Cheap Goods Won’t Soften This Recession

Shortages may move from nuisance to something much worse

A local supermarket, 4/12/23

The recessions I’ve so far experienced:

• Oil shock of 1970s (as soon as I received my driver’s license my father had me waiting on line for gas)
• Stock market crash of 1987 (old enough to laugh, young enough to ignore — too busy chasing women)
• Tech crash of 2000 and 9/11 disruption a year later. (I defaulted on my credit card. With marriage and two kids, no more laughing it off!)
• Trend in high paid jobs in tech after 2000 (one daughter leaves college earning more than I do. Other daughters struggle).
• Housing bubble of 2007
• Housing bubble redux in 2019 and wage stagnation (I’m the boy who cries wolf that it will end badly)
• Pandemic of 2020 to 2022 (I cry more wolf. My confidence in economic predictions fall to zero.)

The following is what scares me.

Bare Shelves At Supermarket

Even today there are shortages at every supermarket. I live in a wealthy neighborhood so I would expect these stores to be among the best stocked in the nation. Although no product category disappears, there are always some items missing.