Interesting thread on inequality

[DDE-6-20-23]

Are none of the increased prices due to the strategy of trying to disentangle from China and bring certain manufacturing back to the U.S.?

If not, isn't this a concern with Trump's stated policies?

Why 'Made in America' will make everything more expensive

America's supply chain dependence on China is changing and while it may raise prices, it could also create more US-based jobs.

www.businessinsider.com

Biden’s leftist agenda of free everything pumped too much dough Fing supply chains and exacerbating inflation. That was pandemic. That is just policy for the left. Ideology. I read from the fed that money is still circulating and causing stickiness.

As for trump yes I believe that too will hit prices from another angle and make shit expensive.

Don't you remember Biden's 1st state of the union? They called it Trump 2.0 coz he hit on every damn thing Trump was pitching. Gas, bring back manufacturing, jobs, the (cough cough) border. Then 2 months later he pivoted and did the opposite. Biden's entire presidency has culminated his entire political career. A Big fat joke and total hypocrisy. A career political hack that's like a preacher getting caught for pedo-crap.

 

[DANC]

Yeah, on some level. I’m honestly still trying to wrap my ahead around it. My best explanation (I’ve been drinking so it might be nonsense). The problem we’re running into is assets are increasing much faster than wages and it’s causing a lot of the issues. An extreme example of it was houses during Covid. Wages have increased a good amount, but they didn’t outpace assets like housing. So wager earners got screwed again and those with assets and capital won again.

Boomers have just been fortunate enough to be alive at the right time to benefit the most from the system. They’ve already paid for their education, house(s) , and stocks when they were much cheaper and benefit from them outpacing wages. They get their plumbing, deck, and vacations cheaper because their assets grew faster than the wages.

I have to laugh (not at you) about those who think Boomers have always had it so good. When I was in my late teens and 20s, you were lucky to find any job. Minimum wage jobs were hard to get, because so many people of that age were applying. Inflation and unemployment were far higher in the late 70s/early 80s, when many of us came of age.

We've been around and working for over 50 years, folks. When we were growing up, we always heard we wouldn't have it as good as our parents. Sound familiar?

Get back to me in 30 years and I guarantee you'll be sitting fat and happy and your children will be whining about how you had all the advantages in life.

 

[DANC]

Fiat money has existed for over 1000 years. China started issuing it in roughly 1000AD.

What are you calling fiat money? Rome issued coins well before that.

 

[twenty02]

What are you calling fiat money? Rome issued coins well before that.

Paper money, not something made out of a metal that had underlying intrinsic value.

 

[DANC]

I don’t like hard candy. We don’t have any hard candy. Fake news. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I scrape icing off cake.

But it’s true about the lawn. I have an excellent yard and I spite the youngsters and their weeds. There are only two types of people in this world - Those who edge and those who don’t.

What's the deal about not liking beards? I've had one since my 20s. It's the only thing that keeps me from looking like a dork.

Boomers love facial hair - I didn't get that one.

 

[DANC]

Paper money, not something made out of a metal that had underlying intrinsic value.

Oh ok. They didn't have gold standard back then? We had one until the 60s.

 

[DANC]

Choking on a piece of hard candy and scaring yourself and the parents was almost a rite of passage when I was a kid.

You are so right. I can't count the number of times my parents used to have to shake my sister to get her to cough up a piece of candy.

 

[DANC]

Are none of the increased prices due to the strategy of trying to disentangle from China and bring certain manufacturing back to the U.S.?

If not, isn't this a concern with Trump's stated policies?

Why 'Made in America' will make everything more expensive

America's supply chain dependence on China is changing and while it may raise prices, it could also create more US-based jobs.

www.businessinsider.com

It's pretty directly linked to the war on fossil fuels started by Biden his first day in office and his massive spending bills.

Inflation, to that point, was low and staying there, under Trump.

 

[snarlcakes]

His ancient historical analysis is weird. He says Babylon and Sumer were so wise about how wages stayed stagnant during times of peace that they had "regular" debt relief.

They did have city wide debt relief. But that debt relief was going to peasant farmers, who weren't being paid wages. And the relief was generally in relation to random (not regular) bad crops or drought, not a recognition that "wealth grew faster than wages in times of peace" (I wonder if anyone was even paid wages in those societies).

Also, he says

"After 50 years or so, inequalities feed populism and anti-social behaviors because the young and the poor feel that the system is rigged against them (and it is)Asa result, deficits and military spending increase, which further increases inflation."

I don't understand the link between his first sentence and "military spending increase." Our current populist movement, for example, doesn't seem to want to increase military spending, does it?

After thinking about it, I assume he was just using it as an example that it’s been recognized as an issue for centuries and those societies had to deal with it as well.

Several tweets later he talks about Powell playing dumb. A really good example of this is the bailing out of the banks a couple years back. Powell essentially said we don’t want deflation that way and bailed them out instead of canceling the debt.

 

[twenty02]

Oh ok. They didn't have gold standard back then? We had one until the 60s.

I think their system at that time was initially tied to silver but then at some point they stopped backing it by any metal. Been a long while since I've read on the topic.

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

His ancient historical analysis is weird. He says Babylon and Sumer were so wise about how wages stayed stagnant during times of peace that they had "regular" debt relief.

They did have city wide debt relief. But that debt relief was going to peasant farmers, who weren't being paid wages. And the relief was generally in relation to random (not regular) bad crops or drought, not a recognition that "wealth grew faster than wages in times of peace" (I wonder if anyone was even paid wages in those societies).

Also, he says

"After 50 years or so, inequalities feed populism and anti-social behaviors because the young and the poor feel that the system is rigged against them (and it is)Asa result, deficits and military spending increase, which further increases inflation."

I don't understand the link between his first sentence and "military spending increase." Our current populist movement, for example, doesn't seem to want to increase military spending, does it?

It was a pretty weak take IMO by the tweeter. I hate trying to draw economic comparisons vs. the past, particularly with regard to other societies and constructs.

As Snarl pointed, out, I've been highly critical of the Boomers because they have benefited the most from economic policy and societal changes: 1) taxes have never been lower on income, 2) the long-term trend in interest rates and inflation was significant - it is literally what caused asset price inflation (real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities, etc.), 3) means of concentrating wealth consolidated into many fewer public and private companies (higher compensation and wealth creation for those in leadership positions with salaries, bonuses and equity).

None of this is related to the Fed. Throwing that into the mix nullifies some of the validity in his argument IMO.

 

[JamieDimonsBalls]

Are none of the increased prices due to the strategy of trying to disentangle from China and bring certain manufacturing back to the U.S.?

If not, isn't this a concern with Trump's stated policies?

Why 'Made in America' will make everything more expensive

America's supply chain dependence on China is changing and while it may raise prices, it could also create more US-based jobs.

www.businessinsider.com

Did you see who wrote the article for BI?

Woof.

There is some incremental cost associated with leaving China, whether it be for other low cost areas (e.g., Vietnam, Malaysia), nearshoring (Mexico, Costa Rica, DR, etc.) or onshoring. It's nearly impossible to accurately quantify, but it certainly is one of many factors of recent inflation.

 

[mattndallas]

Did you see who wrote the article for BI?

Woof.

There is some incremental cost associated with leaving China, whether it be for other low cost areas (e.g., Vietnam, Malaysia), nearshoring (Mexico, Costa Rica, DR, etc.) or onshoring. It's nearly impossible to accurately quantify, but it certainly is one of many factors of recent inflation.

Always.

 

[mattndallas]

 

[Spartans9312]

I don’t like hard candy. We don’t have any hard candy. Fake news. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. I scrape icing off cake.

But it’s true about the lawn. I have an excellent yard and I spite the youngsters and their weeds. There are only two types of people in this world - Those who edge and those who don’t.

I “edge”…with roundup