Damien Grant: We aren't in a cost of living crisis, we're just poor

A crisis implies an exogenous event has disrupted an equilibrium and that it can, and will, be resolved.

A crisis occurs and it either passes, or a new stasis emerges.

We do not have a cost-of-living crisis because the fall in our living standards is not a temporary condition.

According to one of the few government departments still operating at some basic level of competence, the Department of Statistics, the cost of living for the average household rose by over 8% in 2022.

At the same time, average wages rose by just over 7%.