... Alzheimer’s disease symptoms typically develop after patients’ working years, with only 5-10% of cases occurring in people younger than 65 years (early onset).11 14 While subtle symptoms could develop earlier, they would still most likely be after a person had worked long enough to deem the occupation
to be a so-called usual occupation ...
Based on the graph, the increase in cost to the retailer was $0.49 and they marked up $1.10. I imagine this is pretty standard markup but multiplies the effect of the tariff and passes it to the consumer, not to mention the producer and importer.
also, I'm not sure retailers are necessarily to blame. some use pretty simple math in calculating the retail price based on cost and don't necessarily have visibility into the tariffs.
I can share my own experience as a small business owner. I sell coffee. I engage in some direct trade and also buy some coffee from domestic vendors who already have the coffee stateside.
I primarily buy Costa Rican coffee and they got hit with a 10% tariff. That adds like 5 cents to a latte. Whatever. I’m not raising my prices over that. But then Brazil got nailed with much higher tariffs and they are the #1 exporter. Colombia was another one that got hit with high tariffs and they are a major producer. Suddenly, that was driving up the cost of my Costa Rican coffee as demand that was previously met by Brazil and Colombia shifted to other countries. I went from being the exclusive U.S. importer of my coffee to being in a bidding war. The last time I imported coffee, it cost me twice as much as the shipment prior. Then they tried to raise the price again. I ended up having to find new suppliers before things eventually settled down when the people in charge realized you can’t produce coffee in the U.S. (Technically, Hawaii produces exorbitantly priced coffee at a max capacity that amounts to a rounding error relative to domestic demand. There’s no other place in the U.S. with the climate to grow coffee. Besides, it’s incredibly labor intensive. Coffee essentially can’t be produced here.)
Cups were a real pain in the ass too. We were buying our stuff from the Dominican Republic and Latin America, but people are mostly getting that stuff from China. When China became prohibitively expensive, everyone rushed to find other suppliers. That drove prices up and messed up lead times in the short term. The story with most packaging was the same.
Literally every single item required for my business increased in price. It turns out nobody produces anything 100% domestically without any foreign input. My syrups are made in the USA but the bottles they come in are from somewhere else. My empanada shells come from Argentina. Everything from chocolate to pistachios to straws and cleaning supplies. Everything is a product of global trade, whether it’s ingredients, raw materials, packaging, or the machinery and tools used to manufacture it. To maintain my own equipment, I have to buy parts from Italy.
I held out for several months. I was feeling it as a business owner as well as every time I went to the store. I knew my customers were feeling it. I live in the neighborhood where my business is located. A lot of my customers are retirees on a fixed income. The last thing I want to do is add to the pressure. Meanwhile, I have employees who deserve a living wage. I have my own needs. I dumped some products and suppliers that became too expensive for me to sell and have any remaining dignity. I saved everywhere I could without compromising on quality.
About 7 months into this bullshit I had to raise prices for most of my products. It couldn’t be helped. Still, I’m embarrassed at how much we have to charge for some items.
I feel like the last year has been complete chaos. It’s economic shocks and supply chain disruptions everywhere I look. It’s just one thing after another and that’s before I even turn on the news.
And I bet when you did eventually raise your prices, you raised them by more than you strictly needed to. Partly to help offset the losses you took for the 7 months you didn't raise prices, and partly to give yourself enough margin so that if your supplier's prices go up tomorrow (which they will) you don't have to raise your prices immediately.
That's classic "prices are sticky behavior". Prices change less often, and by more, than they would in a classical economics model.
I’m sure that happens but it may still be a net benefit. The original owner gets rid of a book they don’t need and don’t need money for, somebody who needs money takes the book and sells it, and somebody who wants the book buys it.
But some do seem to just have high turnover. When I moved away from a place in New Orleans I probably took about 100 books to one of these over the course of a month. Most of the time I’d come back a couple days later and find all the books I dropped gone—and entirely different (and not obviously inferior or cheaper) books in the library.
agreed, it is a net benefit, but maybe not the intention. I drop off books in these regularly that probably have decent resale value (relatively speaking) but very rarely find anything I am interested in reading.
How long have you been using iCloud for email? Has it been a long time (decade or so), and/or is that email for work/serious stuff, or casual use? Or both? I find it has gone from awful to patchy. But decent is pushing it. I use it casually/newsletters etc..
Charging time, range and battery lifetime are two of the commonest reasons people do not want to get EV. 400 mile range, 10 minute charging and a 10 year warranty on the battery go a long way towards fixing these.
... Alzheimer’s disease symptoms typically develop after patients’ working years, with only 5-10% of cases occurring in people younger than 65 years (early onset).11 14 While subtle symptoms could develop earlier, they would still most likely be after a person had worked long enough to deem the occupation to be a so-called usual occupation ...
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