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Hn has a highly inflated view of the economy because we only see the top of the economic pie. I shop at cheap ethnic stores because I grew up with that food and

Hn has a highly inflated view of the economy because we only see the top of the economic pie. I shop at cheap ethnic stores because I grew up with that food and the prices that poor people see are two to three times what they were 5 years ago. Telling this to someone who buys premium organic free range eggs is like trying to explain to a fish that a flood doesn't benefit everyone.

rmbyrro 2y ago
Loved the fish analogy
throwup238 2y ago
It’s funny you mention eggs because I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country with legally mandated cage free eggs and Trader Joes has them for $2.99 a dozen when people keep complaining about $6+ a dozen in the rest of the country (which is what I’d pay if I wanted the premium organic free range shit). When a famously expensive grocery store for yuppies has cheap eggs in Southern California, I figure the OP is right in their word choice: it’s a vibe-cession. I also shop mostly at ethnic grocery stores (Superking, Ranch 99, H mart, etc) and IMO the problem isn’t inflation but general consolidation across many industries. I’m always shocked when I travel to less populated regions (even in California) and see their grocery availability, usually dominated by a single major chain like Albertsons or a local one like Publix. SoCal has competitive prices for groceries despite the high cost of living because there are so many people (and immigrants) to support many competitors, none of whom have real pricing power. My grocery budget hasn’t gone up significantly in the last five years despite switching to Costco for my meat rather than the cheaper halaal butcher. Eggs are always more expensive at the ethnic stores here but cheap at TJs because they use it as a competitive loss leader. A lot of the country can’t support such competition so there’s zero incentive for suppliers to drive down costs.
- zeroonetwothree 2y ago
  TJs is famously cheap, not expensive.
  - throwup238 2y ago
    Not where I come from. I grew up in the area, not far from the first Trader Joes and down the street from the second, and it’s always been considered an upscale store because it had so many cheaper competitors a few miles away. It was founded to supply the wealthy neighborhoods of Pasadena and South Pasadena.
    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - ska 2y ago
      I think you are kind of both right. When TJ’S started they intentionally wouldn’t sell things like milk and eggs because they couldn’t compete with big chains. The niche they were after were “over educated and under paid”. So they were famously cheap for things that poor and blue collar families weren’t looking for anyway. UMC goods on a LMC budget, really.
  - xenospn 2y ago
    TJs is not cheap.
- llm_trw 2y ago
  It's not a vibe-session when the bottom 50% see inflation that five times the headline rate. It's class warfare and somehow the party of the people is the one defending it.
  - Der_Einzige 2y ago
    [flagged]
  - sangnoir 2y ago
    In the fight between labor and capital, the favored class is right there on the label of the economic system. Class warfare is a built-in feature of capitalism - no mainstream American political party is going to repudiate capitalism; the DSA is far from the mainstream and this is exactly its main bone of contention with center/center-right liberals. There hasn't been an unabashedly pro-labor major political party in the US anymore since Bill Clinton's "Third way".
- asdff 2y ago
  Eggs are such a red herring. I pay $6 for eggs. You know how much I’d save with eggs at half price? A whopping $12 a month. Meanwhile my rent goes up by 10x that a year and thats with rent control. Everyone gets all bent out of shape about the price of gas and the price of food but that could realistically double and you’d only be out another what $200 a month or so. No its the rent that is the squeeze for most people not the eggs being $6 and the gas being $5. But of course that is the headlines and not the focus on the lack of housing supply due to restrictive zoning.
  - casey2 2y ago
    but there are 12 months in a year so eggs outweigh rent here
    - asdff 2y ago
      $120 a month >>> $12.
  - weberer 2y ago
    >Meanwhile my rent goes up by 10x that a year and thats with rent control. You mean 10%? 10x is just not believable.
    - asdff 2y ago
      No, like the montly rate might go up by $120 a month or more each year which is 10x $12.

rmbyrro 2y ago

Loved the fish analogy

throwup238 2y ago

It’s funny you mention eggs because I live in one of the highest cost of living areas in the country with legally mandated cage free eggs and Trader Joes has them for $2.99 a dozen when people keep complaining about $6+ a dozen in the rest of the country (which is what I’d pay if I wanted the premium organic free range shit). When a famously expensive grocery store for yuppies has cheap eggs in Southern California, I figure the OP is right in their word choice: it’s a vibe-cession. I also shop mostly at ethnic grocery stores (Superking, Ranch 99, H mart, etc) and IMO the problem isn’t inflation but general consolidation across many industries. I’m always shocked when I travel to less populated regions (even in California) and see their grocery availability, usually dominated by a single major chain like Albertsons or a local one like Publix. SoCal has competitive prices for groceries despite the high cost of living because there are so many people (and immigrants) to support many competitors, none of whom have real pricing power. My grocery budget hasn’t gone up significantly in the last five years despite switching to Costco for my meat rather than the cheaper halaal butcher. Eggs are always more expensive at the ethnic stores here but cheap at TJs because they use it as a competitive loss leader. A lot of the country can’t support such competition so there’s zero incentive for suppliers to drive down costs.

zeroonetwothree 2y ago
TJs is famously cheap, not expensive.
- throwup238 2y ago
  Not where I come from. I grew up in the area, not far from the first Trader Joes and down the street from the second, and it’s always been considered an upscale store because it had so many cheaper competitors a few miles away. It was founded to supply the wealthy neighborhoods of Pasadena and South Pasadena.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - ska 2y ago
    I think you are kind of both right. When TJ’S started they intentionally wouldn’t sell things like milk and eggs because they couldn’t compete with big chains. The niche they were after were “over educated and under paid”. So they were famously cheap for things that poor and blue collar families weren’t looking for anyway. UMC goods on a LMC budget, really.
- xenospn 2y ago
  TJs is not cheap.
llm_trw 2y ago
It's not a vibe-session when the bottom 50% see inflation that five times the headline rate. It's class warfare and somehow the party of the people is the one defending it.
- Der_Einzige 2y ago
  [flagged]
- sangnoir 2y ago
  In the fight between labor and capital, the favored class is right there on the label of the economic system. Class warfare is a built-in feature of capitalism - no mainstream American political party is going to repudiate capitalism; the DSA is far from the mainstream and this is exactly its main bone of contention with center/center-right liberals. There hasn't been an unabashedly pro-labor major political party in the US anymore since Bill Clinton's "Third way".
asdff 2y ago
Eggs are such a red herring. I pay $6 for eggs. You know how much I’d save with eggs at half price? A whopping $12 a month. Meanwhile my rent goes up by 10x that a year and thats with rent control. Everyone gets all bent out of shape about the price of gas and the price of food but that could realistically double and you’d only be out another what $200 a month or so. No its the rent that is the squeeze for most people not the eggs being $6 and the gas being $5. But of course that is the headlines and not the focus on the lack of housing supply due to restrictive zoning.
- casey2 2y ago
  but there are 12 months in a year so eggs outweigh rent here
  - asdff 2y ago
    $120 a month >>> $12.
- weberer 2y ago
  >Meanwhile my rent goes up by 10x that a year and thats with rent control. You mean 10%? 10x is just not believable.
  - asdff 2y ago
    No, like the montly rate might go up by $120 a month or more each year which is 10x $12.