"Hard days ahead, you could say we have a real tsunami of price increases ahead. Fuel prices are about to skyrocket, the government has passed a new tax on disposable utensils alongside an additional tax on sugary drinks. These are just some of the factors that will weigh on our pockets. And if that's not enough, The corona and its effects are also here. Suppliers have already announced that after a decade in which they have not raised prices, they no longer have a choice, "Eyal Ravid, CEO and owner of the Victory chain, wrote last week on his Facebook page. 23 cents per liter, the tax on disposable utensils has been applied and the tax on sugary drinks will soon come into force.
Allegedly, many factors support rising food prices and market prices in general: the energy crisis in China that has led to a spike in fuel prices; The buzz created around green energy, which encourages governments to raise energy prices for populist motives; A huge increase in the demand for sea transport that has skyrocketed its prices in the world. For example, the price of a container from the Far East, which stood at about $ 7,500 before the Corona crisis, has now jumped to more than $ 55,000; Transportation and manpower problems have led to a rise in world wages, and so have raw materials. To all this must be added the government's contribution to rising prices - the disposable dishes, the sweet drinks, the increase in property taxes from January and the postponement of agricultural reforms, which could have contributed something to the fall in prices.
This government, which has promised to address the cost of living, is working in the opposite direction. The aggressive tax on disposable utensils demonstrates the lack of sensitivity to the biggest challenge of the Israeli economy today - the cost of living. While it is right to educate the public to use reduced plastic, as is customary in developed countries, these countries have not taken such an extreme step. Britain, for example, which is considered one of the leaders in awareness of plastic damage, introduced a levy on plastic bags as early as 2015. The next restriction in the field will take effect in the UK only on April 1, 2022. A levy will then be levied on locally produced or imported plastic packaging, only if it contains less than 30% recycled material. The tax will not apply to small manufacturers and importers of packaging (up to 10 tonnes per year), and the levy will be £ 200 per tonne of plastic - about 85 cents per kilogram. In Israel, this is a levy of NIS 12.87 per kilogram (NIS 11 plus VAT) - without a preliminary discussion, as was done in the UK, without an information budget for the field and with a warning of about a month.
The European Union has ruled that any product that contains plastic and can be found as an alternative to a biodegradable and affordable material will be banned for use in EU countries.
These are straws, disposable utensils, ear toothpicks, balloons and more.
Emphasis was placed on education and information, but no such specific levy was set.
Perhaps because there the finance ministers do not have an open account with the ultra-Orthodox.
Panic for public education
This treasury and government also had a very urgent need to reward the public for sweet drinks, in the same aggressive way, without a preliminary public debate, without gradual and sweeping. In many of the countries where such a tax is imposed - it is much more limited. In some cases it is a tax on the import of sugary drinks, in some cases it is a tax that depends on the level of sweetness, and in almost all cases these are countries that had a sharp public debate before the restrictions and levies began. In most countries of the world this tax does not exist. It exists in Belgium, Chile, Finland, France, Hungary, Norway, Portugal, Poland, Spain, and the United Kingdom, and in underdeveloped countries — a total of 53 of the 167 countries surveyed in the world.
It is clear that the government would see lowering the cost of living as a major goal, it would at least postpone the application of these taxes until after it had succeeded in realizing some of its promises to lower prices and reduce household spending in the middle and lower deciles.
Israel is ranked eighth in the world in the list of "most expensive countries to live in" (world population review). All consumer goods in Israel are 9% more expensive than in London, and grocery products in Israel are 20% more expensive than in London (NUMBEO), and 24.3% more expensive than in the United States. For example, the average price of a kilogram of beef in Israel is About $ 22 (the data is calculated according to a report by thousands of consumers in every country in the world), which puts us in 9th place in the world in the cost of meat to the consumer. The US and China are in the middle with about $ 12.
The price of milk in Israel is NIS 6.1. In London, a liter of milk costs NIS 4.05, and in New York NIS 3.7. Israel is therefore ranked 15th in the world, out of the 109 countries ranked highest in the price of milk. Among the most expensive countries in Israel is a country we invented ourselves, "Palestine", which is ranked 12th in the world in the cost of milk. The price of 12 eggs in Israel, according to the same website, is NIS 13.6, and in London NIS 9.44; In New York, their price is NIS 10.4.
In the famous cost of living ranking of the cities of the world, large and representative cities are ranked in each country, and a total of 566 cities are ranked in the world. The six cities that represent us occupy very "respectable" places on the list: Tel Aviv in 20th place; Jerusalem in 28th place; Beer Sheva in 29th place; Petah Tikva in 31st place and Haifa in 37th place.
In terms of vegetable prices, Israel is ranked 50th out of 169 countries in the World Economy website, with a score of 145, with a score of 100 representing the world average.
In this state of affairs, it seems that the responsible adult is the Bank of Israel, which stopped supporting the dollar and allowed it to lose weight against the shekel starting this week.
After many months of being set at a support rate of NIS 3.2, this week it broke in the direction of NIS 3.1 to the dollar.
Apparently the central bank's set of considerations is now leaning towards a recession in inflation, even at the cost of export risk.
The absence of Musk
Last week we raised doubts here about the reported deal that Hertz would buy 100,000 Tesla cars.
This report was based in part on rumors, which the parties did not confirm or deny, mainly regarding the astronomical transaction price - $ 4.2 billion.
This week Elon Musk tweeted nonchalantly "If our stock is soaring because of the deal with Hertz, I want to emphasize that it has not been signed yet".
"If"?
"Emphasize"?
Well, not really surprising.
This is Musk, who has previously been investigated, fined and warned by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
We wrote here that his genius does not come down to his ingenuity, creativity and abilities in the automotive field, in this case, but to his phenomenal ability to handle the stock.
As a skilled shepherd he leads investors on adventures that have led his company to an unrecognized value in the automotive industry.
Of course, his tweet caused the stock to fall by some percentage, but Musk seemed as confident as usual, that even if a few sheep ran away, the herd still belonged to him.