One thing all this cost of living whining on the internet does is reveal how privileged the whiners are. It’s almost always some luxury good they’re treating as a nonnegotiable. Yeah, berries are expensive! They always have been! You don’t think they are because you had them around growing up and your parents were rich!
An N64 cartridge was $170 or so in today’s dollars. Your parents were RICH.
Riffing on Berry's post, I do think there's an interesting divide in American society between people who cook and people who don't. I think a lot of people who grew up cooking most of their meals from ingredients rather than, say, TV dinners and who do that now as well don't realize how many people basically never cook. Whether you're eating lean cuisine or grocery store rotisserie chicken or doordashed burritos or going out for burgers, not cooking is just much more expensive.
What kind of burritos are people eating? I can get a chicken burrito from Chipotle with a bunch of toppings (and double wrapped FTW) for $17 with tax and tip.
The easiest fix here is to end the Trump Tariffs and even use that as an opportunity to expand FTAs. Dems should push this message and the fact that only a few do is a worrying sign of ideological capture.
Yeah, the trade deficit means we get to consume more than we produce. It’s a sign of wealth and abundance. The only problem with a trade deficit is that a normal country eventually goes into debt and pays it back, but that doesn’t apply to us because we have the global reserve currency and so many valuable assets growing in value—the incremental gains in the S&P 500 alone last year were over $10 trillion. This article puts it well: https://asiatimes.com/2024/09/the-tragedy-of-american-wealth/
[America] is a bottomless pit of desirable assets and leveraging this endowment for investment and consumption is not just economically rational but largely unavoidable.
If I captained an oceanographic research vessel (pirate ship) and discover a beautiful tropical island (uninhabited, I swear), is it economically rational for our band of explorers (conquistadors) to develop our discovery by trading coconuts and bananas for building materials and consumer goods?
Or are we better off selling beachfront property to Club Med and Sandals Resorts so that our merry band of real estate moguls (vanquishers) can blitz around tropical paradise in Porsches and Ferraris?
The $20 family burritos were noted in last week’s comments to be a palter at best (“lying using true facts”). You can get away with some meat and tortillas, but you can’t even use the cheapest cheese, lettuce, and salsa and still get under $20.
I think if I do a whole pork shoulder as Cochon that is going to be well under $5 a burrito unit price, but I haven’t bought pork shoulder for a couple of months.
Umm, I can do this. It’s called shopping at Kroger… beans, rice, tortillas, cheese, crap meat like pork shoulder that needs braising, pico ingredients.
The second fridge is extremely important. It is important also to go as no frills as possible, those are actually much more reliable than smart fridges.
Costco is awesome! It’s not actually cheap though since it’s very good at getting you to buy more. My weekly Costco tab for family of 4 (albeit wife and I normally eat at work) is usually in the $200s whereas when I go to local grocery it’s usually in the $100s.
If you take a wider angle, it's truly a miracle of America's post-scarcity society that 'how much does something cost on Instacart' is some kind of major argument.
I mean, the funny thing is, I kinda agree with those conservative columnists who say we shouldn't declare an "affordability crisis" solely based on vibes and some of the most expensive food options out there. But that was also true in 2024! Where the whole Republican party chimed in to declare an affordability crisis! (Eagerly helped on by the hard left.) So, I think it's true what Matt said: We really shouldn't feel bad for Trump if this part of his platform suddenly blows up in his face.
We'd been running 8-10% inflation for two-ish years before it was finally falling in 2024. 2026 and 2024 aren't the same situations. Inflation is higher than it should be--and higher because of trump's decisions--but the 2024 defenders didn't have a leg to stand on, defenders now have a better case that is undermined, imo, because of the decisions trump made and the marginal effect it had on inflation.
“To mount a proper defense of all this, you’d need to acknowledge that Trump has chosen to blow off his campaign promises in order to pursue other goals and just insist that the cost of food is ultimately not that dire.”
Republicans don’t even attempt to rationalize or sell their actions. They just pretend the things they support and do don’t happen and then pearl clutch.
America is an incredibly rich country, which conquered an entire continent, has unprecedented exponentially growing stores of historical wealth, and a global hegemony and reserve currency that allows us to permanently consume more than we produce. It’s just that so much of this wealth has gone to the top 1%; otherwise our living standards could be higher. Americans intuitively understand this so are not willing to bear economic pain. The vision of American life that some Republicans have where you don’t go to college and then work in a steel mill and live in a crappy house in the middle of nowhere and eat ramen because you can’t even afford burritos is totally repulsive and pro-abundance Democrats should just tar Republicans with that.
There are a lot of people happy working at a "steel meel (or equivalent) iand live in a crappy house in the middle of nowhere." It'll be hard for Dems to win their vote when if it's crystal clear how Dems view their lifestyle and choices.
Imagine trying to defend the administration and the VP comes out of nowhere to call you fat, yikes man.
$20 for a single item of food is a lot of money but it depends on what you're getting. I've seen $16+ quesadillas but quesadillas fills your stomach up quickly (if done right). Without considering healthy options, I'd rather spend that $20 on something else.
That whole documentation of this Twitter feud is why I'm grateful that I can follow a professional like Matt who knows how to wade into Twitter so I don't have to. It also helps to provide a sneak preview on what Matt might write on in the coming days.
I know that my personal financial situation is very lucky, and I know this position is a political loser, but… groceries are simply not that expensive.
“The point is that in an affluent society, the vast majority of people are not living anywhere near a subsistence level, even as they still feel subjective financial stresses.”
You can always live off lentils, but also if you ate steak and drank champagne for every meal it would still be a much smaller share of spending than rent in most cities.
One thing all this cost of living whining on the internet does is reveal how privileged the whiners are. It’s almost always some luxury good they’re treating as a nonnegotiable. Yeah, berries are expensive! They always have been! You don’t think they are because you had them around growing up and your parents were rich!
An N64 cartridge was $170 or so in today’s dollars. Your parents were RICH.
Riffing on Berry's post, I do think there's an interesting divide in American society between people who cook and people who don't. I think a lot of people who grew up cooking most of their meals from ingredients rather than, say, TV dinners and who do that now as well don't realize how many people basically never cook. Whether you're eating lean cuisine or grocery store rotisserie chicken or doordashed burritos or going out for burgers, not cooking is just much more expensive.
What kind of burritos are people eating? I can get a chicken burrito from Chipotle with a bunch of toppings (and double wrapped FTW) for $17 with tax and tip.
The easiest fix here is to end the Trump Tariffs and even use that as an opportunity to expand FTAs. Dems should push this message and the fact that only a few do is a worrying sign of ideological capture.
Yeah, the trade deficit means we get to consume more than we produce. It’s a sign of wealth and abundance. The only problem with a trade deficit is that a normal country eventually goes into debt and pays it back, but that doesn’t apply to us because we have the global reserve currency and so many valuable assets growing in value—the incremental gains in the S&P 500 alone last year were over $10 trillion. This article puts it well: https://asiatimes.com/2024/09/the-tragedy-of-american-wealth/
[America] is a bottomless pit of desirable assets and leveraging this endowment for investment and consumption is not just economically rational but largely unavoidable.
If I captained an oceanographic research vessel (pirate ship) and discover a beautiful tropical island (uninhabited, I swear), is it economically rational for our band of explorers (conquistadors) to develop our discovery by trading coconuts and bananas for building materials and consumer goods?
Or are we better off selling beachfront property to Club Med and Sandals Resorts so that our merry band of real estate moguls (vanquishers) can blitz around tropical paradise in Porsches and Ferraris?
If Vance is the nominee, Democrats should say that Vance thinks his own supporters are fat stood whiners. What does he think of you?
The $20 family burritos were noted in last week’s comments to be a palter at best (“lying using true facts”). You can get away with some meat and tortillas, but you can’t even use the cheapest cheese, lettuce, and salsa and still get under $20.
You absolutely can, I replicated Matt's order just now for $15.79.
you totally can, though. also, a typical burrito doesn't have cheese.
I’d have to spend a lot more than $20 to get ropa vieja burritos (truly the cheapest meat possible) under $20 for a family of 4.
unfortunately no preparation with beef is the cheapest anything.
i think the cheapest options would go - egg, egg w a bit of sausage or chorizo, chicken, pork. might be able to flip chicken and pork in some areas.
I think if I do a whole pork shoulder as Cochon that is going to be well under $5 a burrito unit price, but I haven’t bought pork shoulder for a couple of months.
Umm, I can do this. It’s called shopping at Kroger… beans, rice, tortillas, cheese, crap meat like pork shoulder that needs braising, pico ingredients.
Most of it comes down to the meat to bean ratio.
Not at my Shop Rite. Which isn’t some luxury grocer! Must be just that I live in expensive ass CT.
MD is expensive too. I just have this hyper optimized grocery shopping loop and price scanning ability.
Soon I will be hitting Aldi and Costco with a kid coming. We will need a garage fridge too.
The second fridge is extremely important. It is important also to go as no frills as possible, those are actually much more reliable than smart fridges.
Costco is awesome! It’s not actually cheap though since it’s very good at getting you to buy more. My weekly Costco tab for family of 4 (albeit wife and I normally eat at work) is usually in the $200s whereas when I go to local grocery it’s usually in the $100s.
If you take a wider angle, it's truly a miracle of America's post-scarcity society that 'how much does something cost on Instacart' is some kind of major argument.
I mean, the funny thing is, I kinda agree with those conservative columnists who say we shouldn't declare an "affordability crisis" solely based on vibes and some of the most expensive food options out there. But that was also true in 2024! Where the whole Republican party chimed in to declare an affordability crisis! (Eagerly helped on by the hard left.) So, I think it's true what Matt said: We really shouldn't feel bad for Trump if this part of his platform suddenly blows up in his face.
We'd been running 8-10% inflation for two-ish years before it was finally falling in 2024. 2026 and 2024 aren't the same situations. Inflation is higher than it should be--and higher because of trump's decisions--but the 2024 defenders didn't have a leg to stand on, defenders now have a better case that is undermined, imo, because of the decisions trump made and the marginal effect it had on inflation.
“To mount a proper defense of all this, you’d need to acknowledge that Trump has chosen to blow off his campaign promises in order to pursue other goals and just insist that the cost of food is ultimately not that dire.”
Republicans don’t even attempt to rationalize or sell their actions. They just pretend the things they support and do don’t happen and then pearl clutch.
America is an incredibly rich country, which conquered an entire continent, has unprecedented exponentially growing stores of historical wealth, and a global hegemony and reserve currency that allows us to permanently consume more than we produce. It’s just that so much of this wealth has gone to the top 1%; otherwise our living standards could be higher. Americans intuitively understand this so are not willing to bear economic pain. The vision of American life that some Republicans have where you don’t go to college and then work in a steel mill and live in a crappy house in the middle of nowhere and eat ramen because you can’t even afford burritos is totally repulsive and pro-abundance Democrats should just tar Republicans with that.
There are a lot of people happy working at a "steel meel (or equivalent) iand live in a crappy house in the middle of nowhere." It'll be hard for Dems to win their vote when if it's crystal clear how Dems view their lifestyle and choices.
On a consumption basis--probably the correct standard IMO--there hasn't been much change in the last 50 years.
Imagine trying to defend the administration and the VP comes out of nowhere to call you fat, yikes man.
$20 for a single item of food is a lot of money but it depends on what you're getting. I've seen $16+ quesadillas but quesadillas fills your stomach up quickly (if done right). Without considering healthy options, I'd rather spend that $20 on something else.
JD Vance and his enerringly bad political instincts, raring up again.
Democrats should be grateful that he has this skill.
The natural follow up to JD’s tweet is to assert that burritos are expensive because Trump is fat and eating them all.
Yah, this whole magaverse is a theater of the absurd.
Except that Trump prefers taco bowls: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36215048
The “$20 burrito” joins the “$78 airport hamburger”:
https://x.com/DavidBrooks224/status/1704668479259820413?s=20
That whole documentation of this Twitter feud is why I'm grateful that I can follow a professional like Matt who knows how to wade into Twitter so I don't have to. It also helps to provide a sneak preview on what Matt might write on in the coming days.
Jonah Goldberg had a write-up a few days ago with an amazing photo of Vance poking out of a burrito.
Why would you spend $20 on a burrito?
For that you could get a steak or a decent Chinese meal or several fried chicken meals.
Agreed, I'd rather spend $14 on a Caribbean plate or something else.
I know that my personal financial situation is very lucky, and I know this position is a political loser, but… groceries are simply not that expensive.
“The point is that in an affluent society, the vast majority of people are not living anywhere near a subsistence level, even as they still feel subjective financial stresses.”
You can always live off lentils, but also if you ate steak and drank champagne for every meal it would still be a much smaller share of spending than rent in most cities.
I just want to note the irony that the cheap, no treats option for burritos still involves Instacart.
I get $15.79 at my local Kroger, with premade salsa instead of ingredients.
i think that's just the writer examines the cost of groceries without leaving the house option.
Right but why? When did leaving the house become a major challenge in American life?
i just checked the cost of those ingredients on fresh direct (basically the NYC version of instacart) and it was $40 🥲