Posted on 08/11/2026 5:33:58 AM PDT by MtnClimber
If you have paid attention at all to New York’s idiotic new Mayor Zohran Mamdani, you probably know that one of his big promises is to open a chain of City-owned grocery stores. These stores, supposedly, will solve the problem of “affordability” of groceries by offering a basket of standard items at prices some 30% below what the other stores charge.
Now I recognize that there has been some substantial inflation in the food sector of the economy in the past few years. In some cases, and for some families, the price increases have been unpleasant or even difficult. However, I submit that there is no way to look at the American food supply and delivery system without seeing it as something close to a miracle for human flourishing.
According to the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, the share of disposable personal income spent on food by U.S. consumers in 2025 was 9.7%. And about half of that was spend “away from home,” that is, in restaurants. That leaves less than 5% of disposable personal income as the average cost of feeding a family at home. This has to be an all time record in human history. Also, according to USDA data, the “at home” cost has continued its long term decline as a portion of personal income over the past several decades, going from about 6% in 1997 to under 5% in 2025. Here is USDA’s chart covering the period 1997 - 2025:
For comparison, in the European Union, average household food expenditure as a percent of disposable income is around 14% (with richer countries like Germany and the Netherlands around 10% and poorer countries like Romania at well over 20%); and in really poor areas like sub-Saharan Africa, average food expenditures can be 40% of income or even more.
But even though our food prices are the lowest (as a proportion of income) anywhere in the world, and the lowest at any time in human history, Mamdani and his crowd have the idea that these prices are unduly high because nefarious capitalist actors somewhere in the supply chains are siphoning off outrageous profits. Therefore, he and his friends — none of whom has ever actually held a job in this industry — can order up new stores to offer the same products at large discounts.
On August 5, New York’s Economic Development Corporation — apparently the agency tasked with conjuring up the discount grocery stores — held an online forum to answer questions on the plan. The New York Post reported on the event in a piece on August 6 with the headline “Mam’s Store Plan Is Bananas.” In the Post’s telling (which is likely correct), the EDC has no idea what it is doing in going into the grocery store business:
An Economic Development Corporation official, during an online info session, was forced to admit to prospective partners that the city had yet to figure out simple logistics, including how to reimburse operators or pay store employees. The EDC official even confessed the city didn’t know how it would calculate the cost of the supermarkets’ signature “core basket” of essential goods, which Mayor Mamdani has said would be sold at 30% “below typical retail prices.” “The city does not have the expertise or experience in running stores, and so we’re looking to start to identify operators to integrate with us,” said Jamie Horton, vice president of strategic initiatives and business operations for EDC, a quasi-public nonprofit funded by the city. Horton fielded questions from about a dozen attendees during the 45-minute Zoom call about the EDC’s 44-page “request for proposals” seeking bids from prospective operators to run the shops, which are estimated to cost $70 million to build out.
It would be a huge understatement to say that these goo-goos haven’t thought their plan through. Of course the biggest question is, what’s to keep the first customer into the store from buying up all the discount merchandise to re-sell for his own profit? That would leave the store empty — the condition of essentially all grocery stores in all socialists systems at all times. On August 6 daughter Jane posted a video asking the question “Can we REALLY expect people to ‘take only what they need’”?
Way back in August 2016 — ten years ago — I had my own post on this subject, titled “Why Capitalism Works And Socialism Doesn’t: Arbitrage.” Excerpt:
If you can buy something cheaply and immediately turn around and sell it for more, chances are you will do it. Why shouldn't you? Is there something wrong with that? This is completely normal and pervasive human behavior. This behavior is also a source of a very large percentage of the wealth in wealthy countries where such behavior is permitted. It is also the reason why, in market economies, comparable things almost always trade for very comparable prices. But of course, in a world of socialism -- that is, where a government attempts to create perfect fairness and justice by means of coercive distribution -- arbitrage poses a mortal threat.
It will be more than a year before any of Mayor Mamdani’s grocery stores actually open. (They are currently projecting the end of 2027, and a good bet is that they will not make that deadline.) But it’s easy to predict that things will not go as they plan. The options are limited: (1) allow anyone to buy as much as they want, in which case enterprising arbitrageurs will quickly buy all the discounted goods and greater and greater subsidies will be needed to keep the stores stocked, with essentially all the subsidies ending up in the pockets of the arbitrageurs and few if any discounted groceries available for the intended beneficiaries; or (2) immediately impose tight rationing (one dozen eggs per customer!), only to watch clever arbitrageurs quickly find ways to get around the rules, or (3) have perpetually empty store shelves, like all other socialist grocery store efforts of the past. I don’t know which it will be (or perhaps some combination), but there aren’t really any other options. Reality is harsh.
UPDATE, August 10: Here is a comment that was posted at Jane’s site by a commenter going by the name of mkoanue: “They say nothing of the fascism and authoritarianism... Oh but someone wants to offer people cheap food and it gets them upset? These people are truly demons doing the work of their overlord.”
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Manhattan Contrarian ping
8.5 million people in NYC....How many now receive SNAP?
5 stores is just plain stupid.
Oooooo ... Ooooo .... Ooooo.
Mistah Kottah, Mistah Kottah!
How about we have the mother and father eat lunch with their kids during school lunch?
Say 3 times a week..
Mamdami will HAVE TO seize and run every New York City restaurant,includiong Chinatown.
MAKE IT FREE !
MAKE UBER FOOD DELIVERY FREE.
ALL FREE !
BUahahahahahaha!
We have seen it all before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMAPOQedRxA&list=RDNMAPOQedRxA&start_radio=1
EVERY FAMILY IS DOUBLE-DIPPING.
Yup....they even have meals for kids in the summer. And that’s why so many of these kids and their parents are so damn fat.
“However, I submit that there is no way to look at the American food supply and delivery system without seeing it as something close to a miracle for human flourishing.”
And AMEN to THAT! While we grow, raise and hunt or fish a good part of our diet, I am so, SO grateful to have a few decent grocery stores within driving distance (20 mile round trip).
The whole article was very good. Thanks!
He is going make farmers sell their food for 30% less than it costs to grow it.
Lots of cheap goat and camel meat for the New Yawkers.
And many schools offer ‘backpacks’ so that kids don’t starve to death over the weekends.
“8.5 million people in NYC....How many now receive SNAP?”
And how much is the SNAPpers’ total income?
It would also be informative to have a graph like the one posted for only NYC.
About 21% or 1 in 5 New York City residents receive SNAP benifits. The larger amount of those are in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
Most people that are fat because of what they eat and how much. I see examples of it EVERY TIME I go to the grocery stores. The fat people buy junk food. Their cart is full of prepared foods. Almost no fresh fruit or fresh vegetables.
If they bought beans, rice, FRESH Green beans, broccoli, pasta, milk, whole grain bread, Peanut butter, eggs, ham, turkey, chicken thighs, salmon, canned tuna, apples, etc. Basically protein, vegetables and fruit. All of these things are healthy choices, low fat and low sugar content. No sugary drinks, no sugary/fat desserts, no snack foods full of empty calories.
With kids out of the house, wife and I spend so little on food.
Our biggest expenses? Everything connected to government
property taxes
income taxes
health care premia
Just for the record, Mayor Zohran Mamdani has stated that he and his family have historically shopped for food and spices at La Marqueta in East Harlem which serves the working class shopper, and frequently visits Casablanca, a meat market on 110th Street, for their weekend groceries.
Other high-end, gourmet markets in the city include:
Citarella: Famous for its world-class seafood counter and prime cuts of meat. Whole sides of Ora King salmon can easily top $200. Locations span the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and West Village.
Butterfield Market: An Upper East Side staple since 1915, known for its ultra-premium prepared foods, curated produce, and gourmet snacks.Happier Grocery: Located in Soho (11 Howard St), it is famous for its celebrity clientele, aesthetic presentation, and high-end smoothie and coffee bars.
Meadow Lane in Tribeca (355 Greenwich St) luxury boutique food store frequently has lines around the block and operates with a bouncer at the door.
“About 21% or 1 in 5 New York City residents receive SNAP benefits.”
Wonder how that compares with the national average. I know too little to reach firm conclusions.
Honestly, I can’t wait until these government grocery stores go on-line.
Some people have to learn about socialism/communism the hard way. Economics wins every time it’s tried. Re: Old Soviet Union - food shortages, empty shelves, rationing, long long lines.
Unfortunately, Mamdani will piss away a lot of taxpayer money to “prove” his socialist fantasies work - but what does he care? It isn’t his money being used - and there are all those “White Areas” he can tax to make up for it.
A government-owned store doesn’t operate to make a profit. It gets unlimited funds from the government which gets the money by seizing it from those who earn it. It does not have to be efficient. It does not have to carry good quality products. If it fails, it just gets more money from the government.
Expecting this model to be successful is like expecting grocery stores in the Soviet Union to be like the local Safeway.
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