Has the cost of living gone up all over the world, or is this solely an AMERICAN thing?

It depends on what you want to call "cost of living". I fed myself and my mother for years on $70 a month just by buying things on sale and buying enough to last a while.

Prices do not go up, the value of the money goes down. Most of the world uses the US dollar as the standard money, so most of the world is helpless in the face of inflation. Inflation can mean a lot of things, all of them beginning with phony money. Federal law defines the US dollar to be 371.25 grains (troy) of fine silver. But if you go to the mint and ask to exchange a paper dollar for metal, they will laugh in your face. Because the paper dollar is not money: it is only a coupon. The only reason it has any value at all is that the government that issued it will accept it in payment of taxes. The Federal Reserve creates all the money the federal government cares to spend. The officials spend a lot more than they collect in taxes. Nobody cares. They just print more money. And that is inflation.

Hi Jewels, how are you? Thank you for answering.

I posted the topic question here:

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20190703003747AA9QPf4

and these are the three answers I was given:

"1.) Yes, (though not solely American), "cost of living" isn't uniform over the whole world and there are indexes which compare cost of living in different places.
2.) No, it isn't a ploy to get you to buy more products - we just can't fathom the evil.
3.) The cost of living has gone up because of detrimental government policies.

There has been destruction (wars) and corruption (world monetary system) which cause inflation and higher cost of living.
The government prints money when they need it; destroys things when they want to (wars); and makes money less valuable through inflation.

The three functions of money are:
1. a medium of exchange.
2. unit of account; means of calculating the relative prices of goods and services.
3. a store of value.
Money is used as a medium of exchange and a means of calculating relative prices of goods and services.
Money is not a reliable store of value, as there is inflation and over-printing of money.

In developed countries, the government and financial institutions have tighter control, are more restrictive, and are ripping the people off more (because they can).
They might do this through central banks, fiat currencies, inflation, interest rates, or taxes.
Developing countries have more of a grey economy which isn't under the control of the central banking system."

"Yes and no. Economies fluctuate, meaning it depends on what you buy, when you buy and where you buy. Even in America, some states are very expensive to live in while others are relatively cheap. Look at the prices of housing after the housing bubble, some houses dropped as much as 80% for a bargain buy if you were ready for it. Even in a city, you can buy goods and services cheaper in some neighborhoods over others. This works the same around the world, where if an economy is booming, then demand goes up, which is what drives prices up. When people tighten up their wallets and a surplus exists, prices drop drastically to get rid of inventory."

"Yes, America is the only country on the planet that suffers from inflation. You can still buy beer in England, for example, for tuppence and a house will cost you a few shillings."

I asked the first person what he meant by "evil" and he responded with:

"Destruction of the world is evil.
Military and economic warfare is evil.
It's not about money because they don't need money.
If you try to rationalize or see motives, it's only from your point of view, but we don't really know why people do things unless they tell us and they aren't telling us.

People are being ripped off, faked out, and lied to everywhere.
They are forced to believe more (take on faith what is told to them) and work harder to make up for time value and their own aging or depreciation."

I asked him what any of this has to do with buying goods, and as of the time of the making of this post, he hasn't responded yet.

Would you please expound upon what he is talking about if you don't mind?

Your Crops failed.
Buck spreads from poo (Point of origin).

Adapt2030 and ice age farmer (youtube) will help you understand.
Adapt is kinda annoying, but he's true to spec, iceage is exceptional - Tad reserved, tho.

Hi Mark. What "crops" are you referring to and what is "buck"?

All crops (food & fuel).
'Buck' - To pass the 'buck' is to 'alleviate One's responsibility/ies by transferring, said, responsibility (Buck) onto an 'unwitting' other.

Check out 'Iceagefarmer' on youtube.
He'll fill in the gaps, for a layman.

Walmart have no tinned peas, already (I mean ALL Walmarts).
$2.80 pb (per bushel) 6 Months ago - Now $5.00.

People learning that Soy is poison are converting to peas (legumes), also - This has an impact too.