The Taste of an Economic Downturn

[Darker45]

I wonder how ordinary people around the world felt the worsening economic situation in their respective countries. I know that although many are very much aware of the soaring inflation, nothing has changed much in their day to day lives. I can observe that in some families. They seem oblivious of how the prices of basic goods and services are rising in double digits.

From my household, however, we can literally taste the economic downturn. It feels odd and sad that we have to sacrifice taste in order to somehow cushion the impact of the economic problems my country is facing. Onion here is already hitting $12.57 a kilo. Depending on the size, that's about $0.63 apiece. Cooking an ordinary dish for a small family requires a bulb or two. During this holiday season especially, we normally need tens of onions. That's not affordable anymore. So we had to greatly reduce the use of onions and try not to care about how the dish would turn out. On ordinary days, onions are even removed from the ingredients.

I had to share this here because it feels like the economic situation has already affected the most basic need of everybody. It seems insignificant because it's only a spice, but I thought that if the economic situation is already affecting everybody's taste buds, it could mean things are getting pretty serious.

I wonder, especially in other countries, how drastic is the change in your daily life that's brought about by this economic downturn?

[1715632595]

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[stompix]

Onion here is already hitting $12.57 a kilo.
~
I wonder, especially in other countries, how drastic is the change in your daily life that's brought about by this economic downturn?

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

Walmart  (99.3 ¢/lb-$1.26/lb) that's max 3$ per kilo
Tesco uk 1-3 per kilp
Carrefour fr from 1-4

I feel we're talking about something else, but I'm still curious about what kind of onion is more expensive than pork ribs or loin here.

I know that although many are very much aware of the soaring inflation, nothing has changed much in their day to day lives.

Because in a lot of families not that much has changed, of course in some countries things are worse, but in some things are not that bad at all, it all comes to how much the individuals in those countries were spending on the items that increased:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/12/this-map-shows-how-much-each-country-spends-on-food/

Europeans that spent 10% on food with prices doubled, now they would have to pay 20% of their income.
For the countries on the bottom of that list, a doubling means from 40% to 80-90%, the same is for different families in the same country, if they had the means previously they won't feel the pain that much now either.

[BigBos]

So far I haven't felt anything significant from price changes, from staples or anything else, because maybe in my country inflation is measured at 5% so I don't feel like I have to spend any more money for basic kitchen needs like the price of shallots which are still $ 2.8/kg and Onion (large) $1.7/kg, so I think in my country it's still pretty stable in terms of price, but what's more difficult is the increase in the price of vehicle fuel and cooking oil. In my country, the increase of these two commodities is more pronounced which is also a need that is considered basic for food activities and serving. the rest are still relatively stable in terms of price.

[Lucius]

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

I also wonder where the price of onions is so high, and I guess it could be somewhere in Asia considering that the price for the Philippines (September 2022) shows $6.74 per kilo. It seems that for some reason the price of red onions in the Philippines is skyrocketing, and whether it's because they didn't produce enough or they have import problems is still unknown.

Onion price in the Philippines has become the most expensive in the world, based on a global price monitoring website. 
In Metro Manila, a kilo of red onions costs around P280 to P300 based on the latest monitoring of the Department of Agriculture. 
This is more than three folds higher than the global average price of $1.51 (P85.14), based on Global Product Prices. ($1= P56.39; Figures from Google exchange rate)
A kilo of red onions is also more expensive than a kilo of chicken priced at P190. 

As far as food is concerned and red onions specifically, I have my own that I produced last year, and for about $3-4 dollars of seed I produce enough for my needs throughout the year. There is no doubt that food has become more expensive, this was definitely seen this year during the shopping for the holidays, because I paid for everything from 20% to over 100% more than a year ago.

[Alduron]

Inflation is soaring and we will feel the consequences soon.
Using the moneyprinter very liberal always results in peoples hard earned money losing its value  basicly people in power
take what they did not earn.

[BIT-BENDER]

Happy new year everyone. This is a very relatable topic because I am from a country that it’s economic situation is lavishing in the mud, it’s quite understandable that the world is having difficult economic times but my country is amongst the worse and that is because of how the economic situation is now.

This festive period even saw my country that export crude oil out of the country has to very close to doubling the price of gas recently.

For an average man it’s getting more difficult to live and also worse when there are family responsibilities hanging on one’s shoulders.

[jackg]

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

I also wonder where the price of onions is so high, and I guess it could be somewhere in Asia considering that the price for the Philippines (September 2022) shows $6.74 per kilo. It seems that for some reason the price of red onions in the Philippines is skyrocketing, and whether it's because they didn't produce enough or they have import problems is still unknown.

I'd assume it was import based issued that means that onions cost more.

I'm not sure the UK and France are good comparisons for onion prices as I'd assume they'd remain pretty stable since wild garlic is abundant in the UK (to an extent apparently a lot of people didn't eat it before the 80s because it was considered a weed).

@OP can you work out why this is happening? It's possible to grown onions from parts of onions so you might get away with doing that to keep a supply going for you to be able to use if it's going to last quite a while (though apparently they take 4 months to grow).


I was buying quite a few electronic items over Christmas and it's surprising me they've become quite a lot cheaper and I don't really know why. Perhaps this is companies still trying to sell things or getting cheaper transport fees because they're devices are small compared to other items that are being moved (a computer is likely much easier to transport than flour, grains or meat).

[lionheart78]

I wonder how ordinary people around the world felt the worsening economic situation in their respective countries. I know that although many are very much aware of the soaring inflation, nothing has changed much in their day to day lives. I can observe that in some families. They seem oblivious of how the prices of basic goods and services are rising in double digits.

It is quite frustrating and at the same time worrying.  As the sole earner of the family, I am worried that my salary isn't enough for our basic needs due to the price hike.  We used to be able to save some money but now even our savings had been touched because of this price increase.

Inflation is soaring and we will feel the consequences soon.
Using the moneyprinter very liberal always results in peoples hard earned money losing its value  basicly people in power
take what they did not earn.

We already feel the consequences, the value of our money and its purchase power is already in a decline. 

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

I also wonder where the price of onions is so high, and I guess it could be somewhere in Asia considering that the price for the Philippines (September 2022) shows $6.74 per kilo. It seems that for some reason the price of red onions in the Philippines is skyrocketing, and whether it's because they didn't produce enough or they have import problems is still unknown.

I also could'nt remove the possibility of some merchants hoarding the item to inflate its price.

[bitgov]

I wonder how ordinary people around the world felt the worsening economic situation in their respective countries. I know that although many are very much aware of the soaring inflation, nothing has changed much in their day to day lives. I can observe that in some families. They seem oblivious of how the prices of basic goods and services are rising in double digits.

From my household, however, we can literally taste the economic downturn. It feels odd and sad that we have to sacrifice taste in order to somehow cushion the impact of the economic problems my country is facing. Onion here is already hitting $12.57 a kilo. Depending on the size, that's about $0.63 apiece. Cooking an ordinary dish for a small family requires a bulb or two. During this holiday season especially, we normally need tens of onions. That's not affordable anymore. So we had to greatly reduce the use of onions and try not to care about how the dish would turn out. On ordinary days, onions are even removed from the ingredients.

I had to share this here because it feels like the economic situation has already affected the most basic need of everybody. It seems insignificant because it's only a spice, but I thought that if the economic situation is already affecting everybody's taste buds, it could mean things are getting pretty serious.

I wonder, especially in other countries, how drastic is the change in your daily life that's brought about by this economic downturn?

people are very upset firstly due to the health issues and that on going COVID and other disease
and secondly the prices of all the eatable items has increased to the extreme and they are beyond the reach of the ordinary person.

[dothebeats]

I know that although many are very much aware of the soaring inflation, nothing has changed much in their day to day lives.

Pretty sure a lot families who previously bought everything in bulk are now just opting to buy in retail in order to "save" or not spend too much on one thing and still have the budget to spend on the other. Luckily for us it hasn't come to that point yet, but boy it's ridiculous how much every single item costs nowadays compared to its previous prices.

Onion here is already hitting $12.57 a kilo.
~
I wonder, especially in other countries, how drastic is the change in your daily life that's brought about by this economic downturn?

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

Walmart  (99.3 ¢/lb-$1.26/lb) that's max 3$ per kilo
Tesco uk 1-3 per kilp
Carrefour fr from 1-4

I feel we're talking about something else, but I'm still curious about what kind of onion is more expensive than pork ribs or loin here.

OP is surely from the Philippines. It's crazy how onion is much, much more expensive than that of the main ingredients for a basic meal. We in the upper middle class even skipped meals that require onions in order to complete the recipe. That's how things are currently here, and the government is adamant that there isn't some kind of hoarding that's going on nor the onion sellers are banding together to create an artificial shortage of a commodity that can easily be farmed even at the comfort of our homes.

We just planted our own onions in our garden hoping to be self-sufficient when it comes to these simple spices that can heavily be controlled by traders at will.

Hereis an article from CNN Philippines outlining how bad the current situation is. Prices of onions per kilo doubled almost overnight just because of the holiday season.

I'd assume it was import based issued that means that onions cost more.

That's the crazy part. The country is known to have very fertile soil apt for growing onions all year round, except during hurricane seasons but still, there are loads of farmlands wherein you can grow onions without a problem. A lot of crops, vegetables, spices, and literally anything that a farmer can produce here in the Philippines, we now import. According to official reports from the government, the country didn't produce enough onions approaching the holiday season. Imports are also not that good hence the limited supply. Onion is a very important commodity in here, especially during the holidays, and so a lot of people are speculating that this is an orchestrated attempt to gouge the prices in order to make a huge profit off of the situation.

I was buying quite a few electronic items over Christmas and it's surprising me they've become quite a lot cheaper and I don't really know why. Perhaps this is companies still trying to sell things or getting cheaper transport fees because they're devices are small compared to other items that are being moved (a computer is likely much easier to transport than flour, grains or meat).

I heard electronic components became a lot cheaper and readily available in 2022 compared to 2021. If they were really cheaper, PC parts should also be included but unfortunately that's not the case, although the prices of GPUs and RAMs were relatively cheaper compared to 2020 and 2021 that's for sure.

[bestcoins1]

Inflation is soaring and we will feel the consequences soon.
Using the moneyprinter very liberal always results in peoples hard earned money losing its value  basicly people in power
take what they did not earn.

Don't feel depressed and hopeless with current conditions or inflation, because you can find your own way that might be very different from other people in dealing with inflation. Because if you are a person who has a permanent job or a special job, you will still get a salary even in conditions of inflation, every expenditure must be seriously considered before we experience a dying condition because we have no money. So don't be sad if there is work you can still do at this time that can help you fight inflation for yourself.

[adaseb]

I do agree with what you are saying. Everyone is complaining about inflation. Everyone is complaining about their grocery bill. So you would think people would cut back on luxuries like restaurants or vacations, correct? No.

Restaurants are packed and people are still travelling. So basically people go on their day as usual. I think this might have to do with the fact that job market is tight. People work overtime because employers have trouble finding workers. Hence they make more from their current job. Or they get a higher paying job which is paying more due to the worker shortage.

[Dickiy]

Yes, agree with you, the economic situation affects everyone's taste.
I am currently forced to eat less sugar, fewer spices, and fast more so I don't spend more money to buy stomach needs.

The food crisis and rising energy prices have affected the price of every form of food and clothing, coupled with an increase in inflation, the price has increased by 30-70% from the usual price. I just hope that everything will stabilize again so that I can save money again to buy Bitcoin, my bitcoin savings that I have sold, even at a loss, because yes I don't have any more money to cover my needs.

I hope that in 2023 everything will return to normal as many have hoped.

[Poker Player]

Where do you live and what kind of giant secret recipe golden plated onions are those?

I believe he lives in the Philippines. Perhaps for some reason onions are not produced much there and that is why they are more expensive.

I wonder how ordinary people around the world felt the worsening economic situation in their respective countries.

In general, with inflation in many parts of the world, prices have gone up, and if salaries have gone up, in most cases they have not gone up as much as inflation, so people have less purchasing power, and what they do is reduce expenses. Another thing that has happened is that the main payment that families have, which is usually housing, has also risen due to the increase in interest rates. Those who had a variable rate mortgage have their payment increased with the revisions, those who take out a mortgage now also pay more for it than a few months ago, and to a certain extent this is also transferred to the rental market.

In the end, people have to do the same or more with less, and that is what central banks are looking for, lowering demand to lower inflation, which is done at the cost of the suffering of families.

That is why it is good to keep Bitcoin, although now it has fallen, in the medium and long term it maintains and even increases the purchasing power quite a lot.

[Alpha Marine]

I wonder, especially in other countries, how drastic is the change in your daily life that's brought about by this economic downturn?

Personally, I don't think this year is going to economically better that year, in fact I believe it might be worst, especially for developing countries. The inflation doesn't seem to be going down anytime soon. Funny thing, it doesn't affect everything the same time but after a three month period at least a dollar has been added to the price of almost everything.
And in developing countries, the price of petrol has a domino effect on the price of almost everything.

[BALIK]

I believe it depends on where we live, I live in the countryside, and all of our daily meals are self-sufficient, so we don't feel any change from the economic crisis. Most people in my village never talk about crises or recessions, and they don't care about what's happening in the world. The most significant change that we feel is the price of gasoline occurred at the beginning of the year when the war was just starting, but by the last months of 2022, gas prices had also decreased somewhat.

[aoluain]

I believe it depends on where we live, I live in the countryside, and all of our daily meals are self-sufficient, so we don't feel any change from the economic crisis. Most people in my village never talk about crises or recessions, and they don't care about what's happening in the world. The most significant change that we feel is the price of gasoline occurred at the beginning of the year when the war was just starting, but by the last months of 2022, gas prices had also decreased somewhat.

The price of "energy", Gas, petrol, diesel and kerosene have all made an impact on
people's day to day living but let's not forget the effect the banks are having on most of us.

Banks have raised interest rates to curb the growing inflation which means anyone
with a loan or mortgage is paying more now than this time last year and this is on top of
the added expenses which inflation brings.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I am very surprised by the price of onions. For my country, this is just a cosmic price. If we compare all the products that have increased in price, it is the price of onions that remains the cheapest, although this particular vegetable is very popular in cooking in my country. And yes, the rise in food prices, compared with the prices of electronics, for example, has been very large. Today, it is easier to buy an extra phone or TV than to buy necessities, namely food. Wages remain at the turn of 2020, although everything has risen in price for a long time.

[Darker45]

I'd assume it was import based issued that means that onions cost more.

I'm not sure the UK and France are good comparisons for onion prices as I'd assume they'd remain pretty stable since wild garlic is abundant in the UK (to an extent apparently a lot of people didn't eat it before the 80s because it was considered a weed).

@OP can you work out why this is happening? It's possible to grown onions from parts of onions so you might get away with doing that to keep a supply going for you to be able to use if it's going to last quite a while (though apparently they take 4 months to grow).

If only imported onions entered the country, the price would have been low. If I'm not mistaken, imports of onions were withheld for the reason that local harvesting usually starts in the 2nd week of December. That means local supply will flood the market and such abundance is supposed to bring the prices down. To everybody's surprise, however, the price continued to rise even at the end of December, and until now. It's almost hitting $13 a kilo.

There are various reasons cited. Again, there's the decision not to import. Another is hoarding and price manipulation. There's also the fact that it's holiday season, although the price has already been rising for months. As a matter of fact, just 6 months ago, a kilo is only around $2. But of all the reasons cited, none is convincing enough. I suspect that a few powerful people up there are benefitting from this that's why they prefer to keep it this way. And even though freshly harvested onions are coming in volumes, the price won't easily go down. Back when a kilo was worth $6, middlemen were only buying it from actual farmers at $0.50.

I'd say this is largely about the government sitting on its job. And it's probably intentional. The price has been rising for months, and I can't feel any urgency from them. The chairperson of the senate committee on agriculture just brushed the issue off saying she can live without onions. This is the same old woman who just encouraged people to reduce their consumption on rice when its price soared intolerably high.

[Lucius]

The chairperson of the senate committee on agriculture just brushed the issue off saying she can live without onions. This is the same old woman who just encouraged people to reduce their consumption on rice when its price soared intolerably high.

Such people have no sympathy for other people, and that is why her statements should be well remembered and everything should be done so that in the next elections she and her party get as few votes as possible. However, I hope that people will still learn from everything and realize how important self-sufficiency is, so even though it is unrealistic to expect that anyone can be 100% self-sufficient, anyone who has a little land can produce vegetables such as onions, potatoes, lettuce, carrots and parsley and many other cultures that do not require any special knowledge or too much effort.