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Have you noticed the Govt says there is no inflation, but

Tallman

KW4YJ Honorary Member Silent Key
May 1, 2013
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Louisville, KY
A five pound bag of sugar use to contain five pounds of product, now only four pounds. Cost the same as before 1 pound was subtracted.
A pound of coffee is now 10.5 oz price is still the same as a pound. A pound of bacon is 12 oz. still priced as 16 oz.
The prices are stable except for gasoline which is traded as a commodity and the spot market price jumps all over the place. Yesterday I was on my way to an appointment and wanted to fill up my truck. Decided to wait and do it after the appointment. Costly mistake. The gas was selling for $2.19 as I went by on my way to the appointment. Coming back it was now $2.69. An increase of .50 cents per gallon in a hour.
I can't wait to see when they cut a dozen eggs down to eight or ten.

This corporate collusion is cost us even more than you realize. When your pay raise is calculated based on the cost of living, or inflation and the cost of motor fuel is not used in the equation. Who gets the slippery end of the stick? We all do.
 
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Package sizes have been steadily getting smaller for years. Even the product itself is smaller portions. Remember Wagon Wheels? They are MUCH smaller now. Cheese comes in smaller blocks. Everything is packaged smaller but you are right about the prices staying the same or more.
 
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Walmart started that trend. Not inflation, but the packaging downsize. They had product specially packaged for them, and a half ounce was shaved off, per unit, here; shave off an ounce there. Doesn't make much difference, per unit, but when you're buying product for resale by the acre, the fraction of a cent saved per unit, added up to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, annually.

You can also blame minimum wage laws. Every time minimum wage increases, cost of doing business increases. That gets offset by raising prices of goods and services.

Employees have so many false rights, now, that their wages are only part of the expense per employee. You can thank the Unions for that one.

Every time people start demanding more from their employers, and the employers cave to their demands, or are forced to accommodate those demands by some idiot judge, costs will rise.

Government intervention is expensive.
 
The sad thing that the government has been using the same calculation for cost of living increases.......Social security, military pensions, and VA disability get screwed year after year.
 
Yes because God knows how Walmart over pays their employees and how close to bankruptcy they are.

My reference to Walmart was only in regard to package downsizing. The rest of my previous post was addressing some of the causes of inflation. Not all of Walmarts employees are poorly paid, by the way. Truck drivers are paid very well. I would never drive for them, though. If the driver is involved in an accident, Walmart is quick to throw them under the bus. An accident, even if not your fault, if you are a Walmart driver, could very well end your driving career.

There are those who hate Walmart, and those that love them. I understand the reasoning behind both groups. To me, Walmart just is.

Anyway, I didn't want to derail the inflation thread on a Walmart discussion; the artificial inflation, that we've been experiencing for decades, is a far bigger problem.
 
You can also blame minimum wage laws. Every time minimum wage increases, cost of doing business increases. That gets offset by raising prices of goods and services.
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than how can we blame minimum wage when it's constantly decreasing?
When it was enacted, working minimum wage would get you an income at 99% of the poverty level. Now working at minimum wage sets you at 60% of the poverty level.
If business was able to grow into multi billion dollar corporations paying more, how is paying the workers less costing them more?
 
Don't know if we can really blame the unions either. I think that the lack of influence and corruption through the years have given them a bad reputation. Though I'm not a union worker I was raised in a very pro union home...both parents. They were both hard working middle class folks. Made a decent living, had good insurance and had a pension to look forward to. Sadly those jobs are disappearing alarmingly fast. In the words of Springsteen "Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown". A society that is all about ME and what I get which in turn fuels corporate greed is what we have now....oh and a President that's a Millionaire that's going to fix it all...sure. Corporate America runs this country and has for a long time. As long as the sheep keep spending and keep their noses in a cell phone..the establishment (govt) is happy. As for walmart.. look at how much they spend annually to fight unionization of the workforce. Heaven for bid the workers have affordable decent health insurance. The world's largest retailer can't cut into the record profits!! Rant over...
 
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than how can we blame minimum wage when it's constantly decreasing?
When it was enacted, working minimum wage would get you an income at 99% of the poverty level. Now working at minimum wage sets you at 60% of the poverty level.
If business was able to grow into multi billion dollar corporations paying more, how is paying the workers less costing them more?

Minimum wage continues to increase, over time, not decrease. 20 years ago, it was $3 and change per hour. Now it's, what? $8 and change?

The standards of poverty have changed, over the years, too. They keep raising the threshold. Today, people in "poverty" live in air conditioned houses, and drive air conditioned vehicles. They have flatscreen televisions, cable (or the like), gaming consoles, internet, and cellular phones (usually, smart ones). Well, their income levels may currently classify as "below poverty level", but that classification is absurd. I've seen poverty. Hell, I've lived it. People in actual poverty do not have those things.

Employees are expensive to aquire and maintain, these days. The hourly wage is only part of the equation. Employers also have to pay into unemployment and a variety of other nonsense. Plus, there is a mountain of paperwork associated with each employee, that must be handled and maintained. If you have several employees, you end up having to pay someone just to handle paperwork. Small businesses typically farm the paperwork out to a service company, but that's still an added expense. And, now, lately, it seems that the false "right" to healthcare has been forced, in part, on the employer.

Minimum wage has never been a necessity. It's a nanny state burden. It always has been, just like every other regulation. It hinders many small businesses from expanding, and creating more jobs, and adding value to the overall local economy.

There needs to be no governing oversight between a prospective employee and a prospective employer. Party A decides that he needs help. Party B needs coin in pocket. Party A has a figure in mind, a value placed on that help. Party B is free to accept or refuse the offer, or make a counter offer, that Party A is free to accept or refuse. But, at the end of the day, if Party B had agreed to trade his labor at a rate of $1.50 per hour, Party A is only obligated to pay Party B $1.50 per each hour that Party B has worked. And, Party B has no right to expect anything above that amount per hour, or anything else from Party A. All Party B has the right to, is $1.50 for every hour that he has worked. That was the deal that was agreed upon, by both parties. It is true that Party A could be exploiting Party B, but it is the responsibility of Party B to know, in advance of making the deal, what the average value of labor in that field is. If he agrees to perform work at 1/4 the value, that's his fault. Or, maybe, he's hungry enough to know and just not care. Either way, not the problem of the Government, which (theoretically and Constitutionally speaking) is partially me. And you. And every other citizen. Every citizen is responsible for his own failures and successes in life. It is not the purview of any governing entity to meddle in those affairs.
 
Don't know if we can really blame the unions either. I think that the lack of influence and corruption through the years have given them a bad reputation. Though I'm not a union worker I was raised in a very pro union home...both parents. They were both hard working middle class folks. Made a decent living, had good insurance and had a pension to look forward to. Sadly those jobs are disappearing alarmingly fast. In the words of Springsteen "Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown". A society that is all about ME and what I get which in turn fuels corporate greed is what we have now....oh and a President that's a Millionaire that's going to fix it all...sure. Corporate America runs this country and has for a long time. As long as the sheep keep spending and keep their noses in a cell phone..the establishment (govt) is happy. As for walmart.. look at how much they spend annually to fight unionization of the workforce. Heaven for bid the workers have affordable decent health insurance. The world's largest retailer can't cut into the record profits!! Rant over...

Of course we can blame the Unions. Unions grew from collecting dues to capitalize on EMPLOYEE greed. Much is said about corporate greed. It's been discussed, nonstop, for more than a century. And, sure, it exists. Of course it does. One would have to be a blind liar to claim otherwise. But, employees are greedy, too. For some reason, employee greed is completely ignored, while employer greed is fully demonized.

Why do you think that Union jobs are disappearing? It's partly because Union members have been told that they deserve more, thus they've demanded more, and it has reached a point that it's more cost effective for these companies to do business elsewhere, or simply close their doors and liquidate their assets. (Of course, other federal and state meddling has also contributed; EPA, OSHA, and the like)

Look, higher wages are certainly nice. So are healthcare, retirement funds, and other perks. But, there is no right to these things. Those are things that you earn. If you are not making enough to earn these things, it is your responsibility to seek employment elsewhere. If you lack the skills to earn these things, it is your responsibility to increase your skill set. The more skills that you have, the higher your value. You also spread your value to a larger group.

Personally, I detest working in fast food. Actually, I detest the food service industry, in general. Thus, I continue to increase my skill set, even when not seeking new employment. My skill set is vast. I range from making balloon animals (more profitable than you'd think) to truck driving, to plumbing and electrical. And more. Also, I make it a point to be able to communicate fluently in the English language, and I have educated myself in the art of dressing appropriately for a given situation. This keeps me from having to accept work that I would rather not do, at wages that I prefer not to accept.

The other side of that, is that, despite my efforts, I have made mistakes elsewhere that led to me being homeless and unemployed. To be clear, those mistakes were mine, and mine alone. No one forced cocaine up my nose, no one forced enough alcohol to kill an elephant into my system, and no one made me drive around town that effed up. Those were my terribly stupid decisions, and they caused me a decade of suffering (after I cleaned up my act!) Other people make similar errors. Some blow their money on lottery or other forms of gambling. Some people simply fall into credit traps, without bothering to understand how it all works. Whatever it is, each individual has a right to make decisions. And you reap the rewards or suffer the consequences.

There was a time that I would have worked a 12 hour day, outside, in the freezing cold, for nothing more than a sandwich and the privilege of sleeping in somebody's shed. Hell, probably just the sandwich. If I could have legally accepted a $2/hr job (which still paid $2/hr after 40 hours, or on holidays ) I would have gladly done. $2 is better than zero, which is what you get when unemployed. Anybody that is hungry, homeless, and unemployed, that won't accept work because it "doesn't pay enough" is a fool who deserves starve to death.

Food, shelter, clothing, insurance, and transportation. These are all things that you earn. If you want these things, and are unable to attain them, it is because of your poor life skills, and it is solely your responsibility to improve upon your situation. That might involve moving. That might involve hoofing it up to the library to read some books to further educate yourself. That could involve any number of inconvenient things. Regardless, your life and your health are your responsibility. So are your children, and their lives and health.

At this point, you may think that I am a cold hearted bastard. When it comes to the purview of governments, I am utterly emotionless. Emotion has no place in politics.

Personally, I give away money to practically anyone who asks. I'm a sucker for the poor and downtrodden. But, here's the thing: that's my choice. It's my money, I earned it, and if I choose to give that bum $5 (that, regardless of his sob story, is most likely just going to buy him a bottle of booze) that's my business.

I buy services that I don't need, just because the guy offering the service is actually willing to earn the cash. I buy products that I don't need for the same reason. Hey, that's the free market. I dig the free market. And the free market is only free without government intervention. Back to Unions; the only reason that those abominable organizations have the teeth that they do (which have only served in self destruction), is because judges (government intervention) have let them. Otherwise, businesses would have just fired everybody and started over, long ago.
 
Of course we can blame the Unions. Unions grew from collecting dues to capitalize on EMPLOYEE greed....

Well, long story, I'll keep it short.

back in the late 60's, I belonged to to IBEW, was making over $11/hr (adjust that to todays standard), left the job, went to Viet Nam, came back 4 years later to the same job (the government required Western Electric to give me my job back)... same faces doing the exact same thing as they were 4 years earlier.
I came to the realization, that while I was in the rice paddys, that everyone at W.E. was just a cog in a wheel, and they would never get anywhere.

The final blow came when a fuse blew in my area and the lighting was affected, first thing the shop steward did was to stop all work due to the safety factor, we all got to sit in the cafeteria (at full pay) until the master electrician replaced the fuse, that took 6 work days.........

now , I usually don't speak much to union organizers, but when I do,..... I just tell them to supersize it.
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