stabby_cicada comments on Eggs are still double from last year. Gas is still rising. I paid $3 for $1.25 cookie mix.

[–] stabby_cicada@slrpnk.net 5 points 1 year ago* (4 children)

I disagree that Americans don't pay attention to prices. Americans paying attention to prices was one of the biggest reasons why Biden lost. Biden and Harris were claiming that they'd beat inflation, that the economy was great, that America was on the right track and Harris just needed to continue Biden's policies - and Americans looked at their grocery bills and didn't buy it.

And that's what gives me a certain amount of hope in 2026. Because if people are going to bed hungry - and they will be - no amount of shitposting by Donnie and his cronies is going to convince them they're full.

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[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago* (3 children)

prices are about perception. just like politics.

people's understanding of prices has very little to do with economic reality. and yes, Harris royally fucked up by insisting that broad econonomic indicators being good meant that it was good for the average citizen. Truth is the american economic is great if you are in the upper middle class or better and since the democratic doner base is often wealthier liberals... so it's total blind spot for them. Harris was not listening to with auto workers in the Midwest... hence Trump got their votes because he was listening to them.

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[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

prices are about perception

Not when the cost of your food exceeds the amount of money in your bank account.

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[–] TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 child)

that's why you go to food banks. or calorie count to maximize your calories per dollar. i've been there.

but things cost what they cost. whether you think they should cost that much... that's the perception. a lot of USA foodstuffs are highly subsidized and others are not. Red meat is a luxury food and is priced accordingly and if anything it's still underpriced vastly compared to it's true cost.

Pork and chicken are much cheaper. I can get a whole chicken for $2/lbs... do that's mostly what I eat for protein these days. I'd be insane if I was buying red meat at the $15-25/lb it costs. but i also thought it was insane back when it was only 10/lb.

If you are buying lobster or other high priced foods while financially struggling... that's just making bad choices.

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[–] buddascrayon@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

Red meat is a luxury food and is priced accordingly

Its really not. If you look at the beef industry profit margins in the last 6 years, they got supercharged during and after the pandemic because they realized that due to the restrictions placed on imports they could charge whatever they wanted for beef.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/animal-products/cattle-beef/statistics-information

Beef consumption rates haven't changed much at all in the last 20 years. Yet profit margins have more that doubled.

Chicken price increases at least have the excuse of the bird flu epidemic wiping out millions of birds in a really short period of time.

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