[CA renter]

You are right about the written word and the ability to pass down information. You’re also right about young people not always taking advantage of it.

I’m often disturbed by the way older people are disregarded and disrespected in our society. They are the ones who know best. Even in the workplace, it seems that the most experienced and knowledgeable workers are the ones who are most easily discarded, especially in some sectors. I think this trend has been accelerating over the past couple of decades.

Not sure why we treat our elders so poorly in our country (marketing & consummerism? easier to control the masses if they don’t know about history?), but it’s a very negative cultural trend, IMO.

I look forward to more of your informative posts. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Cheers!

[CA renter]

Wow, that’s crazy!!!

[CA renter]

I always enjoy your posts, ucodegen. You seem to have a lot of knowledge and experience in a variety of technical fields. It’s always fun to learn from your posts.

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi]CAr, deflation is Greece and Spain. The evidence is there, what else do you need? Absent monetary policy, the alternative is internal deflation to regain competitiveness.[/quote]

I’m not opposed to the govt/fed intervening in productive ways, just that what they’ve been doing will end up causing more damage over the long run, yet again.

Back before the downturn, I was writing letters to a number of politicians and regulators warning about the downturn and what should be done in order to mitigate the effects: infrastructure investment, R&D in the energy and healthcare sectors, and (the smallest component) unemployment assistance for those who were most negatively affected by the downturn. I also advocated for pushing the foreclosures though as quickly as possible, with a focus on getting those homes into the hands of owner-occupiers. And NO bailouts for either the borrowers or lenders who had caused the bubble in the first place.

We could have bottomed by 2012 if these policies were enacted. As it stands, we won’t be bottoming out until the mid-2020s, IMO. We still have a couple of years where we can pretend some more, but I think that 2016-2017 will see hard times (this has always been my timeline based on what would happen if there were bailouts of all the wrong people).

Putting money into the hands of speculators and the wealthy does not improve the economy, and it does nothing to make the system more secure — quite the opposite.

[CA renter]

[quote=harvey][quote=spdrun]No different than today, except the factories are external to the US vs internal.[/quote]

Yes, no difference except for the huge difference.[/quote]

What difference is that, pri? The exploitation of workers exists in either case.

[CA renter]

[quote=Leorocky]Inflation is not defined as an increase in the money supply and we have not been experiencing “massive inflation” since the Great Recession.

Both of your statements are patently false.[/quote]

I would argue that we have had massive inflation relative to where prices would be if not for the Fed/govt manipulations of the past few years…depends on where and how you measure the starting point.

You’re also wrong about inflation not including asset prices.

Spdrun and livinincali have it right.

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi]Spd, of course you are right. But gadget makers want your data and they want to charge subscription fees in the future. Google actually works with utilities companies to allow them to control your thermostat.

I’m willing to sell my soul for cheap products that save me money and provide me convenience.[/quote]

Sometimes, you say some really crazy things, Brian. This one is particularly bad.

It scares me to know there are people out there who have so little regard for privacy rights. This emboldens the spy world to push things further. Too many people have been brainwashed into giving out the most personal of personal data. It’s just scary.

[CA renter]

[quote=Leorocky]Inflation is not defined as an increase in the money supply and we have not been experiencing “massive inflation” since the Great Recession.

Both of your statements are patently false.[/quote]

Inflation is the result of an increase of the monetary supply, all else being equal.

http://www.stlouisfed.org/education_resources/feducation-money-and-inflation/

In the past few years, housing prices, stock prices, bond prices, and the prices of many commodities have risen near or above “peak” prices, as defined by past bubbles. Of course, you’re welcome to claim that “massive inflation” hasn’t happened…but we’ll just have to agree to disagree on that issue.

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article47810.html

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=spdrun]FlyerInHI: What’s wrong with just living and letting the other countries take over the world? Fuck our responsibility. Maybe the world would be better off split between the Russians, Chinese, or Iranians. We have enough nuclear weapons to deter invasion, so it might alter our economy, but it won’t alter our rights materially.[/quote]

Because well-being is relative.

There is such as thing as keeping up with the Jones (or even surpassing the Jones) that make people happy and motivates them.

Europe, for a time, went its own way to maximize well-being the way they saw it.

In America, our academics perfected capitalism and developed new ways to make capitalism provide us more material goods and to maximize GDP growth.

Europe (and the rest of the world) then looked at us with envy and changed directions to our way of doing things.

So we won. Our way is the way.[/quote]

We learned how to destroy other countries’ productive capacity. We bombed them back a few decades, at least. We know how to bully other countries and how to stake a claim to their resources.

If that’s “capitalism” I want no part of it.

[CA renter]

[quote=spdrun]Policy should be made for the benefit of the average citizen, not some insane abstract notion of the economy or national interests (aka ugly American d*ck-waving. “WE’RE THE BIGGEST! WE’RE THE BEST! RAH! RAH! RAH”). Really, who gives a flying flip?

The economy is there to benefit the average person. We’re not there to benefit the economy. National interests are only important as far as they benefit people living in a given country. Not as some sort of abstract chest-thumping patriotic idea.

And real standard of living has gone down since the 1990s. OK, people have more tablets and smartphones, but so what? If anything, those devices are more of a leash than a liberator. As long as you have the things in hand, you can’t really disconnect from work or other personal worries.

Longer working hours, but lower rate of employment. Damage to groundwater from fracking. More surveillance since 9/11. Worse food (more HFCS/more obesity). Higher college costs for four-year schools, and less ability to graduate debt-free. Overly rapid industrialization of third-world pestholes, impacting the global environment.[/quote]

Thank you.

[CA renter]

[quote=spdrun]As a deflationista, shouldn’t you be against higher wages and for lower prices? i.e. more of an “end the Fed” sort of gal?[/quote]

I’m both a deflationista AND a labor advocate (and pro-family, and pro-middle-class). Ideally, I’d like to see the shrinking of the labor force (more parents having the option to stay home if prices are falling/wages are stickier; more people living in multi-generational housing…in a good way), rising/sticky wages, and lower prices. Overall, a better quality of life for the average person. Not saying that would be the immediate effect, as deflation is indeed damaging; but at some point, deflation stops, and I think that a greater number of people have a better chance of achieving success (happiness, higher quality of life) in a deflationary environment than an inflationary one. Depends on the details of the events, but that’s a general belief.

It’s purchasing power that I care about most, and deflation is necessary to bring some kind of balance back between labor and capital. Inflation (of asset prices) greatly benefits capital at the expense of workers.

Just to be clear: the effects of inflation (increased money supply) can take many forms. Inflation can affect one sector or group more than others. You can have massive inflation, but also have falling wages (yes, even nominally). That’s what we’ve been experiencing since the “Great Recession.”

[CA renter]

[quote=AN][quote=spdrun]Frankly, the world might need a collapse to set things back a few decades. Right now, the trend is to more control, more automation, more surveillance. It would be good if innovation was stopped in its tracks (or at least slowed down) for a few decades so we had time to think where society is going, and whether we want it to go there. Delay the Singularity, so to speak.

If it results in some level of mayhem, so be it.[/quote]
What make you think it’ll be only a few decades? What if it turns out to be a few centuries and the only ones left standing are the 1% and we all are sold into indenture servitude? The 1% can afford to buy their private armies to protect themselves.[/quote]

During deflationary times, the wealth and income gaps narrow, sometimes drastically.

Inflation is what gives the 1% their power. Deflation gives workers (and others living on a fixed income) more power. Asset prices fall much faster than wages, on average.

[CA renter]

And for those who say they’d like to see higher wages, San Diego is one of seven cities where major campaigns are being fought. Volunteer, write, call, watch…just get involved. We can’t rely on others to do all the heavy lifting.

http://krwg.org/post/afl-cio-announces-raising-wages-summits-presidential-primary-states

In solidarity,

😉

[CA renter]

[quote=FlyerInHi]CAr, when interest rates are high, money is in short supply. So speculators as you call them, just hold money. They don’t need to buy and sell things to make more money. That’s a great environment for people at the top with loads of cash.

Since you’re a long term deflationist, you shouldn’t lament low interest rates. Just hold cash and it will be worth more with deflation. There’s your nest egg.[/quote]

Once again, even if speculators hold their money (and savers are not speculators in the sense that I mean it), that money is still being invested or spent into the economy unless the savers are keeping their money under the mattress. Banks use the deposits as reserves for their lending.

———-

[edited to add]…

Also, higher interest rates don’t necessarily mean that money is in short supply, it could also mean that investors think risk is too high.

When money is dear, better decisions are made, destructive bubbles are far less likely to inflate, and speculation is reduced. IMO, the ratio of speculation to genuine productive investment is reduced. And people don’t bury themselves with debt for consumption. That is good for the economy over the long run.

[CA renter]

[quote=moneymaker]I don’t think savers are doomed. It’s not about interest rates or deflation alone, it’s all about purchasing power for the savers, which is ironic since by definition they aren’t spending.[/quote]

In general, deflation is positive for purchasing power.

[Author]

Posts