The year ends amidst that anguished moan of prices still rising. The crisis continues to generate tensions in the infected vein of a production system with price increases that threaten the serenity of families and businesses. Financial coordinates that herald new difficulties. Certain, Calabria closed the month of November with an inflation figure of 1.3%, a value perfectly in line with the national average. The State Statistics Institute, however, estimates an additional annual expenditure for families of 220 euros, a figure that differs significantly from the country average (306 euros more per year). As for the cities, Cosenza and Reggio close in 44th place in the national ranking, sharing the regional lead, with additional family spending of 266 euros and inflation reaching +1.5%. Much better is Catanzaro, the most virtuous of Calabria, with 177 euros of additional spending and a “softer” cost of living index that stops at 1%. The concerns, however, are all linked to the new year marked by a predictable flurry of increases that will revive the climate of uncertainty that had already manifested itself violently at the gates of last autumn.
More expensive bills
There are accounts that do not add up within the scope of energy products. Arera, which is the national authority that regulates networks, energy and the environment, estimated an average reduction in bills at a national level of 4.3% in the month of November alone. But Calabria enjoyed a smaller reduction: 2%. A sort of differentiated autonomy of discounts on electricity and gas tariffs and fuel prices. The national leader of the Consumers’ Union, Massimiliano Dona, who processed the Istat data, believes that «even in Calabria inflation took off in November, going from 1.1 per year in October to +1.3%. It is certainly negative that while throughout the country the item Electricity, gas and other fuels drops by 4.3% compared to November 2023, in Calabria it drops by less than half, -2%. Social assistance is also bad, +5.3% against a national +2.9% and “Other services” such as funeral services, tax and legal assistance which in a year rise by 6.3% (in Cosenza, yes it even reaches the record share of +13.1%) against an average increase of 2.2% in Italy”.
Three years of price increases
Inflation threatens the stability of families. The price increase storm began in September 2021, six months before the entry of Russian tanks into Ukraine. The war in the heart of Europe has only legitimized what had already been clearly visible for some time in the crisis diagrams with unobtainable raw materials and record increases in electricity and gas prices. The mystery of the origin of the chaos will remain forever, a mystery trapped in a tangle of algorithms that have pushed economic indicators over time towards a point of no return. The reality manifests itself in the new size of families with a purchasing power that no longer even covers primary expenses. Little money for bread, pasta and meat. And ever-moving inflation has even changed our eating habits. The hurricane of poverty has also hit our tables. Shopping has become a luxury for everyone. The family system has been pushed to collapse and in the last three years the pockets of poverty have widened.