The Deleted Scenes - What's Wrong With Inflation?
On Twitter, a couple of months ago, I offered a question/rant: Those are pretty good engagement numbers. I guess I struck a bit of a chord here. And whenever that happens, I take it as a signal to write further. I’ve seen a lot of examples of inflation, as well as things that feel like cracks in the system of commerce and retail. It’s subtle and anecdotal, but I think it’s real. A lot of stores have poorly trained employees these days, which means you feel a little bit freer to do your thing. (Judging from my local supermarket closing an entrance and making the self-checkouts even less pleasant to use, many people feel freer to shoplift.) Everything ends up feeing looser and less professional. The expected order falls apart a little bit. At Trader Joe’s, the clerk dropped my avocadoes and then rang them up, for example. “They’ll be fine,” he said. In the “before times,” I would have gone to the customer service desk and asked to have them exchanged. This time, for my part, I just walked back to the avocado bin after I checked out and swapped two new avocados in (I put the possibly bruised ones in front at the top; if someone ate them in a day or two, they probably would be fine. I was just annoyed). I wouldn’t have felt free to do that without going though customer service before the quality of service in stores declined to the point where your dropped avocados would be rung up at all. I can see how a feedback loop can begin where you end up a little closer to the “state of nature,” where people just sort of collectively stop believing in the importance of rules and social conventions. And restaurants. Restaurant prices have gone up at the same time as service, quality, and portions have gone down. I don’t blame them; I understand fully what a hard industry it is. I don’t tip poorly or berate the servers or send food back. But I do simply go out less often. And I do find it more difficult to enjoy myself. I’ve thought a lot about the psychology of inflation and of all this, and I’ve come up with this way of explaining it. When prices are low enough to feel like a good value or a deal, you argue for the food (or product.) Say you order a steak with fries and steamed vegetables and it’s $18 or $20—a fair restaurant price in the old days. And say the steak is a little overcooked but fine, and the fries are excellent. My brain says, “Well, they did overcook the steak a bit, but the fries were amazing. And it was cheap!” If the price goes up to $26, $28, $30, like you see post-pandemic, that all flips. It isn’t just, “That was good but I wish it was six dollars less.” My brain argues against the food. So my reaction to the very same dish becomes: “$30 for an overcooked scrap of meat and some potatoes in grease? What a freaking waste of money. Screw this.” At those inflated prices, the allure of being served in a restaurant vanishes. All you see is the cheap ingredients being poorly prepared and obscenely upcharged. I met another magazine fellow for lunch recently in Arlington. My lunch special—two small sliders with a salad and fries—was $18. $18 for at most a quarter pound of ground meat, and a pile of potatoes and lettuce. There is no way for me to enjoy that or see value in it. You have to argue with yourself at every turn; you’re trying to enjoy yourself and not think about being ripped off. Going out and spending money becomes this deeply psychologically unpleasant thing. Almost every transaction feels like this, or at least carries this risk. So inflation isn’t just a certain percent price increase; it isn’t just forgoing purchases or subbing in cheaper substitutes. It is that, of course. But the money part, on its own, doesn’t bother me. It’s the way it socially and psychologically strains buying, selling, shopping, going out. Trying to enjoy that stuff while getting this foretaste of how things could fall apart in a rich country. Someone in the replies on Twitter said something interesting: something like, “This is a good example of the upper-middle-class phycology vis-à-vis inflation.” I think what he meant is that it was not about the hard problems of budgeting, which don’t hurt us much, but rather the soft problems of how it all makes me feel. I know we have it pretty well, and as I said, I don’t blame businesses for these issues and never take out my frustration on business owners or especially service workers. The funny thing to me is that I’m spending a lot less money despite the money, per se, not being the main problem. Whether or not that makes me upper-middle-class (I dunno; maybe a few more paid subscriptions would do it…) I don’t mind holding onto my money. So whether you really have to tighten the belt or not, I’m curious if any of this describes your experiences of the economic disruptions of the last three years, which, frankly “inflation” only partially captures and describes. Related Reading: Owning a Car Is a Financial Decision Thank you for reading! Please consider upgrading to a paid subscription to help support this newsletter. You’ll get a weekly subscribers-only post, plus full access to the archive: over 600 posts and growing. And you’ll help ensure more material like this! You're currently a free subscriber to The Deleted Scenes. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription. |
Key phrases
Older messages
New and Old #114
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
Friday roundup and commentary
The Little Things
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
The beauty is in the details
Me Or Your Own Eyes
Tuesday, June 20, 2023
When your experience contradicts your philosophy
Tear Down This Mall?
Tuesday, June 13, 2023
Taking America's "temple to consumerism" seriously
Cities Aren't Loud, Cars Are Loud
Monday, June 12, 2023
Zagreb, Croatia edition
You Might Also Like
Starting a fire
Thursday, May 2, 2024
John August reminds you that as a writer it's your job to burn the house down. Splash metaphorical or real gasoline all over the place, strike a match and let it fly. You need to burn down houses.
The Anti-Cutoff Shorts Everyone Will Be Wearing In 30 Days
Thursday, May 2, 2024
Summer is coming.
Charge Big Oil with conspiracy, former tobacco prosecutor says
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Following the release of new internal documents, Sharon Eubanks told the Senate Budget Committee that there is evidence for a DOJ climate case against Big Oil. ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
Clicking This Fake Chrome Update Could Drain Your Bank Account 🚨
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
When to Use a Credit Repair Service. A new Android-based malware is posing as a Google Chrome update and can steal your bank information and more. Here's what you need to know to avoid it Not
‘Help! Our DEI Trainer Won’t Stop Talking About Kink’
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
What's new today on the Cut — covering style, self, culture, and power, plus interviews, profiles, columns, and commentary from our editors. Brand Logo WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 ADVICE 'Help! Our DEI
Build Lean Muscle All Over! Find Out How!👀
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Transform your muscles in six weeks Men's Health shop logo Build Lean Muscle All Over! View in Browser Man doing bent over row with dumbbell Build Bigger Muscles in Just Six Weeks! Build Bigger
Bella Hadid's Seashell Bra Is Peak Mermaidcore Vibes For Summer
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Plus, your May horoscope is here, Paris Hilton takes on the troubled teen industry, & more.
Starbucks is extremely late to the boba party
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Restaurant owners share their funding tips
WIN $25,000 for a dream kitchen makeover!
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Kitchen Makeover $25000 Sweepstakes
New from Tim — "Live 10th Anniversary Random Show with Kevin Rose!"
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
The latest from author and investor Tim Ferriss