The USPS is raising stamp prices in May, so stock up on your “Forever Stamps” before the hike. Starting May 11, the price for a first-class mail stamp will go from $0.42 to $0.44.
inflation
Comic Book Prices Creep To $3.99 Per Issue
By 1.29.09
Over at sci-fi publisher website Tor.com, Heather Massey points out that the ceiling on comic book pricing is being steadily pushed higher by the big publishers, especially Marvel, which now prices individual issues of some of its titles at $3.99 each.
Consumer Prices Are Plummeting! Steepest Drop In History!
By 11.19.08
The Consumer Price Index, which measures how much Americans spend on consumer goods like groceries, clothing, entertainment and other goods and services, fell by 1 percent in October compared with prices in the previous month, says the NYT. “It was the steepest single-month drop in the 61-year history of the pricing survey.”
Oil Prices May Go Down, But Don't Expect Your Grocery Bill To Shrink
By 10.20.08
Now that the price of oil has dropped — you should expect some of those skyrocketing grocery bills you’ve been paying to drop, right? Yeah… probably not.
Consumer Spending Will Shrink For The First Time In Nearly Twenty Years
By 10.6.08
Consumer spending, the engine that powers our economy, is probably going to shrink for the first time in nearly two decades, says the NYT — a move that will “all but guarantee” that the current economic crisis will deepen.
Learn About Past Recessions With This Cool Interactive Graph
By 10.2.08
So you’re probably sitting around thinking, “I want to know more about stagflation, but I want to have fun clicking stuff on the internet, too.” Right? No? Who cares. We’re still going to direct your attention to this neat interactive graph from the Harvard Business Review.
99 Cents Only Stores Raise Prices To 99.99¢, Narrowly Avoid Having To Buy New Signs
By 9.10.08
99 Cents Only, the L.A.-based chain of not-quite-a-dollar stores, has come up with a novel approach to the growing losses it faces as the economy worsens: they’re raising their top-priced items to 99.99 cents.
This Dollar Store Taunts You With The Past
By 8.28.08
Can there be any sadder indication of our toilet-water economy than a dollar store that references its own happier, cheaper past? This New York City dollar store has pulled down its old sign, “Everything 99¢ Or Less,” and rebranded.
Hershey Hikes Candy Prices 11 Percent
By 8.18.08
Well, we’ve been saying it would be more honest to just raise prices instead of shrinking the product, and Hershey has taken us up on that. On Friday, only months after a 13% hike back in February, Hershey announced a price increase of 10-11% across the product line, citing higher costs for ingredients.
Will The McD Double Cheeseburger Lose Its Cheese? Or Go Off The Dollar Menu Completely?
By 8.4.08
The fate of the $1 double cheeseburger seems sealed. McDonald’s has already announced that it will be looking for ways to cut costs or increase revenue from the popular dollar menu item — even if it means taking the double cheeseburger off the menu completely. Now the Wall Street Journal says that McDonald’s is testing different versions of the burger, and that it may lose some or all of its cheese.
Unemployment Seeps To 5.7%
By 8.1.08
The light in the American economy grew murkier in July. Real wages remain stuck in a fetid mire, up only 2.8% from a year ago, while methanous pockets of inflation bubble floated above to 5%. Rubbing up against declining consumer spending, the economy shed 51,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate slinked up to 5.7%, a four-year high. However, that was 24,000 fewer jobs slithering away than economists, licking their lips and blinking their eyes, expected.
By 7.28.08
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Kraft is making money by raising prices. Forbes reports, “Kraft said price increases, which were a response to rising commodity costs, accounted for more than 7.0% of the revenue gain.” [Forbes]
Sorry Telcos, Landlines Are Now A Luxury Expense
By 7.28.08
But in this first real slowdown of the wireless age, consumers seem to be saying that home-based telephones are expendable luxuries, like Starbucks lattes or Coach handbags. And it makes sense. Confronted with high inflation, soaring energy costs, and stagnant wages, millions of households are facing choices about which monthly bills to pay and which commitments to maintain. And if it comes down to one or the other, the mobile or the home-based land line, it’s clear which is a necessity and which is an option.
How Long Can McDonald's Afford To Keep The Double Cheeseburger On The Dollar Menu?
By 7.24.08
Double cheeseburger fans are going to have to face a grim reality. The rising cost of raw materials means that McDonald’s has to pay more for beef– and the double cheeseburger will probably have to leave the dollar menu.
By 7.23.08
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100 billion dollar bills from Zimbabwe will get you a loaf of bread in that country, or $80 from a collector on eBay. “Official inflation is quoted at 2.2 million percent but independent finance houses say it’s closer to 12.5 million percent.”[AOL]
Get Ready For More Supermarket Price Hikes
By 7.23.08
The notorious Grocery Shrink Ray was supposed to help prevent this, or so we were told by apologists for it, but Datamonitor is reporting that Kraft Foods, Kellogg’s, ConAgra, Sara Lee, and Tyson “are all expected to announce a hike in the prices of their products” in the near future. Here are some of the hikes you can expect, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Grocery Shrink Ray Goes Down Under, Attacks Aussie Sprunch Hairspray
By 7.20.08
Looks like the Grocery Shrink Ray took a working vacation down under this summer. Reader Meg tells us that her redesigned Aussie Sprunch hairspray shriveled from 12 ounces to 10.2 ounces. Gone too is an adorable yellow kangaroo, mercilessly consumed, we presume, by the insatiable Grocery Shrink Ray.
How Would You Like Your Inflation Served?
By 7.20.08
The Mexican restaurant chain Chachos is now charging a 7.5% inflation surcharge on all meals with cheese. Skyrocketing commodity prices present restaurants with a menu of unappetizing choices: raise prices, levy surcharges, reduce portions? How would you like your inflation served? Vote in our poll, after the jump.
