump.
Brilliant point. It would be useful if media found an index that tied the proverbial basket of groceries - a somewhat outdated symbol in itself - to real disposable income.
Yeah driving through an area of the city I don't normally go... ALAMEDA ISLAND. in the Bay area 😳 WOW was gas EXPENSIVE nearly $5.00 per gallon 😬 Ok DonOLD show us where that $1.99 gas is⁉️ LYING LIAR WHO LIES ⁉️ 😏🤷♀️🤡🤔🤪⚖💙🌮😉
$2.75 in West West Central Mn
Price in UK is over $6.90 US Gallon - that is pretty normal level around Europe +/- 10%. (But our cars are normally much smaller than in US and the distances driven are less on average).
This goes back WAY more than that A middle class salary in the 70s put you in a great position Less so in the 80's, 90s and clearly this century - unless you are the 1-3% you are seeing wages not go up as fast as other costs
Affordability is the real issue, not just prices. That’s why Aurum Transfers makes traveling to Jamaica smooth and hassle-free—giving you true value every step of the way. Book your stress-free ride: booking.drivenot.com/en/company/a...
Most of my working career has been just trying to keep my head above water. I’m slowly drowning.
And of course the logical solution by Republicans was to take billions from research,health care, food aid, support for nursing homes and hospitals and give the proceeds to the top one percent because they do not have it all. How much is enough.? No such thing for corrupt Republicans.
When a family has a hard time feeding their family it is the most important over any and all else! A child going to sleep hungry is heartbreaking for a parent who is supposed to feed them daily!
If only there was a cheap way to travel that improved your health. The automotive industry has done a con job of epic proportions.
Yea attacking Trump for the price of eggs has become counterproductive. It was fun while it still seemed harmless. But now we have crazy lawsuits going and democratically passed laws challenged. Fuckery got worse. www.msn.com/en-us/news/u...
No mention of bird flu. I can’t with these people.
Car and home insurance is way up too.
Spot on. Thank you for highlighting the real issue of affordability.
Billionaires got wealthier by ripping off the rest of us. They weren't brilliant or saving lives, they were just so greedy only they mattered.
The rip off is implemented by the IRS tax code written by Congress approved by Presidents for wealthy Americans and corporations. The IRS tax code works three ways, enriches the rich, enslaves the working class and impoverishes the poor
And it’s gotten worse since Trump took office. COVID enabled a huge transfer of wealth while people were distracted by survival, and Trump’s Big Bastard Bill ensured that,not only does it continue, but it accelerates and increases exponentially.
Agreed. It’s the cost of living- rent, childcare, electricity, insurance, that ppl care the most about.
My income is mostly fixed, being retired. My house and three cars paid off. At least I have enough income to keep buying groceriesand gasoline.
It happened far before 2001
You're right. It is a trap. A bag of flour costs hundreds of dollars in Gaza. Overpriced flour is not the key problem.
In Gaza it might cost your life.
So, after trump sends Bondi and the FBI to terrorize Ghislaine Maxwell, will she be confined to 24hour suicide watch like Epstein was? Just asking.
If people would just stop HAVING children, those children that don't exist wouldn't have to worry about ANY of those things on the list. Cut off the thing that billionaire's need to feed upon- More people.
access to birth control is already under attack, so not having children will become less of a choice as time goes on. also, evangelicals out there birthing basketball teams might like a word 🤣
Source?
Your solution??. This is why voting for anyone who has a net worth that makes the Congressional salary look meaningless is national stupidity.
You can give up travel and kids. That's about it.
You can’t give up kids if you’ve already got them.
Absolutely! In 2003 I made $19.75 an hr as a swing manager at a rural gas station. Corporate jobs in Los Angeles that require a Bachelor's are offering the same rate today. In 2003 that was enough for me to afford a Mercedes convertible. Not it won't even cover rent.
People who are struggling financially should not have kids! They are expensive and NOT a necessity! #BirthControl
We can do both Walk and chew gum
"it's the economy, stupid" -carville
In 1996, I bought a 2U2D terraced house for £30 000. In 2002, I cracked the £10 000 barrier. In 2010, after having changed jobs (now earning £20 000 net p.a.) and picking up an inheritance, I paid off the mortgage. The house was by then worth £120 000. And that is the problem.
Why I haven't gone on an actual vacation but have had "staycations." Why my husband and I bought a home in 2020 when interest rates were low and avoided paying a down payment because of his VA loan. Why we don't currently have children but also...we don't want children. Life is expensive.
The federal wage of $7.25/hour hasn’t risen since the 90’s. Meanwhile states like mine, MA, have wages of $15/hour and even that’s too low for the average person which is why many people work 3-5 jobs. Yes, I know of people who work 5 jobs.
"Real wages" have been falling since 1976 in this country.
Yes but the boomers are fat and happy in retirement and the Billionaires are happy with their billions.
Boomers are working at Walmart
Some Boomers are working at Walmart. Most boomers are enjoying their retirement due to a stock market valuation based on thr OPs statement. Without it, they too, would be working at Walmart.
You are fighting a culture war instead of a class war which is exactly what the rich want you to do. If you don’t like the boomers you will have not problem defunding them. That is what you are falling for.
“Approximately 52.5% of peak Boomers have less than $250,000 with of assets and will solely rely on Social Security for income during retirement” www.fiscalreport.com/baby-boomers...
2024 national Transamerica survey, Boomers have a median of $194,000 in all household retirement accounts, while millennials have saved $50,000. 2 When considering the roughly 30-year age difference, millennials are way ahead of their older counterparts. www.investopedia.com/5-reasons-bo...
Nonsense. 50grand today will be near worthless as current trends continue. 2ndly, SS, Medicare in all likelihood willnit be there for Millenials, let alone GenX. Thirdly, Boomers own their homes. Likely the source of the majority of their capital. Millennial will likely not.
*nonsense* let me ignore data.
It is the rich causing your issues not a generation. money.com/rich-millenn...
Currently, 93% of millennial millionaires have a net wealth between approximately $1 million and $2.5 million, according to the report. Nearly 60% live in either California or New York and they are investing more in real estate than their elder-millionaire counterparts. www.cnbc.com/2019/10/16/u...
And where did the money come from? Did a light bulb go off?
No shit. And boomers are the Richest generation the US has ever had. Not sure why this is so hard?
You're out of touch and cherry picked a horseshit article filled with horseshit stats which fails in seeing the broader picture.
They are one in the same.
And who had the majority the majority of the time...🤷🏽♀️ Well, all of the time the electoral college didn't install a president...
Excellent point. Thanks for this.
My tumor medicine under Biden was $400.00. after t-Rump came in it went to $2997.00. Now it is not affordable for anyone but a rich person. Insurance has now stopped covering it because they also changed the "use"...and will no longer allow it for the type of tumor I have. Are we great yet?
And the number of Americans living paycheck to paycheck. According to "PYMNTS Intelligence" it now stands at 67%. That's a terrifying percentage. It was 17% in 1965 (Google).
All seas rise.
Exceptional post. Wish reporters would report on what you wrote instead on fluctuating egg prices.
Exactly this. Who can afford a house at this point?
No young people I know. They're pretty much resigned to renting or still living at home.
I cry often for my children who are in their 30s. They've little to no chance of buying homes or starting families. It's too damn expensive.
Good grief yes!
When you examine food and gas prices, they represent just a fraction of the broader inflation. We've begun to notice the increase in prices across the board. my dog food has surged by another $1 per bag, totaling a $5 increase over the last 8 months. This gradual rise will impact budgets
Yes, the number one economic issue is affordability! Democratic leadership take notice. It is a systemic issue that requires system restructuring. If only a few like Bernie talk about it the Democrats will continue to lose.
But Fred, you disagreeable soul, gas prices, egg prices resonated and worked incredibly well for them
The crowd worried about the minutiae of prices , are the same crowd who DO NOT SEE THE LARGER PICTURE, I am On a fixed income and I see the big picture
Maga voters don't care if they have to spend more if it means Black and Brown people are being hurt. They will vote against their better interests with a smile on their face to hurt others.
or washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/17/h...
dirt poor republicans keep voting for the rich as they actively get poorer day by day. they've dug their hole so deep they're unable to climb out. i say forget them; fill their hole in over them with the bodies of the wealthy.
what Republicans don't understand right now is that they're creating an army right now on the opposite side. Americans will revolt.
THIS! And if you live in Florida the cost of your homeowner's insurance rose so high that many people can no longer afford to live in their homes. . .
washingtonmonthly.com/2025/07/17/h...
It’s the terrifying experience of holding on to a window ledge by one’s fingertips, not merely paying more for eggs, that is radicalizing our voters. The average Dem elected completely lacks the vocabulary—or the empathy—to speak to this reality. Hence tens of millions of voters sitting home in ‘24.
WE NEED A RESPONSE?
We're all well aware corporate media is corrupt. Most of us do our own shopping instead of sending nannies. The real problem is with the rise of youtubes and data nerds, why the hell hasn't a real alternative ppl can trust emerged. The public is starving for trustworthy information
Also a good idea to emphasize that these are losses. Losses for the average family and citizen who have less of the time and money that acutally make life worthwhile and not just a Long March of work until death. And that the elites arent suffering this.
How much did CEO salaries increase during that time period?
And it is going to be worse by year end
It seems to be getting worse by the day.
The capitalist pigs are robbing us to death!
And will continue to do so for AT LEAST the next 3.5 YEARS !!
This is why an economic populist, FDR-style message will play so well for Democrats if they just adopt it. Delivered by likeable candidates bolstered by highlighting the corruption that is Trump and the GOP, including Epstein. It's authentic and is a needed return to FDR policies.
This is the scary part. It seems that the Democrats are floundering on the message. Just listened to Bernie at a WV town hall. He is obviously too old, but has always been on message. Bernie has always been right.
It’s getting beyond crazy expensive. I am very fortunate but I see a lot of people on the streets and they will have more limited services in the not to distant future
Wealth is shifting to other countries while we obsess over guns, Jesus, and being mega-consumers. Meanwhile, we blame the government, so keep electing worse and worse people to run it for us so we can work at becoming billionaires, which is our right as Americans.
Yet wages lagged behind
++ home and car insurance premiums and utilities 🥵
And the salaries went up 0%
people can be concerned about things that effect them daily. Your gate keeping is a nonsense.
I think Trump calls that winning. For his rich supporters and not MAGA.
Soon I’ll be forced to sell my home between property taxes and insurance. Both have risen 200% in 6 yrs.
If your consumer goods become too expensive, wages will try to keep up. Which means labour input to US products will increase the price of those products. So we won't buy as many. Or any... Which will damage your economy. So, I think grocery prices are important. Really important. The rich, don't.
Messaging is more effective when you focus on one simple item. Democrats’ messaging is too complex
I like to tell people the real metric is not a dollar price, but how long did you have to work to pay for something. When I was young and single in 1980, I lived in a hippie house near Boston and had a state job that paid about $4.50 an hour. I took home roughly $500 a month. Sounds terrible! But:
My rent and utilities were about a week's pay. All other necessities were about a week's pay. If I wanted to, I could save over $200 a month without working overtime. If I had been more of a go-getter back then, I could have pulled extra shifts and bought a 3 decker house. In Boston.
If I were 20 years old in Boston right now, rent would probably be more than half my pay. Did I mention my health insurance back then was pocket change? Sure, some things were expensive then. But you didn't NEED any of them. Nowadays, a lot of the things you do need are gouged to the eyeballs.
And insurance went up 40%
Correct. The price of single items like eggs and beef go up and down. That's like weather. But the trend of all expenses going up this century is more like climate. Trends that are harder to change.
Agree
I'm not a public figure so I will be keeping it "personal" and comparative on common items when I talk to people in my community. Giving them that data in bulk, they tune out. But once you compare a few things, they focus on the many. It's a creeping inflation, pre tariff, right before your eyes.
My insurance premium increased from $385 to $887 in the past five years. Same policy coverage with $6900 deductible.
I pay $794.86 a MONTH for health insurance for just me. That’s not a family plan! It is OUTRAGEOUS! It’s more than my house payment and TV bill combined!
Your neighbours to north and south enjoy single payer health care. But the US seems to prefer to live in 1866.
Now *there* is a message we can present to maga in a conversational way, so they finally see the error of their ways.
Welcome to predatory capitalism.
Of course none of this is the Democrats fault.
In America, the government gives out corp welfare with no strings. In China, if you want money for your business, the government will get equity in your company. This means the ppl get a say in how the company is run.
😢
A sound perspective
Absolutely! The issue has been wages for 25 years. The lowest paying jobs have taken a pay cut every single year with inflation. I made $10/hr under the table plus tips in 2000 doing restaurant work. Today that exact same job pays $10/hr on the books plus tips.
📌
Yes because Amurikanz totally understand percentages and stuff Fred. Geez. Let’s use 100 words when we could just say “Trump doubled the price of your Big Mac!!”
Because when the price of the Big Mac goes down or beef....or eggs...they counter message with "look...we made the prices go down!" Have you been asleep? I'm not saying use a hundred words...I'm saying stop giving them easy layups. But thanks for the messaging advice. For example...
I’m not falling for it. WTH
Yes, I travel back and forth to Europe, you can clearly see the average European has a better standard of living than Americans although the wages are slightly higher in the US.
Your perception is because of higher investment in public services and infrastructure. Americans are still significantly better off in terms of individual wealth than Europeans.
Haha! Please provide valid evidence! The homeless encampments in your cities would not seem to confirm your opinion.
Depends, look at all the Red States, many are basically a dump once you get out of the Cities. Europe has many Social programs, free childcare, Universal Healthcare and they can make a good living working one job.
Wages are higher if you have a college education, but many can't afford one in the US while there's no tuition fee in most universities in Europe.
Only around 10-15% of Americans are living a great life while the rest struggle to pay their bills, the middle class in Europe have a way better life.
Not true. The impoverished American is probably worse off than his European counterpart, but the *median* middle class American is significantly out-earning his European peers. Pick any middle class job and compare what you earn in the US compared to the UK or France.
You mean the shrinking US middle class is only 50% while it's between 65-75% in Europe. The wealth gap is getting bigger each year in the US where the top 10% richest own 65% of US wealth.
Sure, but add all the things Americans pay for that's not Tax-funded.Many European countries only pay slightly higher Tax and get a lot of things for free.
Look, I live both in Europe and America, I know what I'm talking about, you live in Australia(?)
You are talking about your personal anecdotal experience. The data tells a different story. www.forbes.com/sites/timwor...
Go to Scandinavia, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium instead. Great Britain has poverty zones but very rich ones aswell.
This also covers it off well, including the peculiar manner in which people on both sides of the Atlantic react *emotionally* (as you are doing now) when this fact is pointed out: yaschamounk.substack.com/p/the-great-...
American wages are comparatively high and the cost of living is comparatively low. Yes you lack a social welfare net, but in purely monetary terms, Americans are doing better than virtually everywhere else in the world and I’m continually amazed you’ve all convinced yourself otherwise.
And the oligarchs got a tax cut…
Asking about the price of eggs every other day is exhausting and pointless and means nothing
Over 30 years I have watched Greystone Apartments in Chicago rise from $150,000 to well north of 3 million. While my salary has tripled, my paychecks only rock five digits. buying a home has become “to dream the impossible dream.“
And for the illnumerate readers, 100% means the cost doubles!
An Occupy organizer said it, in a darkly marginal situation around 2018/2019; "If you wan't to cultivate freedom, lower the cost of living." - I have all kinds of problems with and stories about this person and I cannot imagine how mad his head was throughout time period, but I think he was correct.
Weakened unions Global outsourcing Morbidly obese executive pay Unrestricted stock buybacks Corporate taxes too low Billionaire taxes too low Social Security tax cap too low Cutting social services to pay for above Running deficits to pay for above Aren’t Republicans great !?
📌
Yes! And keep in mind that egg prices were high due to bird flu and low supply. Not anything political.
Wrong ... it was a political decision not to join almost every other country and vaccinate the hens (like Mexico does. We never had high egg prices)
Even those most affected by this who are die hard MAGA don’t get it. Sure, it’s math, and yes they hurt, but they also are (mis)informed by the right wing echo chamber and they still believe it is Biden, Obama, or even nameless/faceless Democrat’s fault.
👆💯✖💯
The message is republican are lying thieves and democrats don't stop them.
Our health insurance has rose from $7200 a yr to $30,000 next yr
Good call Fred. I've railed against the worthless posts of egg or gas prices because they are complex in the systems that determine prices. People sense when costs outweigh what they may afford (the rest of us that is) and many have no prayer of regular income, insurance, or even maintaining a car.
I can vouch for all unaffordability but rent.
It all boils down to the unabashed greed of a handful of humans wanting to have all they can get while watching other humans struggle. And the sadistic bastards enjoy it. Greed kills.
Members of Congress, with a median income of $1 million (in 2020, surely higher now) and average age of 60 do not get that people cannot buy homes or afford healthcare coverage or childcare expenses. They think we sit around eating eggs and drinking gas all day.
I just read that if the minimum wage had risen with inflation it would be over $23hr.
That is the bottom of the barrel though really. You can’t qualify for a $350k mortgage making only $48k a year.
While more and more wealth concentrated to fewer and fewer people :/
Car prices..food..power. The untold story is that companies also have the excuse to raise prices because of tariffs. Does anyone really know if what they say is true? Can you trust them?
Tell that to the vegans in my comments celebrating the fact that meat is becoming too expensive for people to buy.
Yes obviously ‘the vegans’ are the problem, not capitalism.
I never said Capitalism wasn’t the problem. I support veganism. I don’t support celebrating rising food costs as an opportunity to force the vegan lifestyle onto people who don’t have the education, money and understanding required to avoid malnutrition. Which is what people were doing.
🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨👆 @hakeem-jeffries.bsky.social @schumer.senate.gov @kenmartin.bsky.social This is good strategy.
Too late now.
Yes. The costs of housing, higher education, and medical care have skyrocketed over the last few decades, relative to incomes and inflation. It's a completely different ballgame now.
Big corps are price gouging. Tyson, for example, was sued for such a couple yrs ago.
Officially real wages have risen steadily. The problem is how CPI is calculated. Source FRED. fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/fredgr...
I don't know. There seem to be A LOT of us that have a hard time understanding the price of eggs without being offered some one person to blame for it.
The egg price fiasco was caused not by H5N1. It was caused by the fact that the US is one of just a few countries that is too damn cheap to vaccinate its hens against H5N1. And STILL doesn't.
Is it REALLY affordability that's the issue or the refusal of the federal government to provide for the 99%, instead using austerity to subject every aspect of our lives to the market? The fed govt could nationalize food, health care, transportation, etc., and end most of this profit-driven abuse!
Valid. The cost of any one good or service can fluctuate based on supply/demand chain interruption, seasonality, etc. On the whole, in my town, the average cart of groceries for a family of 4 has increased by over $100 in a single year. Whether the toothpaste is cheaper or not doesn't change that.
Another note is that inflation going down doesn't mean prices go down. Inflation is the rate by which items are increasing. If inflation is going down, prices are still going UP, just less quickly. If wages are NOT going up, even low inflation is a problem. Lower inflation doesn't make things cheap.
📌
Single family homes. Seeing homes bought for $150K just 3-5 years ago now listed for $350K-$500K is both alarming and disgusting.
What's alarming is the number of single family homes now owned by slush funds and investment groups.
If you saw Lutnick on Face the Nation on Sunday, you'll see that understanding of economics is not a strong suit of the administration.
Percentages are abstract. You need a concrete relatable example. The cost of eggs works for that.
agreed. i fail to see the "trap" in using common examples of unaffordability everyone can understand. the average joe is not an economist, but pretty sure theyre hyper-aware that their income isnt keeping up with the increasing cost of necessities.
Exactly. If we veer off into percentages and micro economics we lose 95% of the audience. Language has a huge impact on attention and how many read a piece in my professional experience.
Did you read the piece? The point is that eggs went down and Trump declared victory. Gas goes down. Over and over it's an endless cycle. This isnt about percentages. It's about average Americans can't afford a decent quality of life. The whole post is free to read. open.substack.com/pub/fpwellma...
The point is that Trump lies constantly and half of US citizens are happy to swallow his BS. Nothing else matters.
Well said. Thank you.
Housing was ~21% of household income in 2000, and now it's ~30%. That's 9% less to spend on food, clothing, etc. www.census.gov/newsroom/pre....
