Ridiculous Prices - Are They Here to Stay?

[BLUEVOODU]

Inflation, higher prices, house market, stock market, cars, computers, guitars... the collectors market.  Are we in Bubbles all around?  Are these prices here to stay? 

At the beginning of the pandemic, there were embargos on wood, chip shortages progressed with demand and reduced supply, and there were very strange market dynamics in play.   Almost 2 years later, it's worse... car lots are empty, guitar prices are up $1400 on many USA made guitars (some Korean made are $1800 now), and food prices are up as well.  Do you think prices will come back down?  Why or why not?

Start the conversation... post it up!

[CreepinDeth]

They probably won't. It's all about demand. If people are paying these prices then the companies have no incentives to drop the prices.

There may be shortages of essential components in a lot of industries, but that doesn't stop corporations from posting record profits during this time.

[BLUEVOODU]

I agree some prices will come down... but the last time I've been able to buy a USA Jackason Guitar for $1150-1200 was back in 1998.  Some of the USA made guitars jumped recently from $2700 to $4400.  Housing prices have only increased hard since 2013... and will never hit the mid 2000's prices ever again unless something catastrophic happens.  Building an i7 rig in 2007/2008 was expensive.  In 2013, building with the same top of the line materials was a bit cheaper.  However, from 2013 on.. prices have been increasing for components.

What incentive do companies have to fix this when companies like Ford are making their best years ever during product shortages because they're charging higher prices due to short supply...?  There's really no incentive to fix the scenario.  I'm sure they will or will be forced to at some point.  Hopefully it will come to an end and prices level out.

[retro junkie]

There are a lot of variables at play here in our economy. When you shut down everything and people continue to purchase items that are not being, manufactured, built, etc. Whatever was stored in a warehouse as stock will, at some point, become depleted. Factories, i know factories, that is where I have spent my career in, have warehouses that they pull from and that is where they determine their production schedules. When those places become empty and the place they received parts from, that they used to build their parts, become empty, and follow that all the way down the line. When you create incentives for people to stay at home and not go to work then that creates a shortage in the work force. Our local economy has tons of jobs but the factories are finding it very hard to hire anyone. One factory I know of has a job fair every Saturday, and sometimes only about two or three people may show up. Throw into that whole mess the closure of that oil pipeline that could have put our nation into a position to be independent of other nations for our oil. You have now the ever increasing price of gasoline and other energy sources in our country, it is hard to recover with just those elements involved. Not counting the ripple effect from those things alone, prices will climb and I hope we peek at a certain point, soon. In a consumer economy, we stopped the train, and I am not sure what it will take to get it moving again. I know it will take a long time before it seems normal again. I am surprised that we have not had more of a food shortage. And we may not have ran this thing out yet, the ripple effect. I have watched certain things in my local grocery store increase a dollar within a weeks time, crazy.

Ford has yet to hit the EV car monster that could bury them in the coming years.

[CreepinDeth]

I agree some prices will come down... but the last time I've been able to buy a USA Jackason Guitar for $1150-1200 was back in 1998.  Some of the USA made guitars jumped recently from $2700 to $4400.  Housing prices have only increased hard since 2013... and will never hit the mid 2000's prices ever again unless something catastrophic happens.  Building an i7 rig in 2007/2008 was expensive.  In 2013, building with the same top of the line materials was a bit cheaper.  However, from 2013 on.. prices have been increasing for components.

What incentive do companies have to fix this when companies like Ford are making their best years ever during product shortages because they're charging higher prices due to short supply...?  There's really no incentive to fix the scenario.  I'm sure they will or will be forced to at some point.  Hopefully it will come to an end and prices level out.

Exactly, there's no incentive to fix the scenario. Even if supply of essential components return to pre-covid normal, the companies aren't going to drop their prices all of a sudden. They'll just create an artificial shortage or raise prices again. The only way this stops is if people stop buying. This is why scalpers are so prevalent as we talked about in another thread. People are paying the inflated prices.

Sometimes you don't have a choice because what you need is essential so you pay the price but people should vote with their wallet when it comes to non-essential items.

[Grindspine]

Remember when gas stations had air pumps that you could use for free?

Now it costs like $1.75 to fill your tires!

... That is really the definition of "inflation."

[Grindspine]

This article is from 2010... but somehow, even more relevant today.

To keep all that stuff up and running, the publisher is resorting to what experts call FARTS--Forced ARTificial Scarcity. Or they would call it that, if they were as awesome at naming things as I am.

Mark my words: The future will be ruled by FARTS.

https://www.cracked.com/article_18817_5-reasons-future-will-be-ruled-by-b.s..html

[retro junkie]

Now we have a war going on that has caused a surge in crude oil prices. There is fear of a disruption in global energy supplies. Hold on for another round of price hikes!

[CreepinDeth]

Now we have a war going on that has caused a surge in crude oil prices. There is fear of a disruption in global energy supplies. Hold on for another round of price hikes!

This is why the U.S. should've been leading the way in alternative, renewable fuel sources rather than continuing to stick to a finite source that is affected very easily by even small global events, let alone a full scale war. We also need to stop desecrating beautiful land just so that we can buy gas for our giant vehicles for a dollar less.

This is also a time to keep an eye on China. They are huge Russian allies and support Putin. If they start to invade Taiwan because they feel it's now the right time to strike then things are going to get really bad and not just for prices on our goods.

[retro junkie]

I am happy that I have a Chevy Volt. I can use the battery to drive around our small town.

[Grindspine]

This seems as good as any other place to bring this.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/27/russia-weaponizing-food-supply-chains-00012130?cid=apn

Russia's move against the Ukraine could be so that Russia can use Ukraine's grain supply to barter other goods from China, thereby upsetting current trade agreements for food supplies across the globe.

So, yeah, we are screwed on prices rising for everything for the foreseeable future.

[BLUEVOODU]

Good links @Grindspine  ... and It's pretty crazy how high prices are now and how people are still paying the prices plus more!  IE there are lines at elevated prices to buy MANY goods.  Guitars that were once $2600 ish are now fetching $1500-1800 more due to wood prices, embargos..etc.  Cars.. what in the world lol.  Electronics... get in line.  Food is still available, but many specialty products that are not SUPER common and pumped out from companies like Kraft, are still somewhat hard to get.   IE organic, human meats and eggs...etc. 

It's hard to fathom where we are and what a crash would look like at this point.  I don't see how things won't crash at some point.

[retro junkie]

I haven't seen crackers for months.

[targetrasp]

@BLUEVOODU "human meats"

[CreepinDeth]

@BLUEVOODU "human meats"

Spoiler: ShowHide

I haven't seen crackers for months.

I'm having trouble getting Pillsbury biscuits. Love these with soup but they're hard to come by these days.

[Grindspine]

Know what? We're getting old.

$12,000 in 2002 dollars is about $19,000 in today's dollars.

[BLUEVOODU]

@BLUEVOODU "human meats"

@targetrasp  LOLZ!!  I meant Humane.  STUPID autocorrect... but that's hilarious.  Mmm... so delicious    Soilent Green? 

Know what? We're getting old.

$12,000 in 2002 dollars is about $19,000 in today's dollars.

@Grindspine   
#1 - you take that back.

#2 - Inflation is insane right now.  Wages really have not gone up much either to counteract that $1.00 in 2002 value being equal to $1.61 today.  Wages didn't jump that much.   IMO what's going on right now is not sustainable.

I haven't seen crackers for months.

@retro junkie -->  yeah.. I haven't seen TONS of stuff.  It's hit and miss when going to the store.  It technically takes 2-3 trips now to get everything from 1 order. Siete Chips, kielbasa, many times even some chicken and hamburger have been very hard to get.

[retro junkie]

@BLUEVOODU i am starting to see crackers again. But other things keep disappearing. Kosher dill spears are hard to find now. Prunes were gone for a few weeks. (Not that any of you might care about that, but I do. LOL)  There are other things where the shelves stay clean for a while. When they are restocked it is not full but maybe small amount. Going to the grocery is touch and go. My Wife gives me a list and it is like a scavenger hunt.  And, I too am starting to go more than once a week just to seek out items that I could not find on my initial run.

What happens when people can no longer get out due to not being able to afford gas? Store prices factor into this also. This past week, I watched a couple try to purchase $130 worth of groceries, but all they had left on their debit card was $29. They had to pull everything out of the bags and decide what they really needed.

[BLUEVOODU]

ugh... that's awful.  I'm wondering how close we are to the point you mentioned.

And you're right... scavenger hunt it is at times!  Sometime last year, I started ordering groceries online and let the employees pick them.  It's been hit any miss at times, but has been pretty good so far.   I figure it gives someone a job as well. They hired many employees for picking groceries and for delivering to cars.  I figure it helps them out... hopefully that's right.

[Grindspine]

  IE organic, human meats and eggs...etc. 

Where the eff are you buying human eggs?  I would really question that grocer.

[BLUEVOODU]

LOL... that scene is hilarious.  Morbid at the same time... 

I swear it was humane meats ... not human   

[Grindspine]

Vegetarians eat vegetables.

So, what does a humanitarian eat?