SP the items you mention are non discretionary as is food. Unfortunately we cant avoid council rates and car taxes are non negotiable. The worry is as these items rise they put more pressure on disposable income for the retail sector (non essentials - expensive jeans etc), Paying car higher tax doesnt create jobs, buying more clothes does. Deflation is kicking in, for instance the median house price in Ireland has fallen every month since Dec 2006, the last quarter saw median drop from E216k to 201, this was a direct result of the second wave of deflation from public service wage cuts, let alone lay offs, there may also be another tightening in discressionary spending too, though its at a low baseline so shouldnt fall to much further for now. England has begun the same process of making the lower & middle class earners pay for the top end of towns GFC, this will have the same deflationary effect.
What the rich end of town fail to realise IMO that by making the low & middle earner pay for the GFC they are hurting their businesses via weaker consumer spending & asset deflation. The best way out IMO is to tax the backside off the rich & gradually correct bloated public service wages over a decade or two. Increase corp tax on big end of town & reduce for SME would also weight the economy toward higher employment in less efficient smaller businesses.
Walmart are pushing up prices to compensate for reduced sales, this may be a neutral move as some customers may shop elsewhere or spend less where possible, you cant make six fifths out of a whole.
The answer EU & US come up with is to make the poor poorer, print tonnes of unbacked money to defend against deflation, exponentially increasing world supply of rather rough toilet paper AKA USD. a rather gloomy few decades ahead even if the Euro & USD dont collapse. Gold will easily double in the next 3 years as a consequence.
