I don't know if you have noticed, there have been some news on the Internet recently, some water meters are still turning even if they are removed, some are all turned off but the meters are still going, and some even all electrical appliances are turned off, and the meters are still running codes. In some places, parking on both sides of the road has begun to be charged, and in some places, the original free attractions are not free, and even some law enforcement departments have bluntly said that there is no money in the treasury now, so law enforcement must be in place. What does enforcement look like? That's two words: fines. Therefore, with the decline of land finance in recent years, some incredible phenomena have appeared in many places, in fact, the fundamental reason is that local governments have run out of money and are facing huge financial pressure. Therefore, in this case, the era of comprehensive price increases for water and electricity has come.
Let's take a look at a few recent news on the Internet:
The first is the relevant content about the increase in water prices
Shanghai raised the water price after ten years, the highest ladder price increase of more than 50%, Guangzhou issued a water price reform plan, the new plan water supply price increase rate of nearly 34%, Xianyang, Wuhu, Nanchong, Ganzhou, Qujing and other places have successively raised the price of water, the price increase ranges from 10% to 50%.
The second is about the relevant content of gas price increases
125 cities and counties, including Shenzhen, Fuzhou and Zhenjiang, have issued plans for pipeline natural gas price increases. Chongqing residents complained that the gas meter "ran faster" and the invisible gas bill doubled, and the Chongqing government replied: It has been investigated, and the situation is basically true.
The third is the relevant content of electricity price increase:
Guangdong, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangsu and other provinces announced electricity price adjustment plans and began to implement a new round of provincial power grid transmission and distribution prices, with a maximum increase of up to 30%.
Not only that, from some of the phenomena at the beginning of this article, we can also see that not only are prices rising in all aspects of residents' lives, but even the masses themselves have begun to pay serious attention to some details in life. As the so-called when you have money, everyone doesn't care, once life is difficult, even if it is a penny, you have to start thinking seriously. However, I believe that with this wave of water and electricity price increases, other related daily necessities will also usher in a new wave of price increases, and social inflation will become more and more obvious. Despite this, some domestic experts are ashamed to say that the prices of public services such as water and electricity in Chinese cities are still low compared with those of other countries in the same development, and there is still room for further increases. Of course, we can scold these experts as much as we want to scold them to relieve the hatred in our hearts, but looking back and reflecting, in fact, this is also the most helpless choice under the tight national finances after the land finance is not feasible.
Although the state wants to promote consumption in various ways, in the face of the current economic downturn, the broad masses of the people have a sense of insecurity in their hearts, so they try to tighten their belts as much as possible, and do not spend anything if they can, and never spend more if they can spend less. Because of this, people's consumption concepts have become more rational, and they are no longer as extravagant and wasteful as before. From the cold down jacket last winter and the popularity of the Northeast flower of the military coat, I believe that many people can also see some signs. The key problem is that everyone has no money and no ability to continue to support their vanity, so they can only find a reason to give themselves a step down and start spending rationally.
To be honest, I don't quite know the reason for this wave of price increases. In my opinion, the economy continues to decline, and the cost of living for people is relatively high and more difficult, and it should have been lowered. Only by reducing prices can we alleviate the pressure on the masses and reduce the cost of living. Some people analyze this reason and believe that there are two: one is that the model of "low price + loss + financial subsidy" is unsustainable; and the other is that they want to increase social operating costs to get rid of deflation. For a long time, the mainland's water and electricity enterprises, including oil, tobacco, COFCO and other state-owned enterprises and central enterprises, have always emphasized that most of them operate through the model of "low price + loss + financial subsidy". In other words, they don't make money at all, but operate at a discount, just to be able to provide cheaper public services to the broad masses of the people. In the first ten years, the land finance situation was very good, and the local government finances were not short of money, and it was no problem to subsidize water and electricity, but now the land finance is not working, so the government finances are also tight, and it is difficult to subsidize again.
I don't agree with this statement. As we all know, these enterprises are often monopolistic enterprises, although they pay a lot of taxes to the state every year, but I believe that everyone knows very well the profits, and they should not lose money. In addition, although the annual financial statements and statistics show losses, the number of dividends paid to shareholders every year is extremely substantial. If we talk about the loss of the urban public transport system, I understand and agree with this, but if we talk about the loss of water and electricity, the loss of oil, the loss of tobacco and COFCO, I really can't figure it out. After all, in the current era of the Internet, everyone is not stupid, how much does it cost to make a pack of cigarettes, although everyone is not a member of this system, but it is more or less points.
Therefore, if it is said that these enterprises are really losing money, it means that these enterprises have raised a large number of idlers, paid high salaries beyond the normal range, and added annual dividends, so that the losses caused by this are by no means due to business problems. If there is no object of comparison, do you ever remember that the CEO of a certain science and technology company who retired the year before last had an annual salary of up to 160 million yuan after retirement, and this is just one person, which enterprise does not have thousands of executives? Looking at it this way, can the enterprise not lose money? Moreover, compared with ordinary workers, the welfare benefits of most state-owned enterprises should be much higher than the average level in the country, or there will not be so many people who want to enter these units, if they lose money every year, what do these enterprises use to attract these people to work?
In addition, some people say that it is to raise the cost of social operation to get rid of deflation. You must know that deflation and inflation are two opposite concepts, if it is really deflation, in addition to the deflation of housing prices, all kinds of commodities related to the survival of the people, it seems that there is no deflation, but most commodities are continuing to rise in price. Moreover, if the price of water and electricity rises, the price increase of these public services related to the fundamental people's livelihood must trigger a series of chain reactions, which will definitely lead to the price increase of various daily necessities. As a result, the cost of living for the masses will be higher, and their lives will be in trouble, is this the result we want? Since the 90s, almost all prices have been rising, so how can the word deflation come about? I really can't figure it out.
I do not agree with this approach, and we must be clear that the main reason why the economy is in a downturn and consumption is stagnant is that the crazy development of the real estate economy in the past ten years has squeezed out the hard-earned money of the people of the country for decades. Ordinary people have no money and no ability to spend like crazy anymore, which is the main reason. Some people said: Didn't the Internet say a few days ago that last year, the people had a net increase of 110,000 yuan per person? If you believe in this average, then you are too naïve, and we do not rule out that some people do have money, but these people are not ordinary people, and they do not need houses, because they have already saved many houses in their hands. Therefore, this average deposit is just an illusion, and it is a true embodiment of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer, and the gap between the rich and the poor in society is further widening.
Moreover, even if there are still some ordinary people with medium incomes, then their housing loans, car loans, children's education expenses, elderly maintenance expenses, and ordinary living expenses are all extremely large expenses, so how can they still have the ability to consume strongly? It is precisely because of this that the rise in water and electricity prices is unlikely to promote consumption, let alone alleviate the current economic problems, and can only increase the burden on the people and make the living environment of the people worse.