Eggs and the cost of living
It happened to us two years ago with oil. Last year with chocolate. And now it's happening with eggs. With each trip to the supermarket, a recurring feeling: the most basic products in our shopping are getting more and more expensive. The price of eggs has risen by more than 20% in one yearAnd in some supermarkets, a dozen eggs already costs over €5.40 – up to €6.50 for organic ones. When a product as basic as eggs becomes a topic of debate in Congress, we know something is wrong.
As would be explained in an introductory economics course, on the one hand, avian flu has forced the culling of millions of birds and drastically reduced supply, and on the other hand, we are consuming more eggs than before: the pandemic triggered a surge in domestic consumption, and demand has remained at previous levels. If we add the rising costs of feed, energy, and transportation, along with new animal welfare requirements, the result is a highly volatile market in which any shock sends prices soaring. In such contexts, even small decisions within the distribution chain—tightening margins, holding onto stocks, anticipating shortages—can further amplify price increases.
But what's truly worrying isn't just the price of eggs, but what they symbolize. After years of high inflation, many families feel that life has become permanently more expensive and that essential things—food, energy, or the house– they are becoming increasingly difficult to accept. It's what in English is called affordabilityThe lack of affordability of the most basic goods and services. Ultimately, it's about whether household income—wages and benefits—is enough to cover the real cost of living. This gap, which widened dramatically in 2022, is now resurfacing with each new price increase for basic items in the shopping basket. It's not a temporary supply and demand problem: it's a deep-seated feeling that It erodes economic confidence and fuels social unrest..
In the United States, the price of eggs became a political symbol years ago: Donald Trump won the 2016 election promising to lower prices that were crippling many households. And today he could lose it for the same reason. Egg prices continue to riseTrumpism's most successful rivals—like New York's newly elected mayor, Zohran Mamdani—have understood this better than anyone: the core discontent of Americans is not unemployment or growth, but the cost of living. And when people can't afford basic necessities, the election battle is decided at the supermarket, not in televised debates.
Catalonia is no exception. The economy is creating jobs, GDP is growing, and many indicators are moving in the right direction. But the cost of living remains the major blind spot of public policy. Housing, food, and energy are consuming a growing portion of household income and explain a discontent that doesn't always appear in macroeconomic data. Ultimately, no political narrative can compete with the perception that living is becoming increasingly expensive.