Our local Walmart has slashed prices of chicken in the last week. Bags of wings are down from ~$30 to ~$20, etc, etc. From what I can remember, a lot of it is back to being competitive with pre-covid prices.
Gasoline here in Silicon Valley is $5.75/gal.
Tract houses are selling within a few days at $2 million.
The local Walmart also slashed chicken and eggs prices significantly. Many other staples --milk, breads, sodas, etc. â remain close to their peaks.
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LoL 
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I cant help but think that is [at least partially] self-inflicted. Our gas prices have pretty consistently floated between $3.20 and $3.60 for the past couple years.
Sorry, sodas are a staple at home. BTW, soda price doubled around here. Perhaps theyâre now taxed to reduce consumption?
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the smart guy running JPM warns on 7% rates
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Grocery store sale prices have been decent - recently 6-packs of bottles were 4/$11, when in the past itâd be 5/$11.
Cans are another story. Even generic 12-packs have gone from $2.50 to over $4. And sales never bring the price below $4 each, when 5/$10 was common not to long ago.
Soda is a staple, to the extent that we have a full sized refrigerator just for bottled drinks, roughly 2/3 being sodaâŚ
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Donât know about taxes, but it wouldnât be such a bad idea, considering how bad all that sugar and fake sugar is for humans. Have you considered fighting inflation with a soda machine? Supposed to be good ROI.
I disagree with the idea of taxing food items as a means to controlling what people consume. Under that argument, youâd have to tax the same way caramel Frapuccinos, or doughnuts, or fried chicken, or⌠It comes across as just another excuse to pick peopleâs pockets and raise more money for the over bloated bureaucracy.
BTW, speaking of things that are truly bad for individuals and communities⌠How about stopping drug use, or going back to the days when stealing $900 in merchandise would put people in jail? Now that would indeed be progress.
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Thatâs not real âfoodâ though. Calling soda âfoodâ isnât a big leap from calling cigarettes âfoodâ since some smokers rely on cigarettes as a cheap substitute for food. Taxes on cigarettes fund smoking prevention education and related disease research. Taxes on âfoodsâ full of added sugar could similarly fund anti-obesity education and related disease research.
Iâm not opposed to your other proposals. I can walk and chew gum (also not a food) at the same time 
UmâŚthatâs pretty judgemental. And not particularly correct, either. Junk food provides sustenance like any other food. I dont know too many people who chew and swallow their cigarettes. Smoking can be an appetite suppressant, which is in no way equates it with âfoodâ.
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meanwhile, more store closures of retail due to theft. you can tell itâs not due to unprofitability generally since theyâre all in places that arenât prosecuting shoplifting laws.
Target is closing locations in New York City, Seattle, San Francisco and Portland.
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Yet they still characterize it a âorganized retail crimeâ, which, at least to me, tries to imply professional mafia-like syndicates are to blame. But in these cases, âorganizedâ is often little more than 2 dudes with a pickup truck.
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You also need states with laws like Californiaâs proposition 47 that makes theft of less than $950 a misdemeanor, and prosecutors who will not prosecute retail theft.
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I didnât say it equates to food, I said itâs a cheap substitute for food (exactly because it is an appetite suppressant).
All the reports Iâve seen show a flashmob crowd, which leads me to believe they are organized online. The most puzzling thing is that those organized âcommunitiesâ havenât been infiltrated by law enforcement. Or at least if they have been, then nothing is being done to stop them.
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Maybe law enforcement doesnât bother because the thieves are not gonna be prosecuted. As a cop, why risk your hide - in case one of them is armed - and waste your time to make arrests if theyâre free to be back at it the next day? Youâre better off giving out parking/speeding violations.
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As not a cop, I donât know. Iâm thinking they could be charged with an intent to commit a crime, which probably doesnât fall in the same category as stealing $900 worth of stuff.