Joe Biden - W C Fields - Flip Wilson - Jules & Edmond de Goncourt - Western Morning News - Tonight TV - Panorama TV - The Impossible Hand podcasts
Let’s be absolutely clear about why prices are high right now: COVID and Vladimir Putin. Joe Biden tweet 20 April 2022
The cost of living has gone up another dollar a quart. W C Fields
The cost of living is going up and the chance of living is going down. Flip Wilson
There has never been an age so full of humbug. Humbug everywhere, even in science. For years now the scientists have been promising us every morning a new miracle, a new element, a new metal, guaranteeing to warm us with copper discs immersed in water, to feed us with nothing, to kill us at no expense whatever on a grand scale, to keep us alive indefinitely, to make iron out of heaven knows what. And all this fantastic, scientific humbugging leads to membership of the Institute, to decorations, to influence, to stipends, to the respect of serious people. In the meantime the cost of living rises, doubles, trebles; there is a shortage of raw materials; even death makes no progress – as we saw at Sebastopol, where men cut each other to ribbons – and the cheapest goods are still the worst goods in the world. Jules & Edmond de Goncourt
Killed By the Cost of Living: OAP takes his life over rising bills. Western Morning News headline; George Mechan 92 wired himself to Mains
The widescale impact of rising prices. How to find ways to reduce your bills. Who is being hit the hardest. And what might the future hold. Tonight: Cost of Living: What You Need to Know, ITV 202
Do you know how much food is going up by? Warnings from British farmers. Cost increases leaving businesses in a battle to survive. And the rising cost of Fish n Chips. Tonight: Price Rises: The Secrets of Your Shopping Bill, ITV 2022
The cost of living: the help you need. A historic crisis. Millions feeling the squeeze. Is enough being done to help? Tonight: Cost of Living: The Help You Need? ITV 2022
As we head into winter, the cost of food, energy and other goods all continues to soar. Despite a massive intervention from the government, financial pressure is mounting on households and businesses in a way we haven’t seen for decades. ibid.
Rising bills and pension fears - how to save money. Tarriff turmoil turning lives upside down. Household bills on the rise. So what can we do? Tonight: Rising Bills & Pension Fears, ITV 2025
The cost of living is rising at its fastest rate for thirty years. So how is Britain coping? Panorama has been following three families through three difficult months. Working households stretched to the limit. Families pushed to the brink. Panorama: Surviving the Cost of Living Crisis, BBC 2022
Interest rates have been increased this year to try to control inflation. Panorama: Lost of Living: Can’t Afford My Home, BBC 2022
‘People are struggling. Costs are going through the roof. And I’m not sure there’s any way of stopping it.’ Panorama: Surviving the Pay Squeeze, BBC 2023
Millions of Britons have effectively had a pay cut. Wages aren’t keeping up with costs. Public services are struggling too. ibid.
Why do so many people feel so poor? ibid.
Some of our problems are specific to the UK. ibid.
The UK is still in the grip of a cost of living crisis. And for many it’s getting worse. More and more people are falling into debt. Tonight, Panorama investigates the rise in debt management companies cashing in using high-pressure sales tactics to sign up vulnerable people. When some struggle to pay it can become a debt trap. Panorama: Debt Trap? Who’s Cashing In? BBC 2023
IVAs are a booming business. Last year a record high of just under 90,000 IVAs were registered in England and Wales. ibid.
Germany is in serious trouble. Its economy which once seemed unbreakable has just entered a second year of recession, slowly plunging the country into chaos. Its government has just imploded as their leader has some of the lowest approval ratings in the country’s history. The Invisible Hand podcast: Why Living in Germany Has Become Impossible, Youtube 2024
Affordable homes in Germany’s major cities are nearly impossible to find. Energy prices are some of the highest in Europe. ibid.
Since 2015 Germany has welcomed 8.8 million migrants with many of these being refugees. ibid.
An economic crisis, an immigration crisis, and now a housing crisis. ibid.
A state of decline: since 2008 real wages, that is those adjusted for inflation, have fallen. Meaning after nearly 15 years the average wage in April 2023 was actually lower than that of February 2008. The Invisible Hand podcast: What Has Happened to the UK’s Economy, Youtube 2024
A cycle of political chaos as more dissatisfied citizens have elected increasingly populous leaders who have offered large policies but failed to deliver. ibid.
This is Jaywick, one of the poorest towns in the UK, full of derelect houses and littered streets. The Invisible Hand, Why No-One Wants to Live in the UK [sic], Youtube 2024
Those living in London and southeast earn siginificantly more than the rest of the country. ibid.
The gap between richest and the poorest parts is wider than any EU country. ibid.
Living standards in the UK becoming worse and worse each year. ibid.
Canada is often viewed as the United States’ more peaceful and progressive neighbour. And in the past it’s often ranked as one of the best places to live in the world. But over the last 10 years this image has been shattered. Over half of all Canadians feel powerless in the decline of their country, now stating that they are being pushed around. The Invisible Hand, Why Living in Canada Gets Worse Every Years, Youtube 2024
‘Analysts say there’s a ticking time bomb in housing.’ ibid. TV news
In the last 10 years they have witnessed almost all aspects of their life become increasingly unaffordable. ibid.
The rental market isn’t much better. Across Canada rental vancancies sit at an all-time low. ibid.
Living in Ireland is harder than you think. Just 9 years ago you could purchase a home in Dublin for 267,000 Euros. That figure today is over 450,000, a 70% rise in less than a decade. This isn’t an outlier. Across the country rents have almost doubled in the last 10 years. And since 2000 the price of a house has nearly tripled. The Invisible Hand podcast: Why Living In Ireland Has Become Impossible, Youtube 2025
In these desperate times people are turning to extreme measures. ibid.
Ireland simply couldn’t build enough houses to meet the rising demand. ibid.
Living in Spain is worse than you think. 10 years ago in Barcelona you could rent an apartment for 650 Euros a month. Today, the price of that same space has nearly doubled. And in Madrid rents have increased by 20% in a single year alone. This isn’t just an outlier happening in the cities. The Invisible Hand podcast: Why Living in Spain has Become Impossible, Youtube 2025
There is a housing crisis, a cost of living crisis, and now even an immigration crisis. ibid.
The harsh reality of a city that has simply run out of space, leaving thousands with no choice but to live in cages. In Hong Kong the average family home costs 18 times the average family income. This is the worst housing crisis in the world. The Invisible Hand: Hong Kong is a Dystopia, Youtube 2025
At the centre of this are four families who dominate Hong Kong’s real estate through their big four conglomerates. ibid.
Hong Kong has a long tradition of poor living standards. ibid.