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Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

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Suranis
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Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#1

Post by Suranis »

https://eand.co/why-everything-is-sudde ... f5a091f403
Let’s think about that microchip shortage. What’s it really about? Well, there are three factories in which the majority of the world’s chips are made. Three factories — each hit in a different way. The one in Japan caught fire due to an equipment malfunction — apparently the blaze took hours to put out because of the conditions. The one in Texas was hit by an historic snowstorm, which knocked out power for days. The one in Taiwan is being affected by the worst drought in half a century — and microchips require huge amounts of water to manufacture.

These are all effects of climate change. They might not be the kinds of monocausal direct effects climate change deniers and American pundits look for — the hand of God roasting a factory alive — but they are very much caused by living on a rapidly heating planet. It should be eminently clear to see that when factories are freezing and burning, that is what climate change does to an economy before your very eyes. (And even if you think the Japan fire had little to do with global warming, the face of the matter is that without climate change, two of the world’s largest chip factories would still be open.)

The “chip shortage” is something that the world doesn’t really grasp yet, in its full importance and magnitude. It is the first climate catastrophe related shortage to hit us at a civilizational, global level. In a world of stable temperatures, guess what, we’d probably still have microchips to power our cars and gadgets and AV studios, because factories wouldn’t be losing power or be so parched they don’t have enough water. But they are — and so we do have a microchip shortage that has been caused by climate change, aka global warming.

That’s the first such catastrophe, but it won’t be the last. The chip shortage is just the tip of the immense shockwave rolling down the volcano. It’s just the first burning rock soaring through the ash-filled sky. Today, it’s chips. Tomorrow? Well, some of the things that are already becoming more and more costly to produce are steel, food, and water. That is because all those things rely on energy, and energy is getting more expensive.
Its a blog that's very interesting, and its interesting in a terrifying way. Because his central point is that energy has been chronically underpriced for centuries. And the reason it has been is that no-one has factored in the price of cleaning up the mess fossil fuels leave behind them. And the only ones with the money to pay for them are powerful and they have all the money. So unless government's man up and start taxing them in the 90% level, we are going to be paying them.

Its worth a read, at least.
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John Thomas8
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#2

Post by John Thomas8 »

Suranis wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 8:59 pm
Its a blog that's very interesting, and its interesting in a terrifying way. Because his central point is that energy has been chronically underpriced for centuries. And the reason it has been is that no-one has factored in the price of cleaning up the mess fossil fuels leave behind them. And the only ones with the money to pay for them are powerful and they have all the money. So unless government's man up and start taxing them in the 90% level, we are going to be paying them.

Its worth a read, at least.
Our economy crushed the world while our tax rate was sane (but higher). As the tax rate went down, so did our economy. There's no incentive to put money back into the business: the tax incentive is now towards "dead" money, pocketed by the few, rather than "live" money, dollars that go into making the business better.
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#3

Post by Maybenaut »

Gasoline prices have been relatively stable at around $3.29 for regular for the last few months in my little town out in the country. Today I drove down to Fairfax County. The gas prices down there were kind of all over the place, but ranged from $3.45 on the low end to $3.65 on the high end for regular. When I got back out here they were $3.29.

No idea what’s happening. Used to be the prices out here were one or two cents cheaper per gallon.
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Estiveo
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#4

Post by Estiveo »

$5/gal (4.999) at my usual Chevron. The cheap places are at around $4.40.
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scirreeve
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#5

Post by scirreeve »

$3.60 to $4.00 here. The higher prices are at the interstate exits.
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Lani
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#6

Post by Lani »

Just topped $4/gal at the Costco pump. Others range from $4.52 to $4.67.
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

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Post by poplove »

I filled up the other day for $3.77 at Murphy which is usually the cheapest and it's close to my house. The Arco up the street was $3.73 but I don't like going there because it's harder to get in and out of. I don't mind spending a little more for convenience.
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scirreeve
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#8

Post by scirreeve »

Lani wrote: Mon Nov 08, 2021 12:21 am Just topped $4/gal at the Costco pump. Others range from $4.52 to $4.67.
Surprised it isn't higher there. When we go to Hawaii it is always $1 more per gallon than here. We are going there again in Feb.
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#9

Post by Volkonski »

Gas prices depend to a considerable extent on local land prices and local gas taxes.

Gas prices here in Texas are lower than on the North Fork of Long Island but once we get to the North Fork every summer the distances we drive are much shorter than in Texas ;) .
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Suranis
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#10

Post by Suranis »

gas prices are around $1.71 a liter here, the equivalent of around $7.40 a gallon. its gone up by 30c a liter in the last couple of months
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#11

Post by bill_g »

Suranis wrote: Sun Nov 07, 2021 8:59 pm https://eand.co/why-everything-is-sudde ... f5a091f403
[snip]

Its worth a read, at least.
Brilliant work. Thank you.
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raison de arizona
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#12

Post by raison de arizona »

“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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filly
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#13

Post by filly »

Yeah, who could've guessed that after pandemic shutdowns/slowdowns/dropping demand returning to normal economic activity would result in some higher prices and some hiccups along the way? I didn't enjoy my college economic classes but that's pretty basic stuff.
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raison de arizona
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Re: Why Everything is suddenly getting more expensive

#14

Post by raison de arizona »

Biden on gas prices:
► Show Spoiler
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
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