Student Loan Debt?

[two_bit_score]

Too much G wild-eyed spending on black hole projects.

Graft and corruption,

 

[goeduck]

Food prices increase 10.4% in 2022, and 2.7% in 2023. Not 100%.

Maybe he needed a few martinis after paying the bill. Hafta' add that in.

 

[bunchgrass]

I bet beer and for that matter most food prices went up because diesel fuel is outrageously high now.
And everything is shipped by using diesel fuel.

Our state has pretty high fuel prices and our diesel prices are the lowest they've been in a few years. Higher than plenty of other states but $3.49 is a lot lower.

 

[bunchgrass]

Vets also offer Cremation of pets. That is like a money printing press. Pets are extremely common, don’t live very long and when they die, few are buried like humans (yes, I know there are pet cemetaries).
Most are cremated if the owner doesn’t bury in the back yard.

$$$$$$$$$$$

You think a local vet in town has a cremation facility on the premises? They have them hauled out. Ask me how I know. Dead animals went into the deep freeze until it was full and I had to load them up and haul them off to the pound where they had a facility to render them. My boss was cheap but most others hired a service to come pick them up.

 

[Hay Dude]

Yeah ours does. Big ol smokestack.
Probably one of the only smokestacks still working in this rustbelt town

 

[Hay Dude]

My case of beer remained at the same price over the last few years.

But now, it seems to no longer be available and no one can tell me why. The cans are available, not the bottles. And in a fair radius of a variety of stores I frequent.

Now THAT is a conspiracy.

Is it Bud Light?

 

[riptides]

Is it Bud Light?

Yuengling Golden Pilsner, in bottles only.

 

[dmccarty]

I bet beer and for that matter most food prices went up because diesel fuel is outrageously high now.
And everything is shipped by using diesel fuel.

Yep. I don't think people understand how much diesel is needed to get food on the table....

How many "trips" does it take to get a loaf of bread on the grocery store shelf?

1. If the farmer is doing no till, once pass to plant the seed.
2. A trip to fertilize.
3. Lets says one pass for weed and insect treatment but would it really be two passes?
4. One trip for the combine.
5. Another use for getting the wheat from combine to storage.
6. Assuming the wheat is sent from storage to the mill in one trip but there could be two.
7. After the wheat is made into flour it is sent to the bakery.
8. The bread is finally baked and sent to a warehouse for the grocery store company.
9. Finally, the bread is sent from the warehouse to the store.

The cost of diesel is added to the final price of that loaf of bread. The higher the price of diesel the higher the price of bread. And don't forget road tax...

I think this is worse in Europe because they seem to pay tax on off road diesel.

Our diesel prices are still very high. The price is moving around $4 a gallon for taxed diesel.

Then there is the cost of fertilizer that is made from natural gas. High natural gas prices will mean higher fertilizer prices which is passed on in the food.

Western energy policies have caused inflation, food and other wise, and Putin's war just made it worse.

 

[MossRoad]

From here:

Food Price Outlook | Economic Research Service

The Food Price Outlook provides food price data and forecasts changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) for food.

www.ers.usda.gov

(click to enlarge)

I just don't see the increases that many of you are seeing. Yes, our food bills have gone up. No, they haven't doubled in the past 3 years. No where close. Not even 25% for the 3 year period.

Heck, the 20 year historical average is still just 3% per year, even with the wild swings in the past 3 years. The largest jump in prices last year was fats and oils, and that was only 9%.

How is your TOTAL food bill up 100% in the past 3 years?

 

[Hay Dude]

I don’t trust the people who make those charts. I trust what I see with my eyes and I will always trust what I see, not what I read/hear.

On edit: I do trust the Bible.