The 5 pound loaf: inflation, explained with bread
Rania tracks one loaf of baladi bread from a 2016 price to today and uses it to explain inflation, who it hurts most, and why printing less money is not the whole answer.
Why the same phone costs more in Lagos than in Dubai
0:00 / 0:47
Sample the first 60 seconds free. Sign up free or log in to hear the whole episode.
Show notes
The same phone, two prices
A listener sent Rania two receipts for the identical phone, one from Lagos and one from Dubai, with a difference of almost 90 percent. This episode works out where every part of that gap comes from.
- Exchange rates: official, parallel and why they diverge
- Import duty, VAT and the customs chain, with real figures
- Why a weak currency makes imported goods dearer but exports cheaper
- What a retailer adds for risk when the currency moves weekly
Rania ends with a simple method for guessing a fair import price before you buy, and a question to send in for the next episode.
Transcript
Welcome back to Supply and Demand for Breakfast, I am Rania El-Sayed. This week's episode started with an email. A listener in Lagos sent me two receipts for exactly the same phone, same model, same storage. One from a shop in Dubai, one from a shop in Lagos. The Lagos price was almost double. He asked a very fair question: why? Is someone cheating him? The honest answer is that nobody is cheating him and he is still paying far too much, and the reasons are a tour of half of economics. Exchange rates, official and otherwise. Import duty. Value added tax. And something retailers quietly add when the currency moves every week. I will break every piece of that gap down with real numbers. You are listening on Witspeak Podcasts.
Open as text