this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
252 points (98.8% liked)

World News

38969 readers
1959 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

Similarly, if you see posts along these lines, do not engage. Report them, block them, and live a happier life than they do. We see too many slapfights that boil down to "Mom! He's bugging me!" and "I'm not touching you!" Going forward, slapfights will result in removed comments and temp bans to cool off.

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News [email protected]

Politics [email protected]

World Politics [email protected]


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Restaurants in some Turkish holiday towns are sitting half-empty in peak tourist season, as many locals find it’s cheaper to holiday in neighboring Greece than stay and eat in one of their own country’s world-famous resorts.

Angry citizens have taken to social media to share their bills, including the equivalent of $640 for food and drinks for five people in Bodrum and $30 for five scoops of ice cream in Cesme. Meanwhile from Mediterranean Greek islands just a few kilometers away, their fellow Turks boast they’re paying far less than prices at home.

“There’s a huge difference between the service and product quality, as well as prices here and there,” said Murat Yavuz, a retired Turkish banker who regularly visits Greece. “Restaurants here have used inflation as a pretext to push up prices.” 

Restaurant and hotel prices rose by an average 91% in June from a year earlier, topping already eye-watering headline inflation of 71.6%. The sector constitutes a third of the services economy that the central bank has highlighted as a particular cause of concern in its fight against spiraling prices.

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago (3 children)

How does inflation in Turkish Lira cause the Dollar price equivalent to go up so much? Should the Lira not be devaluing against the Dollar at a rate similar to its inflation?

If not, doesn't that actually indicate a strong Turkish economy?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 3 months ago

Just anecdotally, but Hungarian prices went way up above the inflation that the exchange rates changing would justify. There are a few explanations why it happened in Hungary.

  • One is prices are getting "unanchored" and are easier to gouge. Someone used to a loaf of bread costing 400 in local currency will buy one loaf for 1200 as easily as 800. It's basically nobody knows by habit what the prices are any more.

  • One other explanation goes that the uncertainties of the economy get baked in to the price. So if the bread was made for 200, but is now made for 400, the trader will price based on the assumption the input prices might double again, pushing the risk to the customer.

  • Yet another explanation is that since prices went up, fewer people buy the same goods, so prices must go up again to have businesses stay afloat. So basically there is an inverse economies of scale effect happening.

  • Finally, in these countries it happens very frequently that parallel economies emerge, and societal divides widen. Point is, there is a group of people who get paid by foreign companies in foreign currency, and they earn much better than most that have been affected by inflation, and more and more of the economy is targeting them exclusively.

IDK really, as on the one hand I'm not an economist, only pointing it out that this is not the only place and time this happened.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Inflation is not the only thing that goes into currency valuation. Future expectation also comes into play. Basically the situation is expected to get worse

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Wouldn't assuming the Lira will drop more mean people would pay less for it though? So would make it worth less?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Those are the social media rage bait prices. Lots of places have prices 1/3 or less

Edit: That's not to say it's cheap, but there are cheaper (and still great!) options than the quoted amount

Edit 2: If you're downvoting, please also tell me how $128 meals and $6 ice cream are in any way the norm.