economy
A third inflationary shock in less than a decade is coming: who will pay the price this time around?
Brutal past experience has taught us that a cost of living crisis doesn’t affect us all the same, because we don’t all go into it with the same income or wealth
TL;DR
- The Strait of Hormuz, a critical oil chokepoint, is threatened, leading to an energy supply crisis with significant economic impacts, particularly in Asia.
- The impending crisis is described as the third national inflationary shock, with the burden falling unevenly on households based on income and wealth.
- Lower-income households have seen a dramatic increase in the cost of necessities, while higher-income households have reduced their spending on luxuries.
- The article criticizes regressive utility pricing, arguing that poorer families should not pay the same rates as richer ones for essential services.
- There is a call for a shift away from fossil fuels and the current ownership system for utilities, along with a move beyond policies focused solely on economic growth.
- The piece emphasizes that the experience of national crises like Covid and the Ukraine war has varied significantly across different income groups.