The risks of living in a trigger happy economy

Not sure if such a thing as trigger happy economy exists

I am really not sure if technically a term like trigger happy economy exists. However as a common person on the street I can only say that there are so many trigger points in the economy that are there to cause a price rise.

Numerous triggers to cause the price hike

When there is any news about inflation it is generally not on the cover page of the newspaper. It is on the 3rd or 4th page if at all it makes it to the newspaper.
Yet if it is there I see people use it to their advantage.

How can people use such news to their advantage?

Go to the neighborhood store and this news can be the pretext to raise the price of things that do not come with a MRP or a maximum retail price printed on them.
the store owner is free to fix and vary the price to suit his needs.
Such news can be just the right trigger for him to cause a price increase for the inventory he holds.

tariffs can be a trigger too

Tariffs would happen when they happen however the anticipation of tariffs is a reason enough for some businesses to jack up the prices.

Individuals also adopt this strategy

I feel it is not just businesses or big stores that adopt such strategies to push the prices up. Even small businesses or casual and daily workers do this as well. I do understand that economically things are hard for almost all of us unless you are rich and have multiple sources of income.
Yet I find some people always finding reasons and excuses to increase the price of their services or the products that they are selling and as a result want to charge you more.

Numbers do not always tell the truth

The inflation numbers rarely capture the ground reality of how the prices are going up in the unorganized retail sector.
There is simply no correlation between the inflation numbers and the rate at which the prices keep going up.

Why do the prices move only in one direction?

I wonder why the price movement is a one directional affair. The prices simply keep moving up. I do not remember anything getting cheaper or waiting. Perhaps there are some things that are getting cheaper.
I may sound cynical however it is human values and the value of life that is getting cheaper.

It is no longer considered aspirational to be a good human being. It is considered important to be successful, rich and financially well off however being good and helpful is not considered important anymore.

Where would all these multiple triggers lead us too?

I see so many people nearing retirement age or who have already retired and I am saddened to see how they are struggling to live a decent life as they cannot live the life they once could when they were earning.
For those still working the ever increasing prices causes a situation where they are living from paycheck to paycheck.

These triggers set a domino effect of inflation

Free markets are an opportunity to do business and thrive however when there are some bad actors or perhaps some niches where monopoly exists there can be situations where some bad actors cause anomalies in the system and cause price increases and inflation and when the actual event occurs there is further price rise. Sadly most of these bad actors go scot free and this not only burns a hole in the pocket of the clients but also is bad for commerce in general.

Main image created with Bing image creator

Posted Using INLEO