A boy of seven or eight walks out of his home on the middle of the east coast of Australia. To be more precise, his family lives less than thirty miles inland from that coast.
At the time–the early seventies–Rockhampton, in Southern Queensland, a bit more than three hundred miles from Queensland’s capital city of Brisbane, is a sleepy small-to-mid-sized town. That municipality had a size under 100,000 at the time, even if you counted the outlying suburban sprawl.
The young man is barefoot, in short pants, and a t-shirt.
He walks down the quiet, simple, road that runs in front of his house, ambling towards a nearby gully.
On the other side of that dip in the Earth, is the primary school that youngster attends when it is “in session” (Berserker Street State School, by name).
He navigates the pitfalls of the fair-sized dip in the ground, passes that self-same educational “facility” (Wooden verandas, dirt and grass play areas, hand -rung school bell, and all), and makes his way to the closest shopping area to his home.
In that area, are found a couple of small, family owned stores–largely containing food–a small library, a bakery, and a variety of other relatively small businesses.
The child’s objective? One of these tiny “purveyors of fine goods.” This one is known to the youngsters in the area, as a place where one might obtain “sweets.”
He makes his way to the place he seeks, totally unconcerned about his lack of footwear (as will be the owners of said establishment, being well used to seeing imps in that same state).
On finding his way through the door, that young one marvels at the array of “lollies” therein found. They are placed in a spread of wicker and wooden baskets for all to see, open, no covers or other hindrances to be found.
The child digs a two cent piece out of his pocket, and then another coin of the same denomination.
Now comes the choice. what two hand-sized bags of candies (granted, the size of the hands in question is far from enormous) will he purchase?
Will he mix three or four different kinds of morsel in each paper holder, or instead, fill one or both, with a single type of item?
Having made the requisite choices, he leaves the spot of that sale, hands full of the precious cargo he sought to procure.
This was the early seventies, as I’ve already indicated (’71 or ’72).
Years later, when that youngster was no longer a child (in 1988, when he was now around 24), a movie was released called “Die Hard.” Anyone who watched that film is sure to remember looking back, that the price of regular gasoline was marked under a dollar a gallon on a sign over a nearby gas station to the scene of the action. I recall it being lower than Internet searches indicate (they say 74 cents a gallon, I recall it having been more like half that much), I have to assume my recollection is faulty.
Even so, the price had gone up substantially from my youth and yet, was still a great deal lower than I would pay at the present moment (my last fill-up with “premium” was almost 5 dollars a gallon in Little Rock, Arkansas).
Perhaps that doesn’t seem excessive to you? Maybe you were born a great deal closer to the modern day that was I?
For my part, it seems totally unreasonable, that a new car should cost roughly the same as a nice-but-not-palatial home in my youth.
This is reality, though.
As time goes on, costs increase, making it so what used to go for X amount, now sells for Y instead.
Such is the “peril of” an ever-inflating economy. Without periodic contractions, you must watch as your currency’s worth decreases,and prices, in the inverse, increase.
Is it actually a benefit that wages rise as well?
Not in my mind.
If what one is paid, more or less “keeps pace with” costs, all that’s occurring is, a given denomination of scrip is reduced in value over the course of days.
Such a system creates a negative incentive for simply saving. One must at a minimum, invest what one doesn’t immediately spend.
People to whom I pay heed (at least some of the time), argue there’s a potential move towards allowing for “negative interest rates” on various types of banking accounts.
The sad thing is, even with “positive interest rates,” chances are good you’re at best “keeping pace with inflation” much of the time, considering the rates you’re likely to achieve in most bank-type institutions.
Do I have an answer to the quandary I present here? No. Does that make it any less an issue with which we must learn to deal? Count my response to be equally in the negative where that query is concerned.
The fact is though, ever-increasing prices–regardless whether earnings rise with them–can but mean that the monetary supply’s value decreases as supposed values, and incomes increase.
This is bad enough if you’re in the prime of your days.
Now consider those on what is counted to be “fixed incomes.” To wit, people like myself who (at least for the present moment) have been forced out of the workplace and into retirement.
Even if such are afforded cost of living increases, unless they manage to keep pace with inflation, they’re rapidly losing the battle where just staying at their current standard of living is concerned.
Again, how we “fix” this, is beyond my meager understanding. That said, failing to do so can bring nothing but problems as a result (and not just for the old and others no longer “in the game” either).
There must be some answer to the question, “What do we do to deal with inflation, and its effect on all–particularly the poor, and the value of the dollar?” And some “bright spark” must endeavor to find it. Until they do, we’ll continue down this same ugly road with no improvement in sight.
Thanks for taking the time to read my “rambling consideration.”
Here’s hoping you’re well. If not, I hope that becomes the way of things for you in the very near future. If so here’s to things staying that way for as long as possible!