PowerSwitch

This is a good explanation of the effects of inflation...

I listen to the argument between the deflationists and inflationists, however in all the essentials we are rapidly getting poorer..

http://www.tullettprebon.com/Announceme ... 130220.pdf

I note that the only "essential" thing that tracks real wages is the price of booze.

I don't think there's any doubt that our standard of living is being eroded rapidly from many different directions simultaneously. It's not just retail prices, but everything from pension security, the cost of a university education, the value and return people get on their savings and 101 other things.

Apart from the banks, there are very few winners out there at the moment. I suspect Aldi and Lidl are doing quite well though.

The term is Boracic....

Boracic Lint, Skint

ziggy12345 wrote:The term is Boracic....

Boracic Lint, Skint

Ah! I've always wondered why "brassic"? "Brassic" to me means "belongs to the cabbage family."

Most cabbages are skint.

ziggy12345 wrote:The term is Boracic....

Boracic Lint, Skint

I don't feel any wealthier for that pedantry unfortunately.

vtsnowedin wrote: I note that the only "essential" thing that tracks real wages is the price of booze.

Booze is hardly "essential" though is it?

EDIT: Nor is tobacco, which they've included in the analysis.

And since tax/duty hikes almost inevitably get put on them more than anything other than fuel, it seems it would distort the picture rather a lot.

the_lyniezian wrote:

vtsnowedin wrote: I note that the only "essential" thing that tracks real wages is the price of booze.

Booze is hardly "essential" though is it?

EDIT: Nor is tobacco, which they've included in the analysis.

And since tax/duty hikes almost inevitably get put on them more than anything other than fuel, it seems it would distort the picture rather a lot.

They didn't consult me as to what to include on the list of essentials and would not consider either booze or tobacco or pot essentials but many a cold house with no food in the fridge will have a half full bottle and a full ash tray.

vtsnowedin wrote:They didn't consult me as to what to include on the list of essentials and would not consider either booze or tobacco or pot essentials but many a cold house with no food in the fridge will have a half full bottle and a full ash tray.

That's probably a fair proportion of the problem right there. Is it that we're feeling the squeeze beyond what is acceptable, or do some just have a misguided view of their spending priorities (let alone what really ought to constitute an acceptable standard of living)?

Mind you given that (whilst on the dole) I waste enough money on non-essentials I needn't judge, but know I could live without them if I had to.

vtsnowedin wrote:

the_lyniezian wrote:

vtsnowedin wrote: I note that the only "essential" thing that tracks real wages is the price of booze.

Booze is hardly "essential" though is it?

EDIT: Nor is tobacco, which they've included in the analysis.

And since tax/duty hikes almost inevitably get put on them more than anything other than fuel, it seems it would distort the picture rather a lot.

They didn't consult me as to what to include on the list of essentials and would not consider either booze or tobacco or pot essentials but many a cold house with no food in the fridge will have a half full bottle and a full ash tray.

That's pure unsupported conjecture.

featherstick wrote:

vtsnowedin wrote:

the_lyniezian wrote: Booze is hardly "essential" though is it?

EDIT: Nor is tobacco, which they've included in the analysis.

And since tax/duty hikes almost inevitably get put on them more than anything other than fuel, it seems it would distort the picture rather a lot.

They didn't consult me as to what to include on the list of essentials and would not consider either booze or tobacco or pot essentials but many a cold house with no food in the fridge will have a half full bottle and a full ash tray.

That's pure unsupported conjecture.

More like actual life experience. I know more then a few people that are poor and have spent a lot of my life one pay check away from being poor myself with the paychecks about half enough to make it a sure thing. Alcohol and tobacco are the entertainment the poor can afford most of the time but they are truly addictive and if the money stops coming in they are the last thing let go of. It is awfully easy to point out better courses of action for someone else but when it is your turn you will find it ain't so easy.

Alcoholism does not respect class boundaries.

UndercoverElephant wrote:Alcoholism does not respect class boundaries.

Quite true of course but the upper classes don't ever have to choose between their booze and food for their children or the rent.

vtsnowedin wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:Alcoholism does not respect class boundaries.

Quite true of course but the upper classes don't ever have to choose between their booze and food for their children or the rent.

Which is why, ironically, it is easier for them to resist the booze, at least in terms of it taking over their lives. If anyone doesn't understand why, they have never experienced real poverty. I don't just mean the immediate monetary kind and its immediate consequences. I mean the kind where you watch as your life slips out of view and the only things left are fighting, drinking and f***ing