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I think it is as simple as... we used to make stuff & the economy was great. Then the rest of the world made stuff. And there are way more of them living with

I think it is as simple as... we used to make stuff & the economy was great. Then the rest of the world made stuff. And there are way more of them living with way less money. So the balance shifted & now they make stuff. We don't make anything. Which was nice for a while, but after a while, if you aren't making stuff then you aren't getting paid.

deciplex 11y ago
If that were true then you'd expect GDP to lag as well, which it isn't. It's not that more wealth isn't being created by the nation, it's that the wealth that is being created is mostly being hoarded by capitalists.
- jvm 11y ago
  And interestingly the capitalists in question appear to be homeowners: http://www.newgeography.com/content/004888-pikettys-wealth-driven-inequality-virtually-all-housing http://www.newgeography.com/content/004888-pikettys-wealth-d...
platz 11y ago
I enjoyed this video in which Yanis Varoufakis explains some geopolitical macro economics during the post WWII and cold war era, why the crash/recovery of 2008 is mutating into different forms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUWxNifJJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUWxNifJJ8 The U.S. had to be very creative in order maintain power when they no longer had any economic surpluses (surpluses which greatly diminished from wars like Vietnam).
yummyfajitas 11y ago
We make more stuff than ever before. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/INDPRO/ https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/INDPRO/ https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/IPMAN https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/IPMAN The rest of the world also makes more stuff than ever before, which just means that we all have more stuff.
- hiou 11y ago
  You do realize you can't buy food or housing with "stuff" that is cheaper or more advanced than it was 10-20 years ago, right?
  - yummyfajitas 11y ago
    Food production is up, and our waistlines indicate consumption is as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security#/media/File:Food_production_per_capita_1961-2005.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security#/media/File:Food... House sizes have also been increasing, even as # of people living in a house has been dropping. https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf We simply have more of everything.
    - hiou 11y ago
      So then why is food and housing more expensive than it was 20 years ago? https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=8l2 https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=8l2 https://us.spindices.com/indices/real-estate/sp-case-shiller-20-city-composite-home-price-index https://us.spindices.com/indices/real-estate/sp-case-shiller... I'm not saying there isn't "more of everything", I'm saying there is less to pay for the most important everthings.
      - yummyfajitas 11y ago
        Wages have increased more rapidly than food CPI. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYT https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYT Case-Shiller is an investment index, not a consumption one. You might as well say "look, S&P has gone up, everything is more expensive!" In fact, wages have increased relative to the cost of housing (i.e., rent or owner equivalent rent) also. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYW https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYW

deciplex 11y ago

If that were true then you'd expect GDP to lag as well, which it isn't. It's not that more wealth isn't being created by the nation, it's that the wealth that is being created is mostly being hoarded by capitalists.

jvm 11y ago
And interestingly the capitalists in question appear to be homeowners: http://www.newgeography.com/content/004888-pikettys-wealth-driven-inequality-virtually-all-housing http://www.newgeography.com/content/004888-pikettys-wealth-d...

platz 11y ago

I enjoyed this video in which Yanis Varoufakis explains some geopolitical macro economics during the post WWII and cold war era, why the crash/recovery of 2008 is mutating into different forms. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUWxNifJJ8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEUWxNifJJ8 The U.S. had to be very creative in order maintain power when they no longer had any economic surpluses (surpluses which greatly diminished from wars like Vietnam).

yummyfajitas 11y ago

We make more stuff than ever before. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/INDPRO/ https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/INDPRO/ https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/IPMAN https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/IPMAN The rest of the world also makes more stuff than ever before, which just means that we all have more stuff.

hiou 11y ago
You do realize you can't buy food or housing with "stuff" that is cheaper or more advanced than it was 10-20 years ago, right?
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  Food production is up, and our waistlines indicate consumption is as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security#/media/File:Food_production_per_capita_1961-2005.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_security#/media/File:Food... House sizes have also been increasing, even as # of people living in a house has been dropping. https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf https://www.census.gov/const/C25Ann/sftotalmedavgsqft.pdf We simply have more of everything.
  - hiou 11y ago
    So then why is food and housing more expensive than it was 20 years ago? https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=8l2 https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=8l2 https://us.spindices.com/indices/real-estate/sp-case-shiller-20-city-composite-home-price-index https://us.spindices.com/indices/real-estate/sp-case-shiller... I'm not saying there isn't "more of everything", I'm saying there is less to pay for the most important everthings.
    - yummyfajitas 11y ago
      Wages have increased more rapidly than food CPI. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYT https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYT Case-Shiller is an investment index, not a consumption one. You might as well say "look, S&P has gone up, everything is more expensive!" In fact, wages have increased relative to the cost of housing (i.e., rent or owner equivalent rent) also. https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYW https://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=1yYW