Posted on 06/03/2013 1:59:33 AM PDT by TexGrill
Kojiro Sekine / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer Food makers are feeling the effects of the economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, though not in a good way, as the weaker yen drives up prices of wheat, cooking oil and other imported raw materials.
This side effect of Abenomics has been especially troublesome for the food industry, as consumers tend to look for lower prices when buying food products.
Many complaints were voiced about the rising cost of imported soybeans at a general meeting of Zentouren, a national federation of tofu makers’ associations, in Tokyo on Friday.
Soybeans make up about 90 percent of the cost of making tofu, and about 80 percent of the beans are imported. Global prices have been pushed up by a drought in the United States--a major producer--which has exacerbated the effect of the weaker yen.
(Excerpt) Read more at the-japan-news.com ...
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Prices in Tokyo are up a bit. American pork is up about 15 to 20%, but is still much cheaper than the Japanese cuts. American beef is way up, but I almost never buy that. Chicken is stable because that is pretty much all domestic.
Fresh veggies are stable. Chinese frozen veggies and prepared foods are pretty much stable and low cost, but most consumers are leery about them these days. Rice is actually cheaper, but not by very much.
Bread is up about 10% across the board because of higher wheat prices.
I’m pretty philosophical about this. If Abenomics can get the economy moving again, it will be worth the slightly higher prices. Not really that hopeful, though.
Destabilizing the currency undermines the economy because investors cannot commit money to long term productivity improvements. Another problem is that the cheap money undermines foreign economies by encouraging boom and bust carry trades. The foreign currencies get bid up with short term speculative monies which are quickly withdrawn at the top of the bubble leaving those economies worse off than before. The same effect applies to commodities in general where the effects of QE and other stimulation are highly nonlinear. The result is booms and busts similar to 2008 in the US. The stimulation in 2007 encouraged the 2008 boom which directly caused bust and deleveraging and crash and the depth of the recession.
Rising prices won’t help the economy anymore than it did when FDR ordered millions of food animals and millions of acres of crops to be destroyed.
“Rising prices won’t help the economy anymore than it did when FDR ordered millions of food animals and millions of acres of crops to be destroyed.”
All the rising food prices are accomplishing here (in the US) is destroying the sectors where people spent discretionary income; too many people are simply working now for food, gasoline, and rent/mortgage payments. In my area, where a liquor license was a great investment (and always in demand), several bars have closed and licenses are for sale with no takers.
Yep. I know it all too well.
Making people poorer/prices rise is NOT boosting the economy
“Making people poorer/prices rise is NOT boosting the economy”
It is having a “Detroitification” impact here in the northeast, as companies and young people flee for greener pastures rather than be forced to live such a hand-to-mouth existence. They are being replaced by foreigners not so much looking for work as looking for food; the states are happy to bring them in and ignore immigration laws so that there are still schoolchildren in the seats and vacancy rates are kept low.
Japan imports virtually everything. Why they would think higher prices for those imports will help is beyond me.
Milk now cost as much as a gal of gas. Margarine cost as much as butter. Name brand bread is reaching $3.00. And the Military Commissaries are no longer cheaper than the civie grocery stores. Large pack of Viva paper towels is now $13.00. TP about $7.00. Cleaning products have doubled or more in price. Packages have shrunk in size to keep some of the cost down. Or gone in the opposite direction to HUGE and many times the cost of the original smaller units. Singles and 2 seniors have no need of these huge units as many will spoil before they can be fully used.
I am seeing seniors who never used a coupon in their lives now use them, and are bewildered by all the rules that go with them. Seniors are taking the brunt of the food cost rise as they have had only 1 COLA adjustment and half that went to Medicare in 4 years. And no food stamp help.
Sent hubby for a gallon of milk last week, he had not been in a grocery store in 5 years, the cost of milk nearly floored him. Hate to think what the cost of his precious Viva paper towels would do. He is going to have to go back to cloth ones.
Diapers a big land fill biodegradable problem have also soared out of site price wise. You youngsters better learn what cloth diapers are in a hurry if you want kids or those disposable diapers will ruin your income ditto for formula nearly $25 a can now. Learn to breast feed, it’s FREE.
He who controls the price of food, controls the country.
The Young are fleeing to America from Neo Europa
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