Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Biglesworth
They use draft horses, not tractors, so they're not affected by fuel prices either.
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Somewhat. Not to get overly economic and political, but we.. well.. congress.. has created an enhanced artificial relationship between the cost of fuel and the cost of food, by subsidizing crops used to generate bio-fuel... A political goldmine, but at an economic, humanitarian, and environmental cost. The spike in food prices in mid 2007 was the result of this, and as fuel prices increase -- which they have since levelled off in the last 45 days -- the price of agricultural and food increased, which drives up the cost of feed. It was a bipartisan political manuever so that this congress could see a menial bump in approval ratings... it did not, and the unfortunate consequence is a semi-permanent link between energy and food where there wasn't
as much of one before.
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As for the economic woes... my 403(b) has tanked. I used to look forward to getting my free-money report in the mail from TIAA-CREF and now it's just the bearer of bad news. I conserve gas pretty well as it is and ride my bike almost anywhere that I *can.* I work a mile from home so I really only fill up once a month, if that. My old house was closer to more stuff... food, supermarket, etc, but my new place is closer to work... so it's a give and take.
Other than that, not much has changed in terms of my spending because of the economy. Dating costs too much money, but other than that... things are how they are.