Arrogance, jealousy, rage, laziness, greed, greed, lust. These are the seven deadly sins from which, if the sinner is not “cleansed”, he will be deprived (according to Dante) of Divine Grace and will be led to the eternal condemnation of his soul. What are the sins that the poor consumer pays today in all the lengths and breadths of the earth, whenever he goes shopping? What is the reason for the unprecedented accuracy of four decades, which quickly empties its pockets and forces him to experience a dungeon hell every end of the month?
These are, of course, the sins of others who, as has been the case since the time of Dante and even older, are regularly and systematically paid by the most vulnerable citizens in human societies. Vulnerable due to lack of resources of course.
1. The spike in energy prices
The pandemic eruption initially sank oil and energy prices in general. But then prices soared for a variety of reasons: economic, stock market, meteorological, conjunctural in international transport, but also geopolitical. Vladimir Putin politically used gas in retaliation for NATO’s use of the former Eastern European anti-Soviet syndromes. As for the futures oil markets, the last (several) years have developed into a privileged field of action of speculative, stock market gambling. The high energy demand from Asia but also the cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere, acted and act as an adjunct to the rise in energy prices.
2. The shortages of goods and the problems in the global supply chain
The global supply chain suffered (and continues to suffer) during the pandemic. The closures have spurred demand for consumer goods for daily, personal and household use. Major Asian manufacturers (mostly Chinese) have been unable to meet demand due to restrictive measures imposed by local authorities and governments to curb coronavirus. They had to reduce their production. Raw material shortages also pushed up the prices of industrial products, while shortages of semiconductors affected every high-tech “machine”, from small appliances to cars and airplanes.
3. Shipping costs and increased freight rates
The surge in demand for raw materials and consumer goods has increased the pressure on large shipping companies, which, however, have failed to respond for objective reasons. The hypersensitivity of the Chinese authorities to the resurgence of the cases resulted in the closure for weeks of hubs for the country’s international navigation and trade ports and the creation of traffic jams of cargo ships outside them. Fatal delays on the routes increased, fares soared and increased costs were eventually passed on to retail prices, ie to consumers. Characteristically, the cost of transporting a container from Asia to Europe jumped from $1,700 to $22,000 within a twelve month period.
4. Wage increases
The wave of flight caused by the pandemic caused by low-skilled occupations mainly, such as truck drivers or catering workers. McDonald’s and Amazon are forced to give bonuses of up to $ 200 to $ 1,000 to attract employees, while a Korn Ferry survey of 50 major US retail companies found that 94% of them could not find employees to hire. It is the black money that those who can accumulate it accumulate (taking advantage of inflation, of course). And conjuncturally the increase in savings collected by the middle and upper income class thanks to the closures caused by the pandemic.
5. Climate change
Extreme weather events are increasingly creating problems in international transport and especially in navigation, contributing to fare increases and rising inflation. Tropical storms hit areas with hydrocarbon deposits (mainly in the Gulf of Mexico), causing a sharp rise in crude oil prices in international markets. Droughts, as well as floods and frosts, are affecting agricultural production, contributing significantly to rising food prices.
6. Commercial frictions
It is well known that in recent years tariffs have again been politically instrumentalized by the US and Chinese governments and are raising prices on products imported from competing countries. But Brexit also caused big price hikes. In Britain, it is estimated that in the first quarter of 2021 alone, the prices of products imported from the EU increased by 25%. The British, who also visited Europe last year, found that their mobile phone calls were again charged with roaming charges.
7. The end of government budget support packages for households and businesses
Governments increased their lending to support low-wage earners and other vulnerable social groups during the pandemic. This tactic, however, leads to tax increases to boost public revenue and balance spending as much as possible. As the “packages” of support come to an end and the voices of the tenors of fiscal order (Christian Lindner, the German finance minister) are already being heard, governments are entering a cycle of increasing the balance sheet tax. of costs. This is, of course, a vicious circle with the usual suspects falling victim: the low-wage consumers.
