I saw an article recently that said inflation has dropped to 4.2%, the lowest since August 2021. Yet our grocery bills are up 9.7%. What’s disturbing about this is that many grocery stores (or their parent companies) are reporting record profits. So are oil and gas companies while I’m paying $1.93 per litre of gas.
Some people can no longer afford their mortgage, others are being priced out of the market due to increases in mortgage rates, and yet companies are giving their shareholders huge returns. These price hikes we are seeing at this time are proof that the capitalist market ruled by profits is broken.
Shareholder good exceeds public good. Profits, not people matter. And those who can afford to be shareholders grow richer and richer while those who can’t afford the extra cash to invest suffer as their dollar is worth less and less… whether it’s mortgages or the price of eggs, what a dollar used to get you doesn’t go as far today as it did last year.
Got a 5% raise? That sounds great except food will still cost you more to buy than you had to pay last year, before your raise. In other words, your income is not growing as fast as your living expenses. And unless you are a shareholder getting great returns, that won’t change any time soon.
I don’t know how this changes? I just see a larger and larger gap between the haves and the have-nots, and the gap is widening. Is this sustainable? No. But what’s the solution?
