The rising cost of living

I think we need a thread for updates:

  1. Post Office: starting tomorrow, we will see a price increase in packing boxes, shipping charges, PO box fees, etc.

  2. Transportation: buses, railways and HSR: still under discussion how much, but all train fares, probably even MRT, will go up from mid July on.

You’re welcome.

Good thing the salary is not going up eh?

icon, where are you getting your info on train and mrt fares going up?

Over the past year I’ve begun to notice significant price rises across the board.

Perhaps when giving advice to guys who want to live in Taipei for 25k a month we need to bear inflation in mind :slight_smile: . I just pray that my wife gets regular promotions because my monthly income ain’t going nowhere :frowning:

Morning TV news. What caught my eye was that it was HSR and TRA saying they had it decided but postponed it, and the others were mulling it over. :s

Let me see if I can find a link on the TV websites.

At least in Taiwan inflation is not as bad as in the ol country. You see prices go up and up weekly, almost daily. And they never go down.

The one thing that’s gone down in price for me is a haircut.

There IS less to cut. :neutral:


The ol country . . . Hmmm . . . :ponder: Costa Rica? :ponder: Panama? :ponder: Venezuela?

Cost of living worldwide is increasing, and the only thing that surprises me is that people are surprised by this. Energy and land are becoming more expensive (i.e., more scarce relative to demand), and that drives the price of everything else. When I go back to England (once a year) it seems to me that prices are increasing faster there than they are in Taiwan.

Taiwan has had very low inflation compared to almost any country I know, if you discount property prices. It seems to be catching up finally over the last year or two but at least prices are still relatively low compared to other places. Like others prices must have at least doubled where I am from over the last ten years. Now wages went up too but once you lose your job in Europe or the US it can be hell to pay. Supposedly it costs a 100 euro just to get a tradesman enter the house and they can charge 100s of Euros for a relatively minor job. At least in Taiwan a shoddy job comes dirt cheap :slight_smile:.

What hits me is walking into a restaurant and seeing the base price around 140-150 NTD.
What do you mean I can’t get a niu rou mian for 100 NTD? What’s this, chao fan for 140 NTD, are you putting gold nuggets in there too ? :doh: :smiley:

[quote=“zender”]The one thing that’s gone down in price for me is a haircut.

There IS less to cut. :neutral:


The ol country . . . Hmmm . . . :ponder: Costa Rica? :ponder: Panama? :ponder: Venezuela?[/quote]

As to the inflation train, ALL of Latin America is riding it. But we have money laundering to boost it too. :wink:

[quote=“finley”]Judging from Icon’s food preferences, I’m guessing Costa Rica :smiley:

Cost of living worldwide is increasing, and the only thing that surprises me is that people are surprised by this. Energy and land are becoming more expensive (i.e., more scarce relative to demand), and that drives the price of everything else. When I go back to England (once a year) it seems to me that prices are increasing faster there than they are in Taiwan.[/quote]

Certainly, th ecompetition for resources is part of the reason but I still think uneven distribution and unwise use of available resources is mostly to blame. We waste too much!

This wekend I was listening to a CNN broadcaster’s simplistic explanation on who teh changes in weather patterns means harsher winters up North and heavier storms/droughts in tropical regions. Certainly, while CNN is teh McD of “news”, it is not without worry one hears something like this, especially knowing how many millions are already affected by not having available, potable water resources. We are in big trouble in teh years to come if this is not fixed.

As what regards Taiwan, well, the inflation is surprising and I am rather concerned it is not taklked about. In teh past, people were scared of speaking up because they feared their jobs would go to China. Well, they did, we are still here, and the bosses want to pay China salaries with Taiwan costs… Don’t know how much longer people can take it. While temporary migration -aka summer programms- will keep the youth calm a bit and the previous generation is quiet by sheer osmosis/training, there can/will be an explosion. Probably, when there is a change in command…

Inflation comes in different guises and for different reasons.

In the UK inflation in the form of currency depreciation is being used to inflate away government debts and to make UK exports more competitive. Some of the inflation is also due to the end of the North Sea reserve commercial life. It’s engineered inflation and imported inflation.

In Ireland or many Eurozone countries you have imported inflation but deflation in costs of many goods and services as bubbles bust.

In Taiwan the major driver of REAL inflation was property prices however they are not counted in the CPI figures. Supposedly in Taipei the average mortgage takes over 50% of a couple’s combined income! The main reason why property prices are too high is not demand increase (no extra population) or supply constraint (plenty of houses being built or already built and lying empty). No, what’s driving it is cheap money. Cheap money is artificially constructed inflation.

In terms of oil the price has certainly gone up due to demand increase worldwide, yet there are plenty of choices such as natural gas which have decreased in price, so the ‘resource limitation’ argument is not really accurate there.

In addition you have crazy artificial price support policies mandated in the US/EU for 10% of automobile fuel to be bioethanol which is a hugely inefficient and expensive proposition AND at the same time it drives up the cost of corn which is a major feedstock.

So in summary I’d say that there is some argument for inflation being demand increase and supply constraint driven but the biggest factor is cheap money (through record low interest rates), inflating away of debts through money printing, poor choices of energy sources, lack of energy conservation and last but not least rampant speculation in food commodities.

I’ve noticed that things that begin with “h” are going down (haircuts, hard drives)

Things that start with “b” are going up (butter, bananas, berries, bacon, . . . and beer is no longer 30NT at Sushi Express)

Bolivia? :ponder: , Honduras? :ponder: , Nicaragua? :ponder: , Peru? :ponder:

[quote=“zender”]I’ve noticed that things that begin with “h” are going down (haircuts, hard drives)

Things that start with “b” are going up (butter, bananas, berries, bacon, . . . and beer is no longer 30NT at Sushi Express)

Bolivia? :ponder: , Honduras? :ponder: , Nicaragua? :ponder: , Peru? :ponder:[/quote]
HH may be dismayed to hear he is going down!
Going down list :Hookers,Honesty,HTC,
Going up list : Bentleys,BS,Bacardi.
I think you have something there zender :popcorn:

[quote=“shiadoa”][quote=“zender”]I’ve noticed that things that begin with “h” are going down (haircuts, hard drives)

Things that start with “b” are going up (butter, bananas, berries, bacon, . . . and beer is no longer 30NT at Sushi Express)

Bolivia? :ponder: , Honduras? :ponder: , Nicaragua? :ponder: , Peru? :ponder:[/quote]
HH may be dismayed to hear he is going down!
Going down list :Hookers,Honesty,HTC,
Going up list : Bentleys,BS,Bacardi.
I think you have something there zender :popcorn:[/quote]
Hennessy has gone UP nearly 40% in the last year. :frowning:

Put me in the H’s it’s looking like that kind of year at the moment.

The NTD appreciating a few years ago and hovering around 29 to 29.5/ USD for quite a while has probably helped a bit with inflation here. Who knows if it will last though. It has started pushing closer to 30/USD recently, and big business has recently pled for a cheaper NTD. Even if Taiwan is fortunate enough not to get caught up in the currency wars, the whole stagnant wages thing has been an ongoing plague. I never heard a thoroughly comprehensive explanation for this.

From what I’ve heard, 10 years ago it wasn’t that hard to get in at least some type of university, but it wasn’t a given either, something around 50% admittance. Now anyone willing to put up the money for a private school can get a bachelor degree, maybe even their dog too. So you have industries here getting hollowed out as things are moved over to China, and a bunch of new garbage schools pumping out bad students with degrees they wouldn’t have gotten before. As a result, a flood of college grads are applying for fewer good jobs. It’s all supply and demand. If companies were having a hard time filling vacancies the wages would be sure to rise. It’s a dilemma that will be hard to solve anytime soon. Maybe after the demographic of fewer kids that’s already hit ESL hits the graduation age things might change a bit :ponder: Stagnant wages has turned time against the working class here even if it turns out the government can claim some credit in regard to assuaging inflation. Maybe someone with a better economic background and experience has a better explanation

I saw a 44 inch LCD panel for 15 000 NT$ the other day.
If they could make them edible that would be great.

I am not sure which one is worse, stagnant wages but relatively low unemployment, or rising wages (like in US/Canada/EU) but much higher unemployment level because companies are very selective with hiring to get the most out of their money…

The second option is preferable to anybody who has skills and experience.

If you have skill and experience then you will make much higher wages than the average even in Taiwan, however if you have neither it’s really hard to get your foot in the door in Western countries.