In January, Nongfusanquan said that each bucket of water increased by 2 yuan, or 10%; McDonald's with the meal from 12.9 yuan to 13.9 yuan, KFC's various products have 0.5-2 yuan of different degrees of price increases; *** enjoy the bicycle price increased to 1.5 yuan per 15 minutes.
The price hikes, from airfare to ****-enjoyed bicycles, have left many people exclaiming that the cost of living is also too high.
Rising prices are often tied to inflation in our previous concepts. But this time, it's deflation we're wary of.
Since 2020, M2, which represents how much money is in the market, has been growing at a long-term rate of more than 8 percent, and at the end of February this year, the M2 balance was as high as 275.52 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent, a nearly seven-year high. At the end of November last year, the central bank released about 500 billion yuan of liquidity, and on March 17 the central bank once again cut rates.
There is a lot of money in the market, but China's CPI fell to 1 percent in February, and there are now hints of deflation.
In that case, why are prices rising? Could our feelings be wrong?
Yongjin Jun think the reasons are mainly the following three aspects.
First, the prices of commodities such as air tickets and hotels are particularly affected by market supply and demand.
A "scalper" revealed to Chung Jin Jun, "This year is the most difficult to understand since I sold tickets for 7 years, there is no music festival without a premium, can be said to be 'horrible'! ".
Disney also announced that from June 23 onwards will usher in the fourth price increase, even so, recently, Chung Jinjun found that every day before dawn in front of the Disney queue, people's enthusiasm has not been affected.
Over the past three years, people's travel and entertainment have been suppressed, accompanied by plummeting incomes in travel agencies, airlines, bed and breakfasts and other related industries. Now that human needs are being rapidly unleashed and market demand is high, it's not surprising that prices have increased.
Second, the raw materials and costs of some commodities have risen, and their prices have naturally risen. Take mineral water, last year, international oil prices remain high, making the procurement cost of PET (a plastic material) become higher, coupled with the cost of cartons, labels, shrink film and other packaging materials, resulting in the first half of 2022 Nongfusanquan gross margin from the same period of the previous year's 60.9% down to 59.3%, the rise in the upstream cost of bottled water prices naturally rise.
And as early as McDonald's with a price increase caused concern, before McDonald's with a price increase, Haidilao, Xibei, Ruixiang Coffee, Tea Baidao and other food and beverage brands have raised prices. The reasons for the price hikes in the restaurant industry also point to higher raw material and labor costs.
The 2022 China Catering Industry Development Status and Market Research Analysis Report released by Ai Media Consulting disclosed that the three costs that accounted for the highest proportion of catering were raw material costs (41.8%), labor costs (21.3%), and three expenses (21.2%), of which raw material costs accounted for the highest proportion.
However, on another level, this may be a good thing for consumers. Increased costs, fierce market competition from a certain point of view can force businesses to improve.
With the development of the economy and people's consumer attitudes, the price has long been the only indicator of consumer judgment, the quality of the meal, supporting services, dining environment, etc. constitute a comprehensive evaluation of a restaurant. Even if the price is high, a good experience will still make consumers feel worthwhile. On the contrary, the price is not low, but the meal or service environment is not characterized by the business will be eliminated by the market.
Third, people in different regions and with different needs perceive prices differently. People feel the source of the price increase in goods is more food, clothing, housing and transportation of these aspects, and China's CPI by food, tobacco, alcohol and supplies, clothing, household equipment, health care, transportation and communication, entertainment, education and culture, housing, which consists of eight categories. This year, the hotel and catering industry is up, but cars, electronic products and other goods are facing price cuts are still not high sales, in these areas, people's current demand potential to be further released.
And, prices are naturally different in different regions. The National Bureau of Statistics data show that in February, the national provinces CPI index for Jiangsu's highest 1.7%, the lowest for Guizhou's 0.3%, the same goods, the face of Jiangsu people complaining about high prices, Guizhou people may also issue a "I do not feel that the price increase ah" question.
Thus, our perception of prices is often limited and does not represent the real situation of the whole society.
On the other hand, the price increase of some commodities, we can see the recovery of the tourism and catering industry, only to let the money flow in the market, so that it injected into the entity, in order to truly drive the economic development
.