What is actually behind the cost of living crisis?

This would be more relevant if it looked at the same across the G7/G20.
Comparing with a friend in the UK, we are getting off a lot lighter. There they go after anything, mind you they invented the basic system didn't they.

It’s also authored by the Fraser Institute, marginally less right wing than the IDU which is a front for transferring public wealth into private hands (re: Trump, Poilievre, Netanyahu, Orban). All part of the same club, though. So take it with a grain of salt.

Jesus what a painful read. Article is riddled with errors and nonsense.
Example: " That’s a substantial shift (a decline of over 600 percent) from 1992 to 2020’s average four-year spending increase of $148."
How does a family spend 600% less on clothing? A 100% percent drop would be zero spending. Explain how you can spend 500% less than zero. 600% is mathematically impossible nonsense, unless you are Donald Trump.
That's the voodoo math and bogus statistics of the kind the Fraser Institute practices.
They get away with this bullshit because nobody fact checks them. And they refer to their own nonsense "reports" as sources, instead actual peer reviewed material. This is what Tina Fey called "truthiness", an appearance of validity that coincides with what the reader wants to hear, but crumbles on careful review.

The Fraser lobby group is a right wing lobby group peddling junk science.

westwoody said:

Jesus what a painful read. Article is riddled with errors and nonsense.
Example: " That’s a substantial shift (a decline of over 600 percent) from 1992 to 2020’s average four-year spending increase of $148."
How does a family spend 600% less on clothing? A 100% percent drop would be zero spending. Explain how you can spend 500% less than zero. 600% is mathematically impossible nonsense, unless you are Donald Trump.
That's the voodoo math and bogus statistics of the kind the Fraser Institute practices.
They get away with this bullshit because nobody fact checks them. And they refer to their own nonsense "reports" as sources, instead actual peer reviewed material. This is what Tina Fey called "truthiness", an appearance of validity that coincides with what the reader wants to hear, but crumbles on careful review.

The Fraser lobby group is a right wing lobby group peddling junk science.

Click to expand...

I know of people who actually no longer go to their usual retail stores they would have. They buy off marketplace, they go on buy nothing groups, handy downs. I've seen the same pairs of shoes handed over from big brother to little sister and now baby brother is old enough to fit them. Those numbers are likely coming from retailers stating they've seen a dramatic decline in revenue... etc people are spending less on certain things than before. That's for sure.

Careful shopping still can’t reduce a cost by 600%. Even if you pay nothing you only reduce the cost by 100%.

Why isn't there more talk of wage stagnation? People complain about taxes and government, but employers, especially during the pandemic, have not raised employee wages to meet price shocks or inflation.

I don't know about you guys but my prime earning years were during the late 00s. The last 20 years my wage has fluctuated across positions and companies, but it's never really managed to stay ahead of real inflation. Yes the government takes a percentage when I earn more but I'm not earning more for the government to take.

So take it with a grain of salt.

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Right-wing, Left-wing.... the truth is that the "problem" isn't just one thing... but what either ideology tries to do is pass the burden to the other camp, and claim they have the solution.

Left-wing will say it's the billionares rigging the game... that might be true....

Right-win will say it's the "Timmigrants".... that might be true too...

...now what either side will do is convince the masses that you are wrong, and they are right; never realizing they are both right and it's several issues happening all at once. Maybe the billionars need to 'pay their share', maybe we need to close the boarders...

...all I know is, I'm a Malthusian and if there is ONE constant problem in this world, it is OVERPOPULATION... This planet can only sustain 1 Billion people, to be in perfect balance with the planet's eco-system. "Yeah with all the space we have, there should be room for everyone."... that's not entirely true, since we need that space to grow and harvest our resources, while not impeding on the planet's water-cycle, climate, and general sustainability..... "we" theorize that of the 8 Billion people on the planet already, 7 Billion people will need to 'disappear' in the next 100 years to maintain that global balance.... or else, it could get real ugly....

And perhaps, "the powers that be" know this already... which means, some of us aren't going to make it... White Replacement theory?... LGBTQ culture?... Feminism?... Open Boarders?... "AI" replacing us?...."MAiD" (re: C-62, come March/27, assisted suicide will be more 'accessible', and for who)?...All these recent cultural events seem to try to balance demographics, so when "The Suck" occurs (re: achieving equilibrium via entropy...like WAR, FAMINE, DISEASE, and other forms of DEATH), will the surviving civilization have it's diversity? or a Master Race?... all the issues we seem to blame for the economy seems to point into the direction of "Capitalizing Righteousness".... who gets to go? who gets to stay?

So what's the solution?....

Big_Guy_Rye said:

OVERPOPULATION...

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In the 60s all the Fraser Valley was orchards and vegetable farms. Marine Drive was the same. All those are now suburbs and McMansions.
Same with Southern Ontario.
You are destroying your own food supply.
Law of supply and demand- less food and higher prices.
Water will be far worse. Why waste water on food production when you can use it for data centres eh? Some in the US have their own electricity generators that use 28 times as much water as the data centre itself.

Greed !

I'll be honest here and with you West. I would say I consider myself, politcally, center right, and I agree with you. 600% ? That makes no sense. Even if I --- or a family --- spent $1000 on clothing then decided to spend $500. That's 50% less. $10,000 - $1000 = $9000 ...that's 90% less. I'm not sure how they came up with - 600% . ??

I live in Vancouver region and most of the article I would say is pretty close to correct. Costs here have gone beyond insane imo.

westwoody said:

Jesus what a painful read. Article is riddled with errors and nonsense.
Example: " That’s a substantial shift (a decline of over 600 percent) from 1992 to 2020’s average four-year spending increase of $148."
How does a family spend 600% less on clothing? A 100% percent drop would be zero spending. Explain how you can spend 500% less than zero. 600% is mathematically impossible nonsense, unless you are Donald Trump.
That's the voodoo math and bogus statistics of the kind the Fraser Institute practices.
They get away with this bullshit because nobody fact checks them. And they refer to their own nonsense "reports" as sources, instead actual peer reviewed material. This is what Tina Fey called "truthiness", an appearance of validity that coincides with what the reader wants to hear, but crumbles on careful review.

The Fraser lobby group is a right wing lobby group peddling junk science.

Click to expand...

In the 60s most of the West End was two or three story walkups. There were lots of single family houses. Now it’s a slightly Canadianised version of Hong Kong.
Robsonstrasse was full of beautiful boutiques and markets, now it’s all bullshit designer junk, Rolex, Tiffany, whatever the morons with more money than brains are buying these days.

Unlimited humans chasing very limited housing space.
Again - overpopulation.

westwoody said:

In the 60s all the Fraser Valley was orchards and vegetable farms. Marine Drive was the same. All those are now suburbs and McMansions.
Same with Southern Ontario.
You are destroying your own food supply.
Law of supply and demand- less food and higher prices.
Water will be far worse. Why waste water on food production when you can use it for data centres eh? Some in the US have their own electricity generators that use 28 times as much water as the data centre itself.

Click to expand...

AI uses shitloafa of water too ,
Mainly through the data centres ,
so now we are wasting tons of water so we can have AI ? WTF ?!!!