The Taste of an Economic Downturn

[Marcellin9]

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.

Agreed. In my hometown, I don't feel much different except the increase of gasline prices. I guess we are lucky to be this but in most places, prices have gone up due to the economic downturn or post-epidemic recession. Countless people lost their jobs and the inflation is getting worse as you can feel it. The problem is not now but may come later in the near future. What can I say ? Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

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[Inwestour]

Things have not been that easy with affordability in meeting up with the daily needs because of the poor economy all over the world whereby inflation impact has created fear to what tomorrow may be, it has been a race of the survival of the fittest, things have gone so badly that obe has to almost lose hope in restoration back to the usuals, the economy downtown is what has been created unnoticed ever since the pandemic closedown the shut down many businesses and now we are beginning to see the effect of it since the past years.

This is a domino effect and the consequences of this we will see for a long time. Inflation will lower the standard of living for many vulnerable segments of the population around the world, it is already becoming tangible for everyone, but most likely this is not the end, but only the beginning. Price increases will occur, or are already occurring in several stages, and in the end ordinary people will suffer the most from this.

Many businesses are cutting jobs, many people are losing their jobs, and this will only make the economy worse. Some countries with strong economies will be able to survive this more easily because they have good social programs, but for many it will be a difficult test.

[uneng]

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

The worst part are the changes in the emotional side of people. It's terrible to compare previous years and conclude your life quality is decaying. For us, human beings, it's not normal to decay, since we are constantly fighting to thrive and prosper in every aspects. Then we see people sad, angry, bored, annoyed, hopeless. The incidency of conflicts between each other and mental diseases increase considerably.

With time we need to progress, for which the human living standard is getting downturn. In my country we've got a saying we should know to live in all conditions. When you're in good wealth you should know how to live, same is when you're left without anything. Right now this should be a learning for us to keep ourselves prepared to experience any sort of situation and lead a better life.

That is true. We have to be prepared for every kinds of situations in life, although it's easier said than done. The currently downturn in living standards has to be seen as a challenge to be overcome, instead of a sentence, as most of us see it nowadays. I believe that is how we can find strength in ourselves to continue living with will and energy against all the adversities daily life impose to us.

Despite prices skyrocketing at supermarkets and services getting more expensive, it's still possible to build superior income if we seek for it, through a process of improving ourselves as professionals for the job market.

[so98nn]

Good God keep us away from those rates of onion. I don’t know but I can’t digest that rate really. In my country (farm producer), that would be the market rate for entire carrot. Idk, a carrot would weigh around 20-25 kgs. That’s almost similar rate as to what @stompix mentioned in their post. That’s definitely alien onion. Plus there is no dish (almost) in my country which doesn’t have onion in it. It would taste like I’m eating an empty dish.
Anyways, yes there are issues around the globe, some countries are affected more than the other. But those rates are terrifying. By the way rest of the daily things are still normal in Asian countries. At least that is what news telling us.

[o48o]

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?

I tried to google where onions would be $12 but i guess those prices aren't updated in the net yet.



I had to google reasons for Croatia and Philippines being on the top and got more accurate results. Unsurprisingly it's inflation. (on those countries it seems to be especially bad)
https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/62778-croatian-inflation
https://filipinotimes.net/latest-news/2023/01/02/red-onions-prices-in-the-philippines-soar-to-p650-per-kilo/

My life has changed drastically as well. Not only i managed to mess up exiting crypto in time so i had some savngs, i lost rest of that money to electricity bills and food. (Well almost everything)
Food cost in Finland has doubled too. yet we have onions for something like €1.2 a kilo right now. Now i feel i have to appreciate onions more as a luxury item with garlic and oil.

[Cryptomultiplier]

 Onions are necessary for cooking, heck every day we eat onions. We could go to war for onions.

Very true on all frontiers. Although I do feel onion may be affected by changes in seasons, I.e., climate change that occur seasonally. Hence, a contributing reason to why it is quite unavailable and expensive. Subjecting onion to the only ingredient or item suffering from the economic downturn is being partial, because almost all facets including energy, health care, transportation, is a victim of the economic downturn too.
The economy is quite poor as regards the increasing cost of products and services. Hoping for it to be better is the prayer right now.

[GeorgeJohn]

It depends on the country, because i believe that a country the commodity of things is going up and down is determine directly because of the management of the country economy, an economy of a country is determine by the management and especially by the currency value to another country where they import their business, that should be one of the major thing that behind the inflation of a country towards the areas of getting something.

[Finestream]

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.

The deterioration of the economic situation in my country is not the biggest problem....

As for the economic situation, inflation is very high in my country.  As a result, many people are starting to save on food, clothing, and household items.  People are more likely to repair shoes than throw them in a landfill (as they used to do).  Some imported goods have disappeared from sale.  

However, the range of goods cannot be called scarce.  

The rise in the price of goods leads to the fact that it is profitable to stock (buy a large number of goods without waiting for their price to rise).

Stocking goods may be considered a smart idea but for those who are living in poverty and even hardly eat 3x a day, that would be impossible to happen. That’s very saddening to see people around starving due to consistent price increase of goods. I’m just thankful on my part that despite of this unstoppable inflation, my source of income can still cater and sustain the basic necessities of my family.

[stompix]

I had to google reasons for Croatia and Philippines being on the top and got more accurate results. Unsurprisingly it's inflation. (on those countries it seems to be especially bad)

It would have saved you a headache to look at a chain store in Croatia and question the numbers in that table than search for reasons for made-up numbers,
https://www.konzum.hr/web/products/luk-ljubicasti
The price is 1.19 €/kg and I don't know where the guy who made the table got his numbers from, you can't have prices six times bigger in a country with open borders compared to its neighbor, unless you're Monaco 
Seriously, Slovenia 0.73€,  Croatia, 6.32€ ?

Anyhow, Lucius has posted here, so if he returns he might clear another mystery or myth of the magical red onions that somehow have become the center of the universe!

LE
My bet is on the exchange rate change, 6.39 kuna is around €0.83 so that would be far closer to actual prices and since Croatia switched to euros it messed up the whole table.

[Darker45]

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.

This of course shouldn't be the reason but it would be for sure the cure!

To officially insist not to import even if the sufficiency level right at the source itself is 0% is absurd. That's an insensitive decision. Well, the rich leaders up there can't feel the shortage because they can have much of it regardless of the price.

Of course, importation would have to be balanced. Importing onions, which are much cheaper, could significantly affect local onion farmers. But at this time when even local producers have zero supply? When the price per kilo more than doubles the price of pork, beef, and whatever meat? This is simply ridiculous!

Good God keep us away from those rates of onion. I don’t know but I can’t digest that rate really. In my country (farm producer), that would be the market rate for entire carrot. Idk, a carrot would weigh around 20-25 kgs. That’s almost similar rate as to what @stompix mentioned in their post. That’s definitely alien onion. Plus there is no dish (almost) in my country which doesn’t have onion in it. It would taste like I’m eating an empty dish.
Anyways, yes there are issues around the globe, some countries are affected more than the other. But those rates are terrifying. By the way rest of the daily things are still normal in Asian countries. At least that is what news telling us.

You pray for good and responsible leadership instead! That is all there is to it. The price of ordinary red onions, not alien ones from Mars, rising too high is just a symptom of a worse illness.

Indeed, there is almost no dish without onions. Even an ordinary sauce here should have onions. Sadly, that's already history for many.

~snip~

https://filipinotimes.net/latest-news/2023/01/02/red-onions-prices-in-the-philippines-soar-to-p650-per-kilo/

I had to google reasons for Croatia and Philippines being on the top and got more accurate results. Unsurprisingly it's inflation. (on those countries it seems to be especially bad)

You can actually hunt for cheaper ones. But they're usually of lesser quality: small ones, old stock, starting to rot, and so on. Location is also a factor. But even at $11.62 per kilo, which this news article reports, it is still very expensive. For goodness' sake, we're already at the top even at $6.73 a kilo. But it didn't stop from there. It continued to rise.

And it's not just about inflation. This unbelievably fast rise could only happen intentionally.

[ChiBitCTy]

I'm sorry to hear about how the current situation and exploding inflation is effecting you and your family.  I think the truth is, however, that it's effecting people a lot more than they realize or are currently willing to realize.  Most of my clients understand the impact inflation is having on their bottom line, but really only so in the very short term, and they simply aren't making changes that are necessary to not effect their long-term.  What I mean is most are willing to spend more than they should be, and it will effect them hard in the long term, in my opinion anyhow. 

[LogitechMouse]

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.

I just came back from a travel 2 days ago and went to a mall and I'm agreeing with what you said.
Many people still are going to a mall, spending some money buying some stuffs even though the prices are really expensive. People are spending almost the same as it was a few years ago when the inflation is still aren't that high. Nothing really has changed with how people are spending their money despite the rising prices of commodities and the things that we need.

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.

We came from the same country, and I already feel that the prices of Onion increased that much that there are some people who are preferring either to lessen the number of onions that they are putting to their dishes, or to not buy onions anymore.

I know OP that you know what happened to the price of Chili years ago . It's the same as this one and there's not much difference on it. Prices of Chili at that time spiked to almost $20 per kilo IIRC. Now people are posting pictures of Onions painted with gold color on Facebook.

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?

I felt the downturn of our economy when we tried to budget our money to have some food to eat this Christmas and we saw how expensive foods this year are. Last year, we can make at least 7-8 dishes in Christmas but this year, we used the same budget, and we can only make around 3-4 dishes. The effect of inflation really is too much especially for average people who are working just to have money to be used in their daily lives.

The good thing though is that inflation in the US is going down already and that affects the global market. Even though I don't expect that 2023 will be a fruitful year for everyone, I'm not expecting as well that 2023 will be as harsh as 2022. My advice to other people is that, as much as possible, be frugal and save money and if you can, invest as well.

[dezoel]

As people in the crypto world we may end up with something much better because we are making more money here working in niche skills required works and that's fine, and that's why we may not feel the worst end of the economic downturn.

For the past 1 year or so I have been barely surviving in a nation that had 14x higher debt in 2022 than in 2021, that should tell you how much it grew. We actually broke our record in history, sure maybe back in 1523 or whatever there could be a worse year but books were not kept, in the history we know, this has been our worst year, even worst than 2008 crisis and I have nearly zero debt, but that doesn't mean economy is good just because I am fine.

[milewilda]

As people in the crypto world we may end up with something much better because we are making more money here working in niche skills required works and that's fine, and that's why we may not feel the worst end of the economic downturn.

For the past 1 year or so I have been barely surviving in a nation that had 14x higher debt in 2022 than in 2021, that should tell you how much it grew. We actually broke our record in history, sure maybe back in 1523 or whatever there could be a worse year but books were not kept, in the history we know, this has been our worst year, even worst than 2008 crisis and I have nearly zero debt, but that doesn't mean economy is good just because I am fine.

You would be considering yourself fine if you do able to survive out these economic downturns where commodities and services do rises up their price or value.You wouldnt care less if you could able to buy instantly
without having doubts since you do know that you are financially capabled.This is the main positive result into those persons who do able to find out other income sources and wont be stopping and trying out their
best on making it diversified as much as they could to potentially be not able to cut off these sources which it would be resulting into revenue which could make out things to be posisble
and not a problem when you are trying to spend or buy into something.

[Vaculin]

I'm sorry to hear about how the current situation and exploding inflation is effecting you and your family.  I think the truth is, however, that it's effecting people a lot more than they realize or are currently willing to realize.  Most of my clients understand the impact inflation is having on their bottom line, but really only so in the very short term, and they simply aren't making changes that are necessary to not effect their long-term.  What I mean is most are willing to spend more than they should be, and it will effect them hard in the long term, in my opinion anyhow. 

Well, regardless of this high inflation, and putting the price of onions highly increased, I still don’t see and experience lots of changes in my own country. Majority of the people are still in the mood of spending, but maybe a lot wiser and smarter to only buy things that are only necessary and eradicate all those who are useless. And saving this time is a lot more difficult to achieve especially for those who are earning minimum rate of wage.

[browsiek]

I'm sorry to hear about how the current situation and exploding inflation is effecting you and your family.  I think the truth is, however, that it's effecting people a lot more than they realize or are currently willing to realize.  Most of my clients understand the impact inflation is having on their bottom line, but really only so in the very short term, and they simply aren't making changes that are necessary to not effect their long-term.  What I mean is most are willing to spend more than they should be, and it will effect them hard in the long term, in my opinion anyhow. 

Well, regardless of this high inflation, and putting the price of onions highly increased, I still don’t see and experience lots of changes in my own country. Majority of the people are still in the mood of spending, but maybe a lot wiser and smarter to only buy things that are only necessary and eradicate all those who are useless. And saving this time is a lot more difficult to achieve especially for those who are earning minimum rate of wage.

even my country has experienced increases several years ago before this inflation. so many people complain, moreover many people support their families with wages below the minimum, with this pressure many people choose to end their lives to avoid this misery.
I'm more sorry for the children who feel this impact where they don't feel an adequate life for their parents whose minimum wage is because they can only buy basic necessities. I'm sure we can all get through this together.

[Fesatmas]

I'm sorry to hear about how the current situation and exploding inflation is effecting you and your family.  I think the truth is, however, that it's effecting people a lot more than they realize or are currently willing to realize.  Most of my clients understand the impact inflation is having on their bottom line, but really only so in the very short term, and they simply aren't making changes that are necessary to not effect their long-term.  What I mean is most are willing to spend more than they should be, and it will effect them hard in the long term, in my opinion anyhow. 

Well, regardless of this high inflation, and putting the price of onions highly increased, I still don’t see and experience lots of changes in my own country. Majority of the people are still in the mood of spending, but maybe a lot wiser and smarter to only buy things that are only necessary and eradicate all those who are useless. And saving this time is a lot more difficult to achieve especially for those who are earning minimum rate of wage.

Even in times of trouble, for sure people will still shop if it is a basic need for them. But they shop as sparingly as possible so they can survive in difficult conditions like this. What's more frightening is that this inflation can spur crime to be higher than usual. Yes, this is more frightening, because usually human logic will be confused when faced with difficulties and that causes them to do anything that justifies any means to get what they want (to make ends meet).

[teosanru]

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?

Obviously the prices of a lot of things have gone crazy. The economic situation in my country is that prices of most of the things have doubled since the previous year. Most of these things are those which are necessary for survival of any person. But somehow I feel even the incomes have also increased somewhat in my country of most of the people so this isn't affecting everything that badly until now. Also I am surprised to hear about onion prices in your country $12.57 is like crazy. It's more like 12-13 times the price we have here.

[Davidvictorson]

I want to believe that everyone is affected either directly or indirectly by the present global economic downturn. It is even worse for people in developing nations because. Over the past 2 years people in my country have experienced the highest inflation rate since the history of the nation. Prices of common commodities have increased more than 4 times. The most painful part of it is that we are powerless, complaining or ranting on social media is  little help. I do not angry or surprised any more because I already expect the price of the item to add a few cents the next time I visit the corner shop.

[South Park]

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?

You are not the only one, I am in a good economic position however it is not as if I am unaffected by inflation and I have been forced to make some changes in my habits when it comes to purchasing groceries, before inflation went up so much I not only bought the same products but even the same brands regardless of the price, but now I do take the time to compare the prices among the different products and pick the one that still offers what I want for the lowest possible cost.