The Cost of Living Crisis Isn't What You Think

Is the cost of living crisis actually real, or has it been exaggerated by the mainstream media? Today we look into why the US economy and the American consumer are holding up okay, and why the cost of living pressures have not yet turned into a full blown consumer crisis.

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★ ★ CONTENTS ★ ★
0:00 The Financial Times Article
3:48 The Cost of Living Has Really Risen
5:10 Are Cost Pressures Materially Affecting People?
8:00 Are Wages and Wealth Saving the Day?

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[sirheisenberg]

Recessions are part of the economic cycle, all you can do is make sure you're prepared and plan accordingly. I graduated into a recession (2009). My 1st job after college was aerial acrobat on cruise ships. Today I'm a VP at a global company, own 3 rental properties, invest in stocks and biz, built my own business, and have my net worth increase by $500k in the last 4 years.

[walternate]

It may not be terribly hard to get by, but it feels impossible to get ahead. If you are not making progress in life financially, the frustration of walking on a treadmill is understandable

[mrwise]

Savings rate: down. Credit card delinquencies: up. Car repossessions: up. Evictions: up. Unemployment: up. I’m sure that none of these things actually hold any importance.

[kareemebaid]

Bro, the short answer is yes. Food prices have doubled everywhere, and rent hikes are crazy. The same product you bought two years ago is 40% higher. Just watch the airline prices and compare them to two years ago or earlier.

Is anyone else facing the same?

[JessicaKeith-ujjq]

It's like the costs just keep climbing every year – rent, repayments, food, bills, taxes... It feels like the government should cut us some slack on taxes; it's getting harder to manage everything.

[craigrendahl]

I don’t know of anyone who receive a 20% increase in wages to offset the 20% cumulative inflation impact on a household budget. Something is amiss with the premise of this video. You are normally very good with the study of macroeconomics, but this particular video has foundational problems.

[jonathantaylor]

Your "cost of living" depends when you bought your house. You can have two neighbors living next door in the same exact house and one guy is paying $1650 a month but the other guy is paying $3, 600. The only difference being timing. One guy bought in 2012, the other guy bought in 2022. And the guy who bought in 2012 is likely older and makes more money than his new neighbor.

[LazarNaskov]

This is probably the first time I've seriously disagreed with one of your video's conclusions. You've shown before that the increase in the stock market is fragile and likely fake as it's carried by the top couple of companies and hopes of AI changing the world. On top of that, houses increasing in price due to investors fighting over them is not a good thing for the average consumer as it makes affording a house nearly impossible. Asset appreciation only helps those who have assets to appreciate, and if you don't rent hikes are gonna murder you. All of this doesn't even mention the rising credit card debt rates. It may be true that the cost of living crisis is over blown, but the everyday consumer is struggling. Love your stuff (easily my favorite economics content on YouTube), but this one missed the mark for me.

[sunscrave]

Nobody wants to admit they are poor or not doing well. People saying "the economy isn't doing well" is precisely translating to "I'm not doing well money wise".

[TyTheSilverGuy]

People don't want to admit they have a problem. Household debt has ballooned. Cost of essentials have gone up twice as fast as their wages the last 4 years.

[BlockheadLabs]

I love hanging out with Bill Gates. Whenever I do, on average we are quite wealthy.

[sigvardskrongorns]

I think in the end you pointed out the big factor - "wealth" and "assets". Those who have assets - can offset increases in living costs, but those that don't own them are the ones that do experience it. And with the gab between asset % growth vs wage % growth - this is where the "crisis" comes into play

[ghesoonkarim]

If the rent is $1600 and up
That is insane 😳
People can't give half their check to industries that are bleeding them.

[AbramEvanson]

If you wanna be successful, you most take responsibility for your emotions, not place the blame on others. In addition to make you feel more guilty about your faults, pointing the finger at others will only serve to increase your sense of personal accountability. There's always a risk in every investment, yet people still invest and succeed. You must look outward if you wanna be successful in life

[thebearded]

Two things you missed:
How is employment data changed considering how many new businesses were started after covid? They gave out pretty massive cash handouts for new businesses that might not have generated revenue but are still active on paper. Is a business owner unemployed?
Secondly, you didn’t touch on the skyrocketing credit card debts in the us.
On a side note, of course people won’t report worse living conditions before their conditions worsen. Once they do it will be to late

[honeymoon]

If the Fed wanted to lower inflation then they have to address the root cause. And the root cause is the outrageous price of gasoline and diesel which causes everything to increase in price. The oil companies and refineries are gouging, period. The government needs to make an example of one oil company, national it, the other oil companies will crap their pants and lower the fuel cost instantly. If the oil companies don’t lower their prices then the government just orders their newly nationalized oil company to compete against the other oil companies. I don’t think this will happen because the government is in big oils back pocket. And the government wants inflation high to deal with the 31 trillion in debt. if you are losing in the current dip or you look forward to start the best way to go is trading with the guidance of an expert. Sandy Barclays has been one step ahead of other analysis, with her strategy I was able to accumulate 15.03 Btc lately.

[RonnieSportz]

I see your point, but my house, car, and groceries are much more expensive relative to how much I get paid from 4 years ago. So while it may not be a "crisis", things are way worse. If things weren't all that much worse, 25–35-year-olds would still be buying houses, which they are not.

[ralanbrinson]

I’ve lived on the same fixed income for the last 7 years. The cost of living problem is real for retirees like me.

[blurglide]

People aren't getting worse off because you tend to make more money as you get older. I feel like my standard of living has remained the same despite making MUCH more than 5 years ago.

[DutchDollars]

The burden of the top 1% of people who are closest to newly printed money is carried by the lower layer of society who don't have any assets immune to inflation