this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2023
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Political Memes

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[–] [email protected] 89 points 10 months ago (1 children)

continuing inflation is down. but you aren't getting your lost purchasing power back through a wage increase though, LOL!

[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

“Of course not, we can’t have more inflation, can we?!”- JPow…

[–] [email protected] 43 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 63 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Oh, it's moving from them plenty. It's just not moving to them very well.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 10 months ago

Just keep waiting for it to trickle down, like a golden shower

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

Trickle down economics…. Stimulating the top cuz they can’t find the bottom.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Almost like economic indicators don't have the weight on the general population that the wealthy would like us to believe.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Well, inflation does affect people, but more than that corrupt businesses can push the prices up even if inflation goes down.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Right, grocery store prices and just general corner cutting in said stores has gone up faster than inflation, at least in my experience.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Faster than the average rise in prices you mean? Faster than other goods?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 10 months ago

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!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

"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.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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).

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

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.

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[–] [email protected] 15 points 10 months ago (3 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Which part of politics does this relate to?

You're asking what part of politics does the economy relate to?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Don’t you know? Politics is culture war now. 🙄

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Duh, the politics economy department

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Yep! Curious which parts they're thinking about. There's lot of relevant and lots of irrelevant parts.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

No this can't be true. They told me green line go up. Money printer go brrrrr

[–] [email protected] 13 points 10 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (2 children)

All mine are sharp and ready. Mainly just waiting on a go to at this point

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm surprised it hasn't happened yet, for years people have been saying this and waiting on the go signal.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

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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[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Yeah when I say "Eat the Rich" I mean we should start at the richest and work our way down.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If $200 can disappear from my account from just running an arund for my parents, you know shits fuck.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Bought paper towels and dog food at Walmart the other week and spent $100

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Consumer and Worker cooperatives people!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Inflation is going down, greedflation isn't.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

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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