I had wondered the same. Cost for energy going up - has trickled into just about everything from shipping - to production of raw materials. Everyone is feeling the pain of that RIGHT now. (I also agree that the media is BSing a ton of this - but maybe I'm just 'bitter'.... )
One other area that I wonder will be affected (not by energy) is labor in our hobby.
Background: In manufacturing and recently in aviation - the final squeeze to get costs outta the product have been labor. In manufacturing it's been completely moved South or to Asia. In aviation, labor was maintained in the airline - but at a very high cost. Over the past 5 years labor has been contracted out to small vendors and Repair Stations that pay their folks about 2/3rds what airlines paid - and they also receive reduced benefits - lowering charged labor costs even more. Airlines simply couldn't compete with those lower labor costs. China is right on the verge of producing small and large transport category aircraft with a very small labor component in the price. (Boeing and Airbus will get slammed)
So I wonder when that trend/effect will come into our hobby ? Or can it like we've seen in Manufacturing and Aviation examples above ?? Who are already vending labor to other countries to build parts/products. How do you pro shops deal with constant increases in labor (and underlying rise in benefits costs) while still getting those craftsman/artisans that everyone wants. Does anyone see a day where labor in our hobby will come from South or even overseas ? Will it be cheaper to 'crate' a completed project from someplace like China ? (fill out the form - pick the build specs - pick your color combo and put 50% down...) Will the cost of energy at the shop level eventually price your services into extinction ?
As a (now unemployed) business manager - I have tons of these types of questions of our industry/hobby ......
Jim
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