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What is the basis for everyone you know believing this? "Depression" has an objective definition that objectively doesn't currently hold. Do they not believe

by bmm6o 11y ago

What is the basis for everyone you know believing this? "Depression" has an objective definition that objectively doesn't currently hold. Do they not believe the reported numbers of the GDP, or are they using their own incorrect definition of the term?

CaptSpify 11y ago
Disclaimer: I am not an economist. Some of their discussions go well above my head, so it's possible I'm mis-understanding\mis-interpreting what they say. This is also why I'm curious as to a source. The one thing I hear a lot is: The statistics we are using to measure this are BS. One example: We don't account for people who are under-employed, which is important to note in long-term depressions such as this one. The other things I typically hear are quite anecdotal: "I have family in Rnowheresville, $some_state, and they have no jobs out there!"
- vox_mollis 11y ago
  The standard head-in-the-sand HN response to pointing out the disastrous LPR is "old people are retiring". They don't bother looking into the reality that retirements are being delayed and most underemployment or nonparticipation is within the prime working age demographic. Point this out, and the response is downvoting. HN emphatically does not want to accept the possibility that the economy is anything but amazing, for reasons I cannot understand.
  - bmm6o 11y ago
    I'm very willing to accept the idea that the economy's performance is uneven, with legitimate hardships in some areas/industries/demographics/etc. If what people observe is that there aren't any jobs near them, I wish they would say that, and not describe any economic trouble as a "depression".
- bmm6o 11y ago
  There's room for debate in the different numbers that are used to measure employment rates, and you could argue which measure is most important changes over time. But as I understand it, unemployment is a frequent result of an economic depression and not part of its definition, so whether or not there's a depression does not depend on what number is used. Of course, macro measurements don't put bread on the table and obviously jobs matter, and there not being opportunities available in a particular place/time sucks. I'm not denying that. I'm just advocating that people say what they mean and use the correct words to describe their observations.

by bmm6o 11y ago

CaptSpify 11y ago

Disclaimer: I am not an economist. Some of their discussions go well above my head, so it's possible I'm mis-understanding\mis-interpreting what they say. This is also why I'm curious as to a source. The one thing I hear a lot is: The statistics we are using to measure this are BS. One example: We don't account for people who are under-employed, which is important to note in long-term depressions such as this one. The other things I typically hear are quite anecdotal: "I have family in Rnowheresville, $some_state, and they have no jobs out there!"

vox_mollis 11y ago
The standard head-in-the-sand HN response to pointing out the disastrous LPR is "old people are retiring". They don't bother looking into the reality that retirements are being delayed and most underemployment or nonparticipation is within the prime working age demographic. Point this out, and the response is downvoting. HN emphatically does not want to accept the possibility that the economy is anything but amazing, for reasons I cannot understand.
- bmm6o 11y ago
  I'm very willing to accept the idea that the economy's performance is uneven, with legitimate hardships in some areas/industries/demographics/etc. If what people observe is that there aren't any jobs near them, I wish they would say that, and not describe any economic trouble as a "depression".
bmm6o 11y ago
There's room for debate in the different numbers that are used to measure employment rates, and you could argue which measure is most important changes over time. But as I understand it, unemployment is a frequent result of an economic depression and not part of its definition, so whether or not there's a depression does not depend on what number is used. Of course, macro measurements don't put bread on the table and obviously jobs matter, and there not being opportunities available in a particular place/time sucks. I'm not denying that. I'm just advocating that people say what they mean and use the correct words to describe their observations.