The French philosopher Voiltaire (1694-1778) said, “One day everything will be fine! This is our hope. Everything is fine today. That’s our illusion.” Four short sentences that could hardly be more topical, because while the politicians are talking about the fact that we live in the best Germany of all time, the broad masses not only have the feeling, but also the concrete certainty for the past two years that that their prosperity is dwindling and the future more uncertain than ever.
This loss of prosperity can be experienced by everyone since inflation massively reduced the purchasing power of our money. The stats aren’t bad enough yet to reveal the full horror, but if you step back and just compare today’s food prices with those of two years ago, for example, you’ll immediately see that we’re talking about 10 percent inflation are miles away.
Numerous milk and cheese products are 50 percent more expensive today than they were at the beginning of 2022. Two aspects are frightening at this point. The first aspect is that these products are not caviar and sparkling wine, but indispensable staples that everyone needs.
Inflation hits
Escaping high inflation by changing purchasing behavior is therefore not possible for most consumers. The second aspect also does not give us much hope that the situation will improve any time soon, as there are currently no signs that inflation will normalize and recede any time soon.
Rather, it is becoming increasingly clear that the so-called second-round effects will occur. They include higher wage and salary deals. Once agreed between unions and employers, they are another reason for manufacturers to raise the prices of their products.
While inflation is now eating away at the economic substance of many households, many employees have to fear that they will soon lose their jobs to their computer colleagues. Here the next misery is looming. It does not become visible as quickly as the destructive power of inflation, but in the long run it will massively call many life plans into question.
Which brings us back to Voltaire and the question of how illusory is our view of today’s reality and how justified are our hopes for the future?