> But the effect he discribes in the linked article is a backwards pricing relationship between necessities (food, rent, housing) and non-necessities (TVs, air-

> But the effect he discribes in the linked article is a backwards pricing relationship between necessities (food, rent, housing) and non-necessities (TVs, air-fryers, etc.). That makes sense. But I also think there are simpler explanations, which is that smartphones and TVs are sectors where a lot of effort continues to go into automation and price reduction, and there are still lots of gains to be made there. Those products are also not fundamentally energy-input sensitive - if anything, newer production methods tend to use less energy than previous production methods. Food production is extremely sensitive to energy and fertilizer prices, which have also gone up significantly. You have to keep a chicken at a particular temperature, or it won't lay eggs. And also, food has just been very cheap for a long time, so it was already at high risk of price increases.