Inflation

To a degree we did this to ourselves. This isnt a govt created problem, we want , no need, oranges 12months a yr. A nice coat could cost $85.00. or $1289.00 . If your driving a base automobile your struggling, 4bd rooms is a minimum.
You need to have money in the market or your not achieving , and if your kids are not playing A level sports your shortchanging them. Regardless of the actual cost to the family.
Im not implying we dont all want better, it drives the economy, but there is a tipping point.
 
Instead of knee-jerk blaming the current administration, a better question to ask is, "Is rampant inflation a global trend?" The answer is yes, BTW.


And if it is, how are we doing in comparison to other countries. The answer is, "Just as bad as other G7 countries, and not as bad as the US and the UK":


Also, what are the root causes behind inflation and is it in control of politicians? It's easy to second-guess the political response to the pandemic, should there have a full lockdown? How do you balance public safety vs GDP in the face of so many unknown variables at the start of COVID? But the current *global* supply-chain disruption... is that the fault of politicians as well?

There are well-known and well-defined cycles of boom and bust. There will always be recessionary periods There will always be people who will want to blame *someone* for what is well-accepted as the cyclical nature of the economy. There will always be people with a political agenda seeking regime change to capitalize on local unrest and dissatisfaction without bothering to put it into context.
I agree that inflation and stagnation, its second cousin, are difficult to fix in-house (Country). However it would be nice if the silver spoon set would give the consumers a break by limiting shrinkflation to keep the not-so-obvious obvious.
 
To a degree we did this to ourselves. This isnt a govt created problem, we want , no need, oranges 12months a yr. A nice coat could cost $85.00. or $1289.00 . If your driving a base automobile your struggling, 4bd rooms is a minimum.
You need to have money in the market or your not achieving , and if your kids are not playing A level sports your shortchanging them. Regardless of the actual cost to the family.
Im not implying we dont all want better, it drives the economy, but there is a tipping point.
Which is the total opposite of "Fake it till you make it."
 
To a degree we did this to ourselves. This isnt a govt created problem, we want , no need, oranges 12months a yr. A nice coat could cost $85.00. or $1289.00 . If your driving a base automobile your struggling, 4bd rooms is a minimum.
You need to have money in the market or your not achieving , and if your kids are not playing A level sports your shortchanging them. Regardless of the actual cost to the family.
Im not implying we dont all want better, it drives the economy, but there is a tipping point.

It's almost $30 for pizza now 0_0
 
Yes $30 for a pizza and almost every burger in a pub is $20bucks. So skip the pizza delivery and grab a bake your own for $10. Have a beer with your pals and go home to eat.
Many parts of inflation are impossible to avoid, gasoline, natural gas to heat your house, basic groceries. But there is a lot of "oh why not" been going on and thats what is choking guy average.
surviving inflation is imo, largely a factor of prioritizing whats needed, not wanted.

say no to avocado toast
 
It's almost $30 for pizza now 0_0
So? Pizza isn't a necessity.

As @crankcall said...a lot of the issue is the 'wants' v 'needs' category.

Fuel - definite need for a majority
Housing - definite need
Food - definite need
Takeout - want
Restaurant - want
Cars - primarily wants, with a few needs thrown in depending on situation

The hardest part is for the individual to actually step back, take a hard look at their life, and decide / identify what is a need v want.

I WANT more LEGO, but I NEED more diapers / food / baby formula / etc for the kids.
I WANT to go to Barbados, but I can't afford that...so I 'want' Cuba instead ($2900 for a family of 5).
I WANT a Mach-e...but I drive a Volt.

Big difference, and as the Rolling Stones told us...

 
So? Pizza isn't a necessity.

As @crankcall said...a lot of the issue is the 'wants' v 'needs' category.

Fuel - definite need for a majority
Housing - definite need
Food - definite need
Takeout - want
Restaurant - want
Cars - primarily wants, with a few needs thrown in depending on situation

The hardest part is for the individual to actually step back, take a hard look at their life, and decide / identify what is a need v want.

I WANT more LEGO, but I NEED more diapers / food / baby formula / etc for the kids.
I WANT to go to Barbados, but I can't afford that...so I 'want' Cuba instead ($2900 for a family of 5).
I WANT a Mach-e...but I drive a Volt.

Big difference, and as the Rolling Stones told us...

It comes down to degrees. Fuel is a need but I don't need to drive to the in-laws cottage or to visit friends in Ottawa. Easy way to save $100 but as with most saving, it doesn't show up explicitly when you are tracking expenses but they all add up. Housing is a need but a few hundred square feet that is warm, dry and secure is all we need, the rest is a want (with the added bonus of being a good investment in canada). Food is similar, we need something but I bought pork at <$7/kg instead of salmon at $29/kg. Family grumbled but both keep us alive and healthy.
 
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It comes down to degrees. Fuel is a need but I don't need to drive to the in-laws cottage or to visit friends in Ottawa. Easy way to save $100 but as with most saving, it doesn't show up explicitly when you are tracking expenses but they all add up. Housing is a need but a few hundred square feet that is warm, dry and secure is all we need, the rest is a want (with the added bonus of being a good investment in canada). Food is similar, we need something but I bought pork at <$7/kg instead of salmon at $29/kg. Family grumbled but both keep us alive and healthy.

Agree with the added need for nuance.
 
Yes $30 for a pizza and almost every burger in a pub is $20bucks. So skip the pizza delivery and grab a bake your own for $10. Have a beer with your pals and go home to eat.
Many parts of inflation are impossible to avoid, gasoline, natural gas to heat your house, basic groceries. But there is a lot of "oh why not" been going on and thats what is choking guy average.
surviving inflation is imo, largely a factor of prioritizing whats needed, not wanted.

say no to avocado toast

Condos and apartments are so small now having more than another two or three friends in for a meal or drinks is too crowded. Therefore you go out and spend the money that would have gotten you a bigger place.

I saw an add for a pick your own farm. Admission was $15 adult and $7.50 per kid plus what you bought. Some snacks and a tractor ride you're out $75+ for some apples, fudge and fresh air.

A dozen trips to the movies could get you a decent sized TV.

Learn to cook gourmet not hash house. Spend a bit on pots and pans, buy upper shelf ingredients and it's not hard to beat the pizza joints. My neighbour has a wood fired pizza oven. Awesome pizza.

Going out may be cool but being better and saving dough is cooler.
 
Want & Need seem to be the same thing for many people.
 
Want & Need seem to be the same thing for many people.
Yup. My brother "needed" a truck to pull his 2000 lb boat that sees the water twice a year in recent times. He could have sold the boat at peak covid pricing, not bought the truck and had a vehicle that fit his needs and >$50K in the bank.
 
we have a trailer boat that moves once or twice a yr. I go to Uhaul and rent a truck , when I back the rear brakes underwater I dont feel sad at all, and I'm not gassing that pig the other 50 weeks a yr.

This inflation will like all the others pass, those that can hunker down a bit will feel some bumps. Those cats that dont see a possible recession coming next yr and continue to live large, cry about the LOC interest jumping, and have a stunned look when the job they had exits next yr. will feel a bigger bump.
 
Instead of knee-jerk blaming the current administration, a better question to ask is, "Is rampant inflation a global trend?" The answer is yes, BTW.


And if it is, how are we doing in comparison to other countries. The answer is, "Just as bad as other G7 countries, and not as bad as the US and the UK":


Also, what are the root causes behind inflation and is it in control of politicians? It's easy to second-guess the political response to the pandemic, should there have a full lockdown? How do you balance public safety vs GDP in the face of so many unknown variables at the start of COVID? But the current *global* supply-chain disruption... is that the fault of politicians as well?

There are well-known and well-defined cycles of boom and bust. There will always be recessionary periods There will always be people who will want to blame *someone* for what is well-accepted as the cyclical nature of the economy. There will always be people with a political agenda seeking regime change to capitalize on local unrest and dissatisfaction without bothering to put it into context.
Thing is, Canada's inflation is a lot worse than it needed to be. A large portion of domestic inflation is tied to global economics, and in Canada's case the US economy -- but a good amount is also related to failures in domestic policy. The same arguments stand for periods of recessions.

If we look back at the last recession, Canada did much better than most of the world's developed countries and way shorter and shallower than the USA. Fiscal policy was stronger, and the level of waste and money supply was kept in check.

Sadly Canadian inflation bad - it didn't need to be as bad as it is. While global factors are a good excuse for a big part of Canada's inflation, flooding the market with printed cash during the Pandemic left too much cash chasing too few goods. Heavy regressive taxes (Carbon, HST/GST) also fuel inflation by further increasing the costs of goods. Think about it - raising prices by 8% raises GST/HST collection by the same. Sadly inflation negatively impacts people at lower income ranges, and oddly benefits those with high income and/or high wealth.

Finally, the cure Canada is using to quell inflation is rapid hiking of interest rates. This does cool inflation, it also increases the costs for things as finance cost increases also work their way back into the cost of goods and services.

Entering a recession and stabilizing supply chains will likely freeze out inflation - I'd expect that to be the state of things around Jan-Feb 23. Hopefully, a recession is short followed by a bit of economic roar a year from now.
 
Typically speaking, how long does Inflation and Recession usually last?
They have been getting shorter over time. The last recession was 9 mos in Canada, 12 mos in the USA, and 18 mos in the Eurozone. Less stable economies usually teeter in and out of larger recessions -- realistically The Eurozone was in and out for about 48 months.
 
...

Is the true number below or above 7%? I’m not smart enough to know that answer.
The realistic inflation rate is probably above 7%. Just think about a few core items that most of us consume directly and or indirectly. Fuel is up 35% in 1 year, food is up 11%, free market rents are up by more than 10% (hard to measure with rent controls).

The formula is complex and set by gov't so it can be somewhat groomed. For example, food prices have risen by >10%, however, the gov't has reduced the weighting of food in their inflation calculation, which in turn makes inflation look lower. Similar with Gasoline - in 2011 when gas was $1.03, it represented 4.85% of the 'basket' weighing, at the current average of $1.80, it only weighs in at 3.47%. Do the math.

An Analysis of the 2022 Consumer Price Index Basket Update, Based on 2021 Expenditures has more info. Not easy to understand unless you have some finance or economics under your belt.
 
I'm holding off on investing more into market until things start to stabilize. I expect some more downward forces in the coming months, especially considering the fear of another interest rate hike in December.
 
I'm holding off on investing more into market until things start to stabilize. I expect some more downward forces in the coming months, especially considering the fear of another interest rate hike in December.
I'm cutting expenses and doubling down on investing right now. No boats, cars, or home improvements -- I'm buying cheap non-gta urban real estate when I find deals and dividend financial service stocks. Only investments that generate some kinda cash flow, in markets that are unlikely to see heavy impacts from recession.

I don't mind riding down prices for a while as long as the investments are kicking out cash and likely to bounce back in the next few years.
 
I'm cutting expenses and doubling down on investing right now. No boats, cars, or home improvements -- I'm buying cheap non-gta urban real estate when I find deals and dividend financial service stocks. Only investments that generate some kinda cash flow, in markets that are unlikely to see heavy impacts from recession.

I don't mind riding down prices for a while as long as the investments are kicking out cash and likely to bounce back in the next few years.
I can’t afford real estate so stocks it is for me. Smaller scale than some of the ballers around here, but at least it’s better than nothing.
 
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