T McGibney
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Indo - "There is no cost of living crisis for majority of people in Ireland says IBEC CEO"
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Okay, so it's not higher taxes on producers and distributors which are causing food price increases, it's reduced supply. There's no increased taxes on farmers in India or South America. Food price increases there are down to severe weather events. I'm not going to get into a discussion about climate change, it's like discussing evolution with a creationist.
Let's stay on topic; my post was in the context of a discussion about cost of living increases. All else being equal food prices are going up because there have been a succession of severe weather events which have reduced yields.
Let's stay on topic; my post was in the context of a discussion about cost of living increases. All else being equal food prices are going up because there have been a succession of severe weather events which have reduced yields.
T McGibney
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A food product that leaves the farm gate in India or South America will never ever be sold to a first world consumer at the same price the famer gets for it.
Higher taxes on intermediary producers and distributors will of course end up being absorbed into prices charged to consumers.
Yee, but, as the article points out, the food prices have gone up in India and South America due to shortages as a result of lower yields caused by an increased level of sever weather events.
Just back from holidays, including a trip to Rome which you would expect to be expensive. It wasn't. I could get a perfectly good pizza in a sit down restaurant for €10-€12 which was clearly of a far higher quality than anything I get at home and which would likely cost me 50% higher.
In regards to all of the stats on food shortages, a litre of milk in a small local supermarket was €1.29. Why was it so much cheaper then here at home.
Given the Italian VAT rate is 22% (and I accept the devil hear may be in the detail), how are they able to do it so much cheaper then we can ?
In regards to all of the stats on food shortages, a litre of milk in a small local supermarket was €1.29. Why was it so much cheaper then here at home.
Given the Italian VAT rate is 22% (and I accept the devil hear may be in the detail), how are they able to do it so much cheaper then we can ?
T McGibney
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The Irish dairy cow grazes on grass. Her Italian cousin lives and eats in confined indoor facilities, with limited or no access to pasture and a considerably worse animal welfare environment.
It's €1.25 in most supermarkets here.
No VAT (or, technically 0% VAT) on milk here. 4% on milk in Italy.
VAT rates in Italy | Stripe
Find out the number and types of VAT rates currently used in Italy, the goods and services each rate applies to, and the date they were introduced.
stripe.com
Average wages for waiters in Italy range from €7.80 to €10 an hour. In agriculture it's €7-€8 an hour. If wages are 50% lower then costs will also probably be significantly lower.
T McGibney
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When our wages were 50% lower than they are now, there were many cheap and cheerful places serving €10-€12 pizza.
Catch 22, people need to earn more money to cover their living costs but by constantly increasing wages, it drives up living costs and the circle continues
Yes, but it doesn't drive up living costs evenly.
The things that are most affected by the cost of labour are, unsurprisingly, labour-intensive services like, yes, getting a coffee in a cafe. The cost of the coffee is trivial; the great bulk of the price you pay goes towards wages and rent. Whereas labour costs are a smaller component of the price of, say, a new television, or a flight to Rome. So with your own elevated earnings you'll be able to buy more televisions and more flights to Rome, but the cost of a coffee will continue to shock you.
Taking a step back. If we had our own floating currency prices the Punt would be worth more if economy strong so prices here would seem more stable. On holiday your punt would buy more lira. It would buy more importe so less need for minimum wage inceases.
Im not saying we shouldnt have joined the Euro but this seems in part a side effect of that... with a common currency prices and wages rise and fall more or seem to at least.
Im not saying we shouldnt have joined the Euro but this seems in part a side effect of that... with a common currency prices and wages rise and fall more or seem to at least.
T McGibney
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This has been a self evident fact ever since 2008.
Well, without getting into that debate which would deserve its own topic - I noted it here as it impacts how inflation \ cost of living increases manifest in this country and perception of prices abroad.
T McGibney
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I don't agree, the Irish pound would have fallen off a cliff during the financial crash, sure even with the euro we were still effectively locked out of the bond markets and needed to be rescued by eu and imf.
On the other hand both private sector and government would never have been able to access so much credit at such low interest rates with Irish pound. A free floating pound would have enforced more discipline and less speculative growth and bloated government spending. Would the US have moved their IP to Ireland with an Irish pound as currency, probably not. Probably have a smaller economy, smaller immigration and muted housing market a bit like Northern Ireland
T McGibney
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We had a boom in the 1990s that Northern Ireland didn't share.
The 90s boom was more typical of other booms with our own currency, it was after euro came in 2002 that everything went crazy as Ireland was then open to all that cheap European money, interest rates were very low to kick start german economy after german unification