Inflation fears (Page 1/2)
Fiero_Adam AUG 09, 12:22 AM
I was actually looking up something else about how inflation is calculated, and ran across this older article. To which, I think everyone knows the numbers they use do not reflect real world inflation.
Anyway, according to this lengthy article from Forbes, with all kinds of charts and statistics, we had nothing to worry about. It's actually ironic how a lot of things he says won't happen that way, actually happened.

https://www.forbes.com/site...ity/?sh=f7bcffe10495
MidEngineManiac AUG 09, 12:50 AM
Where I notice it most is in the pet food, since that is a consistent order every month. Litter, cat and dog kibble and treats, case of wet food each.

Same number of animals (ONE of which is mine. Damn wiminz !! ) but the cost in 2 years has gone from about 75-80 bucks to over 200. Just in 6 months the litter we use has gone from 7.99 for a 40-pound box to 12.99.

Groceries, yes that's up but there is so much variation in what we get from week to week it's impossible to say how much. Yup, there has been a decent amount of shuffling and difference in choices/shopping habits to cover it. I've even started using some cash-back/points-back things that pay-out in Amazon gift cards to help out with the spending there.

And dont forget the shrinkflation part. There is less "stuff" in the same packaging. The wet cant food we use is tidbits in gravy, and there is now about 2/3rd the "bits" and more gravy in a can. So much so it's noticeable when feeding 4 of them, and when cleaning the litter box.

[This message has been edited by MidEngineManiac (edited 08-09-2023).]

82-T/A [At Work] AUG 09, 07:59 AM

quote
Originally posted by Fiero_Adam:

I was actually looking up something else about how inflation is calculated, and ran across this older article. To which, I think everyone knows the numbers they use do not reflect real world inflation.
Anyway, according to this lengthy article from Forbes, with all kinds of charts and statistics, we had nothing to worry about. It's actually ironic how a lot of things he says won't happen that way, actually happened.

https://www.forbes.com/site...ity/?sh=f7bcffe10495




People are very ignorant when it comes to inflation. People also think that when inflation goes down, it means that the prices go down... which is the dumbest thing you could possibly imagine. It just means the prices won't increase as fast/quickly as they did when inflation was high. People don't realize that when prices go up because of inflation... that becomes the newest standard price, unless we have deflation... which the Government says is the worst possible thing in the world.

I question if this is the worst possible thing in the world. It might be for the government, but it certainly isn't for me. It means my cash can buy more. But it does mean that government debt is now a bigger deal. People don't realize that the government deals with debt through inflation.

These articles too... this is a thinly veiled "Opinion Article." Nothing based on facts... but opinion, which is suggested by the title "Editor's Picks."

Politically, most of the media is liberal. Not because most people are liberal, but because liberals often seek these kinds of positions, and liberalism is good for the 1%. But there is a constant drum-beat that the craziness you're seeing, is not real ... and that everything is OK. There is this liberal view that the end justifies the means... so the destruction of the country is TOTALLY OKAY, because the goal is to build it into something "better" (in their eyes)... so if you break a couple of eggs along the way, it's part of what's needed to get to success.
Fiero_Adam AUG 09, 10:57 PM
I've noticed plenty of the shrink flation. 32 oz bottles are now 28 oz. Chips that were 6 oz bags are now 5.5 or 5 oz. Not only smaller packaging, but most of them cost a little more. The only place I've seen consistent price drops, close to where they were originally is at Aldi.
But anyway, yeah it seems that there's a lot of this denial and saying everything is fine. Most people know the economy is not great, they can't afford as much, utility bills are higher, rent is higher, debt is increasing, yet most of the media kinda goes along with the bs that there's nothing to worry about. Great, people are making more per hour, but what does that matter if your expenses increased at a higher rate? There's supposedly a 'low employment' number, but if people aren't actually looking for a job because they're doing good enough with government payouts, that number is meaningless.
fredtoast AUG 10, 05:53 AM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]: But there is a constant drum-beat that the craziness you're seeing, is not real ... and that everything is OK. .



This just is not true. Every news network I watch, both liberal and conservative, have been reporting on the problems of inflation. How the raise in interest rates used to fight inflation is making the national debt a bigger problem.

I don't know how anyone who actually watches the news could come up with the idea that any media source is claiming there is not problem. It is just another myth from the right-wing echo chamber.



quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
so the destruction of the country is TOTALLY OKAY, because the goal is to build it into something "better" (in their eyes)... so if you break a couple of eggs along the way, it's part of what's needed to get to success.



This is actually the opposite of the truth. The only people who I ever heard claim that it was fine to destroy the country because it would lead to success were the conservatives in 2008 saying that we should let General Motors and multiple banks collapse. They did not care how millions of peoples lives would have been completely destroyed by the loss of their entire savings and retirement plans. I have NEVER heard a liberal say ANYTHING like that and I'd really like to see a link to where you heard it.
82-T/A [At Work] AUG 10, 10:39 AM

quote
Originally posted by fredtoast:
This just is not true. Every news network I watch, both liberal and conservative, have been reporting on the problems of inflation. How the raise in interest rates used to fight inflation is making the national debt a bigger problem. I don't know how anyone who actually watches the news could come up with the idea that any media source is claiming there is not problem. It is just another myth from the right-wing echo chamber.

This is actually the opposite of the truth. The only people who I ever heard claim that it was fine to destroy the country because it would lead to success were the conservatives in 2008 saying that we should let General Motors and multiple banks collapse. They did not care how millions of peoples lives would have been completely destroyed by the loss of their entire savings and retirement plans. I have NEVER heard a liberal say ANYTHING like that and I'd really like to see a link to where you heard it.




I'm not really sure what gibberish you're stating here. It's well understood that the Fed believes that a steady increase in inflation is a good thing, because it devalues the national debt... which is not a problem because the government prints its own money. Runaway inflation (which we had) is a whole other issue.

Also, I assumed everyone know what the deal was with General Motors and Chrysler. That was a UAW bailout. President Obama purchased General Motors through a wholesale transaction in a forced bankruptcy which led to ownership of GM under "Preferred Shares." Because you cannot do anything with preferred shares, they were converted to common stock overnight. With common stock, they were able to vote out all the members of the board, and appoint their own board members. Of course, all of these individual things occurred usually on a Friday night, or to coincide with other big news events to prevent it from getting much publicity... since it all went against everything Obama said... "I don't want to own a car company." and then... "I don't want to run a car company." So then on that second point, he directly appointed all the new members of the board of directors. It included mostly top-level people from several pro-Democrat unions, and all political donors to President Obama (feel free to look this up... I used to have it readily available, but don't want to have to do that leg-work for you).

In the end, they gave the entirety of Chrysler to the UAW... literally just gave it to them, and gave a huge portion of General Motors to the UAW also. The UAW then completely sold off Chrysler to Fiat... making it an Italian company. The UAW was in really, really bad shape. Membership was down because GM had moved everywhere else they could, and it was looking like the UAW Pension Plan was going to go bankrupt.


They did basically the same thing with the Cash for Clunkers. Cash for Clunkers wasn't to save the environment, it was a SECOND bailout for GM and Chrysler. People were boycotting GM and they wanted to spur sales. After the first couple of weeks of Cash for Clunkers was a failure (because everyone was buying Toyotas), they revised all of the EPA estimates for GM and Chrysler cars, making those better (to keep them on the road), and revising down the Ford vehicles. If you remember, there was an incentive scale for these cars. They wanted to keep GM and Chrysler vehicles on the road for dealership service / support, but they significantly rated the Ford vehicles poorly so that they were more likely to be traded in and (hopefully), replaced by GM and Chrysler vehicles. It was a failure, as the top vehicles that were sold as part of the initiative went to Toyota and Honda, and Ford as #3. Complete failure.


I get really frustrated with people specifically like you, who are so confident in information that's so completely wrong. This is a religion for you, and because of that, you're not able to view anything outside of that lens.
rinselberg AUG 10, 11:18 AM
"First American City to Tame Inflation Owes Its Success to Affordable Housing"
Mark Niquette and Augusta Saraiva for Bloomberg News; August 9, 2023.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca...le-housing-1.1956752

Estimated 6-minute "read"

Excerpt

quote
In May, the Twin Cities became the first major metropolitan area to see annual inflation fall below the Federal Reserve’s target of 2%. Its 1.8% pace of price increases was the lowest of any region that month.

That’s largely due to a region-wide push to address one of the most intractable issues for both the Fed and American consumers: rising housing costs. Well before pandemic-related supply-chain snarls and labor shortages roiled the economy, the city of Minneapolis eliminated zoning that allowed only single-family homes and since 2018 has invested $320 million for rental assistance and subsidies.


Excerpt

quote
The housing initiatives have not all worked the way policy makers intended. Critics say a stringent rent-control policy implemented in St. Paul in 2021 has chilled development of some projects because the financing no longer worked when the rents would be capped for years to come.

The push also has not erased some persistent housing problems. When comparing Black households and White households, the Twin Cities had the highest difference in homeownership rates and housing cost burden of any similar-sized metro in 2021.

That disparity is “the stain on this region,” said Adam Duininck, director of government affairs at North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters.

At the same time, high costs for groceries and other goods can make it hard for Minneapolis residents to notice the favorable conditions in the housing market. Food prices in the metro area rose 6.8% in May over the year, federal data show.

Still, Minneapolis had one of the lowest “misery” rates, a Bloomberg calculation using inflation plus unemployment data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, of 21 metro areas in May and June. A major drop in utility prices since last year has contributed to its improving inflation picture.
fredtoast AUG 10, 12:49 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I'm not really sure what gibberish you're stating here.


No gibberish. In fact it is pretty simple and straightforward

You said this "But there is a constant drum-beat that the craziness you're seeing, is not real ... and that everything is OK."

I said "That is not true"

So let me make it as simle as possible. You give me the name of a specific nwes source that you claim is saying inflation is not real and everything is okay and I will post a link to a story from that news source claiming tha inflation is a bad thing effecting millions of Americans.

The fact is that you have no idea what media outside of the right-wing echo chamber is really saying. All you do is parrot speaking points that you here in the echo chamber and accept without any proof.
82-T/A [At Work] AUG 10, 12:52 PM

quote
Originally posted by fredtoast:

No gibberish. In fact it is pretty simple and straightforward

You said this "But there is a constant drum-beat that the craziness you're seeing, is not real ... and that everything is OK."

I said "That is not true"

So let me make it as simle as possible. You give me the name of a specific nwes source that you claim is saying inflation is not real and everything is okay and I will post a link to a story from that news source claiming tha inflation is a bad thing effecting millions of Americans.

The fact is that you have no idea what media outside of the right-wing echo chamber is really saying. All you do is parrot speaking points that you here in the echo chamber and accept without any proof.




2 second search, Time Magazine:

Why We Should Stop Freaking Out About Inflation
https://time.com/6122867/inflation-fears/
fredtoast AUG 10, 12:52 PM

quote
Originally posted by 82-T/A [At Work]:
I get really frustrated with people specifically like you, who are so confident in information that's so completely wrong.




I don't even know what you are claiming I said that was wrong. We both agree that the government bailed out General Motors. I just pointed out that the only people who said we should let General Motors collapse were conservatives.

So what is "so completely wrong" about what I said?