Note that this chart only shows changes in price and ignores the change in quality. A modern TV blows the doors off of a TV from 20 years ago, and yet costs a fraction as much.
Local prices and taxes vary, though! Currently my usual order, a barbacoa burrito with guac, is $15.44 for pickup at my local Chipotle in Atlanta, GA. I know I've seen close to $20 for the same order when traveling.
The most expensive locations are located in New York City, but they also have significantly higher wages. There's no doubt a $20 burrito exists, but they are far from the norm.
in 2024, everyone conceded prices were too high, and no one wanted to hear about covid supply shock inflation. after all, why debate what everyone experiences daily?
so americans elected trump who did not bother explaining inflation to a poorly educated public, but promised to bring ABSOLUTE prices down for cars, houses, gas, food, etc...
since 2024 prices have done nothing but gone up, but presumably at a lower rate, so we're good now. it may fly on fox news, but i dont see the gop running midterms on affordability.
It's hard to get people to realize that prices almost never fall in nominal terms outside a recession. It doesn't help that "inflation is slowing" is factually true, but people read that to mean prices are falling. It's precisely what this newsletter's trying to chip away at, though I'm well aware I'm one guy against a much better-funded outrage machine.
part of the 'perception' problem is likely that absolute liquid savings are weak for the lower-K crowd. they dont even need to understand\admit the purchasing power also keeps dropping.
incapable of attributing this to trump\gop, but may at least skip the midterms.
Why are you not mentioning tariffs and shrinkflation, and greedflation. Is the burrito the same size as it was in 2022? Unless I missed it you didnt mention how companies are making record profits ripping us off. A 10 dollar burrito is still a rip off maybe they should cut the rice filler to save money. Rice doesn't belong in a burrito.
Shrinkflation is worth digging into if you've got reliable data on portion sizes specifically. Thankfully, there are plenty of other options for where to dine out if you aren't a fan of their business practices.
Eyes make a pretty good determination of size lol I'm sure there's food reviews on YT from 2022. Anyway, I don't eat outside anymore. I cook my own food and its better. lol No rice in a burrito.
What would be interesting to see is the price of a delivered burrito over time (perhaps last two decades). I would imagine that since there wasn't much of a market pre-delivery apps, in many places such a price would have been very high.
This is where my memory is slipping, but I always think about pizza as THE delivery food. I know we tipped, but I don't remember if there were substantial delivery fees (if there fees at all).
Hey, I'm not an economist, but $20 is $20
I absolutely love the "time price" concept, and every time it comes up, I am reminded of https://humanprogress.org/light-has-burst-forth-in-astonishing-abundance-2/
Another thing I often think of in the context of affordability and living standards isn't just the devaluing of the dollar, but the often even greater effects of regulation on various industries: https://humanprogress.org/time-pricing-and-mark-perrys-chart-of-the-century/
Note that this chart only shows changes in price and ignores the change in quality. A modern TV blows the doors off of a TV from 20 years ago, and yet costs a fraction as much.
There are two macroeconomic stories that I always love, and the value of light is one of them. The other is the satellite images of North and South Korea at night: https://science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-observatory/the-koreas-at-night-83182/
Local prices and taxes vary, though! Currently my usual order, a barbacoa burrito with guac, is $15.44 for pickup at my local Chipotle in Atlanta, GA. I know I've seen close to $20 for the same order when traveling.
The most expensive locations are located in New York City, but they also have significantly higher wages. There's no doubt a $20 burrito exists, but they are far from the norm.
Here's a look around the country: https://www.chipotlecost.com/
hhmmm.
in 2024, everyone conceded prices were too high, and no one wanted to hear about covid supply shock inflation. after all, why debate what everyone experiences daily?
so americans elected trump who did not bother explaining inflation to a poorly educated public, but promised to bring ABSOLUTE prices down for cars, houses, gas, food, etc...
since 2024 prices have done nothing but gone up, but presumably at a lower rate, so we're good now. it may fly on fox news, but i dont see the gop running midterms on affordability.
It's hard to get people to realize that prices almost never fall in nominal terms outside a recession. It doesn't help that "inflation is slowing" is factually true, but people read that to mean prices are falling. It's precisely what this newsletter's trying to chip away at, though I'm well aware I'm one guy against a much better-funded outrage machine.
part of the 'perception' problem is likely that absolute liquid savings are weak for the lower-K crowd. they dont even need to understand\admit the purchasing power also keeps dropping.
incapable of attributing this to trump\gop, but may at least skip the midterms.
Why are you not mentioning tariffs and shrinkflation, and greedflation. Is the burrito the same size as it was in 2022? Unless I missed it you didnt mention how companies are making record profits ripping us off. A 10 dollar burrito is still a rip off maybe they should cut the rice filler to save money. Rice doesn't belong in a burrito.
Shrinkflation is worth digging into if you've got reliable data on portion sizes specifically. Thankfully, there are plenty of other options for where to dine out if you aren't a fan of their business practices.
Eyes make a pretty good determination of size lol I'm sure there's food reviews on YT from 2022. Anyway, I don't eat outside anymore. I cook my own food and its better. lol No rice in a burrito.
What would be interesting to see is the price of a delivered burrito over time (perhaps last two decades). I would imagine that since there wasn't much of a market pre-delivery apps, in many places such a price would have been very high.
This is where my memory is slipping, but I always think about pizza as THE delivery food. I know we tipped, but I don't remember if there were substantial delivery fees (if there fees at all).