As much as most people see their own hardships and at most what surrounds them, this is a global phenomenon that affects the poorer and middle class the most, while the rich will probably use it to get richer.
I don't even know how much prices have grown in my country since the Covid, or in how many waves, but sometimes you simply can't believe where they've gotten unless you see an invoice from a few years back for the same thing, and nowadays the cost is 2.5x or 3x higher. My father needs to renew the mandatory car insurance for an old utility car he owns. Compared to last year, the price is 2.5x higher and probably higher than the car is worth, but he doesn't want to sell it. He will have to, at some point, because he won't have a choice...
We are still coping well with all the price increases, but enough people have to live with less income than we have, as an extended family. That doesn't mean that we are not concerned about the future.
I like the picture above because it shows a difference in mentality: "Will work for food" is different from "Give me some money to buy food".
I am a good observant, and, we can notice how difficult is life for people in different ways:
- by seeing what and where they shop
- by observing their reactions
- by noticing changing habits
Regarding shopping things are evident. If you can't afford to buy, you stop buying or buy only the essentials. Sort of, you will see...
On my way from the dentist's appointment yesterday, I went by a tax office. I don't believe anyone goes to such a place happily, even during "good times". But I noticed a completely blown out of proportions reaction there that denotes the respective person was under tremendous stress, in my non-expert opinion. I know our bureaucracy can drive you crazy, but if you couple that with a shortage of money and you need to pay taxes you consider unnecessary or exaggerated, things can get out of hand, and the target of your frustration may not be to blame.
Something else I noticed on my walk back from my appointment, is that people started to smoke more. It could be that I ran into all the smokers and the non-smokers avoided me, so I made the wrong impression. Being a non-smoker myself, I tend to remark them easily.
I know smokers smoke more or more often when they are under a lot of pressure or stress. That may give the illusion of a short-term alleviation of stress but at the cost of becoming addicted and the expense burden that comes with it.
Meeting so many people who smoked on my way home, makes me think the level of stress is on the rise due to times getting harder.
When I see all this and the trend we have had regarding the cost of living, plus the increased likelihood of escalated pockets of hot war zones, it comes to my mind the approximative quote from Klaus Schwabb, head of the World Economic Forum: "By 2030, you’ll own nothing. And you’ll be happy."
Of course, we are hoping some crypto assets will be resistant to such a future. But most of us are thinking this from the comfort of our chairs...