People overreact to gas prices, ground beef, eggs...
What else? Tolls? Fast food? Soda? What are the things that turn people against whoever the current president is? A bit of mutton is so dear these days.
More importantly, what do we not notice that actually costs us more?
Have fun.
7 comments:
Government salaries cost a lot more than they used to do, but we don't notice because they are carefully obfuscated. This is true even for relatively powerless government jobs. One always hears that teachers are underpaid, or that policemen are, and whether or not that is true is a matter of opinion: but when I was a boy, policemen were on food stamps the pay was so low. These days their average salary is pretty close to the average American salary. The national average teacher salary is now close to double what the average American makes, at over $72,000/year according to the NEA.
https://www.nea.org/resource-library/educator-pay-and-student-spending-how-does-your-state-rank
For Congresspeople or high-level Federal bureaucrats, the difference is astounding if it can be drawn out. Congressmen are paid 3x what they were when I was a boy, and that's not counting the allowance for insider trading (which is why they're all millionaires shortly after they arrive).
I went the route of thinking about what we don't notice (or at least doesn't seem to generate a lot clicks). Grim's comment made me think of postage. I saw one fleeting report recently the USPS is considering boosting first class stamps to $1, and I can't recall the last time I saw a report on what stamps cost. Not marking them with cash equivalents anymore does make it hard to tell. Coffee is another one. Used to be a big deal when the price for cans of coffee grounds went up IIRC. Since Starbucks et al I think most people realize they are largely paying for the convenience of somebody else making their fru-fru "coffee" drink. Bread maybe as well?
In my youth I didn't budget for cellphones, internet service, or cable TV/streaming services. Of course, I was lucky if I could earn $10/hour. One thing I notice in my grocery basket today is that the bill will be negligible if all i buy is meat and fresh produce, but if there's anything from the pharmacy area or cleaning aisle the total will be amazing.
What's an overreaction? According to the CPI calculator, $1 in 2020 now has the purchasing power of $1.25 in 2026. And $1 in 2000 now has the purchasing power of $1.94 in 2026.
So, I notice everything. I also notice shrinkflation, because it is so funny. https://pleated-jeans.com/2026/01/26/shrinkflation-examples-thatll-have-you-measuring-everything-in-your-pantry/
As to first class postage, I send and receive far fewer letters today than in 2000, when postage was $0.33. Most of it goes by email. The postal service is not run as a business, in that it cannot adjust on the fly to changes in market conditions. So I don't mind the increase in the cost of postage, especially as it takes an act of Congress to change rates.
Cranberry, postal rates haven't been changed by an Act of Congress since 1970. They are governed by various legislative requirements that tend to limit the increases but are entirely controlled the governing body of the postal service.
Thank you for the correction.
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