Inflation

where did you see that? Was waiting for him to make that comment

Was listening to someone on the radio this week (could have been on the last word on Wednesday) and they were saying that food inflation hadn't started here yet but that it was only a matter of time before it was running at a similar rate to fuel inflation. That's definitely not something that most families will be able to cope with.

Voting for FG and expecting things to get better if you're an income tax payer is self-harming at this point. It's so clear that they just lie to voters in order to get elected. Want a functioning housing market? FG won't deliver it. Want more tax reliefs as a worker? FG won't deliver it. Big corporates, property owners and the lower classes are whose interests FG represent.

When is there ever? We exist to fund their social programmes and bloated public services

there is a sense now that businesses are starting to just make up prices and charge whatever they feel like .. from airport parking charges, hotels, rentals, food, fuel, etc. etc. things are getting out of control..

I’m just back from a few days in England. It’s the first time I’ve been over in a couple of years but really noticeable how expensive groceries have become over there. Also many supermarkets have less choice and more gaps on shelves. Given how low their welfare payments are when compared to ours you can see why so many people rely on food banks in England. I’m hoping it’s not a direction we are moving in.

If you meal plan you should still be able to shop on a decent budget. It's the people who don't do a weekly shop but pick up things throughout the week that will be hardest hit.

People who are worried about their grocery bills are unlikely to be shopping in SuperValu, voucher or not.

Completely understandable that that's the sense. But I'm genuinely unsure that sense is accurate.

And this isn't popular what I'm about to say (I'm questioning myself over it too)

But they're doing it for a reason, in all cases it comes down to a combination of a lack of supply, and a willingness of people to pay.

Hotels for example, are basic 3 stars charging 300quid a night for the craic? They couldn't fill them at 80 quid a night 10 years ago. Are they quoting 300 quid just to leave all the rooms empty and go bust? No, they're charging it and filling their rooms, and still having demand.

Fuel and food suffering the same problems-the shipping routes, staffing issues, the decimation of "just in time" logistics has led to a huge drop in supply, missing items or irregular/uncertain amounts. Yet the global demand for those goods is still there. Hence price rises.

Similar to hotel rooms, 10 years ago we had supermarkets selling carrots for 9c a kilo, competing on various items as loss leaders simply to get people in the door. Restaurants were doing crazy cut price offers, some pubs 2.50 pints. The demand wasn't there, they needed footfall.

Remember in 2011 the calls to reduce vat to 9% so restaurants could either have a bit of breathing space, or lower their prices just to get customers in the door.

Funnily, I remember McDonald's advertising a Big Mac Meal slashed to about 5.75 at the time. https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2011/0630/303063-mibusiness/

The problem now is, we have a scarcity of products but strong demand.

Calls for introducing anything on the stimulus side of things is madness imo. Fuel on the fire. Pumping money into the economy only gives people extra money to throw at the same amount of goods, pushing prices further.

The supply issues need to be addressed. The logistics issues. But in all reality, the government cannot impact what is now a massive intertwined and global supply chain issue.

Vat cuts, grants, increase in money supply, that's what you do when a market is dead, to encourage people to go out and spend as per the examples of c. 2012. You don't do it now putting in more money, to chase the same amount of goods.