continuing inflation is down. but you aren't getting your lost purchasing power back through a wage increase though, LOL!
this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2023
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“Of course not, we can’t have more inflation, can we?!”- JPow…
Inflation rate doesn’t mean as much when the monopolies that own all of our grocery stores and the like price gouge because they can and not because of actual economic pressure.
It's always because they can.
Yup, with capitalism you charge what the market will bear.
This is why we need more Grocer Cooperatives and just more consumer and worker cooperatives in general.
That is economic pressure. Them doing what they can to get as much as they want is the force of nature that the term “economic pressure” refers to.
That pressure is normally balanced by other economic forces such as the struggle to capture more market share.
So I agree with you that our grocers have gotten a lot bolder in their monopolistic positions. But I don’t think it’s from anything other than a natural economic pressure, just channeled through a market with a new shape that prevents that other pressure acting against it.
It's merely a measure of whether or not money is moving around. Currently, money is moving around a lot. Just not from the common person.
Oh, it's moving from them plenty. It's just not moving to them very well.
Just keep waiting for it to trickle down, like a golden shower
Trickle down economics…. Stimulating the top cuz they can’t find the bottom.
Almost like economic indicators don't have the weight on the general population that the wealthy would like us to believe.
They have significant weight on the general population: layoffs, actual inflation decreasing value of wages, etc.
The problem is corporate greed and artificial scarcity also have a significant impact on the general population.
Well, inflation does affect people, but more than that corrupt businesses can push the prices up even if inflation goes down.
Right, grocery store prices and just general corner cutting in said stores has gone up faster than inflation, at least in my experience.
Faster than the average rise in prices you mean? Faster than other goods?
Corrupt businesses can only do that if they’re in a situation without competition.
With competition in play, they can’t just push up prices arbitrarily without losing business to their competitors.
A situation without competition between businesses is more like a corrupted market. I guess the businesses are themselves corrupt too, to be participating in such a price fixing cartel, to take the opportunity provided by the corrupted market, but the only reason they’re able to is if their competition has been eliminated.
But... But.... But.... People tell me my anecdotal experience is meaningless and I'm stupid for thinking anything other than rich people doing well matters!
"Herp derp ~~speculative investment~~ gambling at a VIP casino, using ill gotten chips from previous exploitations, with loaded market pressure dice, and marked insider information cards, is totally a real job worthy of not only some profit, but virtually all profit!"
-The do nothing capitalist class living large off other people's labor.
Good con if you can get it. We were conquered by the traveling snake oil salesmen of old that finally figured out how to get all the gullible idiot's money without even having to run away to the next town. They named it market capitalism. Credit where it's due.
For anyone who thinks a couple months of wage inflation beating core inflation means the cost of living crisis is over... You should know that food isn't measured in core inflation and inflation isn't a static thing. You don't get your ability to buy things back because you beat inflation for one month, or even one year. It's a measure of how fast something is growing.
Now time to do the accounts. Core inflation (much less food, housing, and education) has been beating wage inflation for 50 years. Just the recent 2021-2023 period locked in 8 percent more inflation than wage growth. That's accounting for the "miracle" financial news is reporting.
Let's also not forget that inflation is a rate of change. Even at zero, goods and service won't return to their old prices. That'd be a negative rate of inflation, also known as deflation. If you think the Feds fucked the common person when inflation was high, just wait to see what they'd do to stop deflation (seen as far worse than inflation because it hurts those who hold goods and services - aka the rich).
And before someone comes in here shouting that deflation would be the end of us all; Japan has had mild deflation for decades and they're not a post apocalyptic hellscape. Go spread that propaganda somewhere else.
IDK, I think deflation hurts those that need to borrow money (i.e. credit cards, car, house), since they'll have to pay more in real value as time goes on. Japan's deflation is probably caused by the aging and now declining population?
No, it was monetary policy and the busting of speculative bubbles in their stock market. With their demographic crisis in the last decade they've been going about 1 percent on average and just this year hit 3 percent.
As far as borrowers, there's really only a problem for home owners looking to sell. They will likely be under water for a little bit. There's no reason new loans shouldn't be available because our banks are healthy and loans already come with a cost.
The biggest difference is in how value is grown. Instead of huge mutual funds that follow the market, you have to invest in something that's actually creating value. Which is, of course, more difficult. And yes many people will decide to pull out of the stock market because of that, which might create a liquidity trap. The thing is, we know how to get out of a liquidity trap if one does develop. You just give people money. And since this is a digital economy, you can make sure it gets spent by giving them money with an expiration date.
As for the under water home owners? There's no reason we couldn't institute a government buy out program.
We have the ability and the tools available. We lack only the will and the imagination.
What I meant in regards to borrowers is that during deflation wages will tend to decrease (because money is worth more as time goes on), while the payments will stay the same.
In this proposal we'd be taking measures to keep wages at least stagnant. The entire reason some people want deflation is to bring wages back in line with prices.
If money has an expiration date, wouldn’t that reduce its value to zero immediately?
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Which part of politics does this relate to? The lack of monopoly busting? The lack of increase in federal minimum wage? I'd love if the House could get off their butts and do that. And many states are taking things into their own hands.
That said, this government has been more pro-union than any I've seen in my lifetime. So some people are getting help at least.
Here in Arkansas we have to pass minimum wage increases by enshrining them in the state constitution via public referendum.
The last time the legislature increased the minimum wage was nearly 18 years ago when they made it $6.25 /hr.
Which part of politics does this relate to?
You're asking what part of politics does the economy relate to?
Don’t you know? Politics is culture war now. 🙄
Duh, the politics economy department
Yep! Curious which parts they're thinking about. There's lot of relevant and lots of irrelevant parts.
They aren't pro union. They're pro status quo. All they're doing is enforcing the few rights unions still have. The second the chips are down we can see what they really think with strikes like the railroad.
No this can't be true. They told me green line go up. Money printer go brrrrr
Ok guys we get it. It's time to eat the rich. Anyone need to sharpen their knives or pitchforks? I've got some wetstones.
All mine are sharp and ready. Mainly just waiting on a go to at this point
I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet, for years people have been saying this and waiting on the go signal.
There will be a trigger.
It's all festering under the surface in every corner, as far as I can tell. Reminds me quite a bit about the whole Rosa Parks thing.... Happened at a time when people were ready to take action. What happened with her was just the spark that lit the fuse.
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It’s “whetstone”. Eating more businesses is not going to make our price fixing problem any better. We need to be helping more people start businesses to compete outside of these price fixing cartels.
Yeah when I say "Eat the Rich" I mean we should start at the richest and work our way down.
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That’s not really something the president has control over. Congress could fix those issues, if they had more progressives in power to raise the minimum wage and get corporations out of the single family home rental market.
But no, people always use gas prices and the stock market to justify or criticize whoever the president is.
I don't care. These are the markers Republicans used to lambast Obama and praise Trump. I'm going to use them to promote Biden by their own standards. Fuck em.
If $200 can disappear from my account from just running an arund for my parents, you know shits fuck.
Bought paper towels and dog food at Walmart the other week and spent $100
The hit that the lower class and middle class is taking with the high cost of living is terrifying. If Biden loses because of these sentiments, they will only get worse under Trump when he starts a trade war with our trade partners and closes the border so the labor shortage only worsens.
Inflation is going down, greedflation isn't.
Consumer and Worker cooperatives people!
To be fair, at least inflation is down. Don't get me wrong, I am having a tough time affording rent and groceries and if someone knocked on my door and asked me to join a revolution I would. But I like to see the silver lining, so hey, at least inflation is down, the relentless horrors of capitalism have offered a brief respite so uhh, that's something.
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