5 ms·

Very true. These countries are all showing syptoms of first-world economy disease; low-birth rate, government budget deficit, high healthcare expenditure, bure

by pcurve 10y ago

Very true. These countries are all showing syptoms of first-world economy disease; low-birth rate, government budget deficit, high healthcare expenditure, bureaucracy, gutting of manufacturing jobs, and local labor market and education systems that fail to recognize that not everybody has IQ of 120+ and benefit from getting bachelors and masters degrees. America can thank its dollar as world reserve currency. Billions it spends on military bases around the world and foreign aids is part of its effort to keep its reserve currency status. But at some point, the party is going to be over. American labor force is already very uncompetitive and overpaid compared to its European and Asian counterparts. Yet we enjoy one of the highest standards of living. That gravy train won't last forever. The only thing that will get the developed countries out of their impending doldrums is 10/100x energy and technological breakthrough. Until then, we'll get our own version of 60 yen Garagari-kun. And don't think deflation hasn't been happening already in the U.S. The only difference is, unlike Japan, unscrupulous U.S. food companies have been cutting ingredient quality and content size, rather than raising price for the past 10 years. Check out Breyer's fake ice cream, Haagen Daaz, McCormick pepper content size, Mars shrinking chocolate bar sizes. https://consumerist.com/category/grocery-shrink-ray/ https://consumerist.com/category/grocery-shrink-ray/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3037688/Shrinkflation-sneaky-firms-making-favourite-products-smaller-NOT-shrinking-price.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3037688/Shrinkflat...

ktRolster 10y ago
And don't think deflation hasn't been happening already in the U.S. The only difference is, unlike Japan, unscrupulous U.S. food companies have been cutting ingredient quality and content size, rather than raising price for the past 10 years. You seem to have gotten confused between inflation and deflation. With deflation, prices decrease, not increase.
- pcurve 10y ago
  Your last paragraph is correct, but I was using the term in more macro environment context. 25 year of unchanged nominal price is symptom of deflationary environment. The reluctance by the Japanese company to raise price even when costs were going up speaks volume about the strong downward pricing pressure in the Japanese market. Though not to the same degree, similar environment has been brewing here in the U.S. for awhile. Companies don't want to raise prices, and only do so as a last resort. If economy was better, they would do so without fear that their competitors would not follow suit.
  - mindslight 10y ago
    > strong downward pricing pressure in the Japanese market Downward pricing is what one would expect in any stable market, given that price optimization is the primary market mechanic. Technology is getting ever-better, so it takes ever-larger efforts to erase its gains and create the artificial inflation prescribed by the central banksters.
jseliger 10y ago
These countries are all showing syptoms of first-world economy disease; low-birth rate, government budget deficit, high healthcare expenditure, bureaucracy There are two other major problems in parts of the U.S. and Europe (in particular) that're underrated: 1. insane land-use control laws that make it illegal to build reasonably price housing (see Matt Yglesias's The Rent is Too Damn High for more: http://www.amazon.com/TheRent-Too-Damn-High-Matters-ebook/dp/B0078XGJXO http://www.amazon.com/TheRent-Too-Damn-High-Matters-ebook/dp...) and 2. transfer payments to older people that were originally conceived and executed when the number of workers to retirees was much different than it is now. The first is important because it impedes family formation and innovation. The second is important because it makes not having children easier, because other people's children will be forced to support you through their contribution to transfer payment programs. Yet neither issue gets much play in the press.
- naveen99 10y ago
  There is plenty of unincorporated land in the us. You can't have it both ways. You want to live in an area that is the way it is because of housing association rules, and then not live by the rules. If you revoke the rules, your neighbors will leave. You may as well build in unincorporated land to begin with.
  - toomuchtodo 10y ago
    > If you revoke the rules, your neighbors will leave. You may as well build in unincorporated land to begin with. Houston has no zoning regulations, and its one of the fastest growing metros in the US.
    - naveen99 10y ago
      Houston has super neighborhoods many of which have deed restrictions which accomplish similar things. Houston is a happy a good way to go. As you can have a poor super neighborhood next to a rich one. But I still hear some people in the rich super neighborhood complaining about the deed restrictions, the only thing separating them from their neighbors across the super neighborhood line. They could have bought in the other super neighborhood, but they didn't want that either...
kiba 10y ago
Healthcare cost partly the result of an aging population with expensive chronic diseases? Priority would be ironically to research anti-aging to extend youthful lifespan. However, some problems are a result of a screwed up incentive structure in healthcare that is yet to be fixed, and may be harder than the technical problem.
- naveen99 10y ago
  We already have human growth hormone, testosterone, igf etc that can make your body heal and recover like a younger person atleast for sometime. You can also chose to have one child or 4 children. Just depends: do you get more happiness from 1 pampered child, or 4 modestly raised children.
- bad_user 10y ago
  Anti-aging treatments wouldn't fix anything. Don't you get it? Our economy is broken because it relies on an ever growing workforce. For a slowing economy you only need natality to be equal with mortality rates. It's a freaking Ponzi scheme.
  - gozur88 10y ago
    It doesn't rely on an ever growing workforce. It relies on ever growing consumption, whether that's by a growing work force or a not-growing workforce that's spending more.
internaut 10y ago
Not to mention, and here I am forced to curse: how much actual fucking food is there in a shop today? Seriously, get rid of the sweets (<3) and sweet-like items from the store. What's left? It's usually about 1/4 of the store or less. Food inflation in quality and quantity is a serious problem and it's damaging our health and wallets. Relatedly; freddo frogs are becoming an extravagance. https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/comments/18yx14/the_cost_of_a_freddo_will_never_be_10p_again/ https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/comments/18yx14/the... At least British and Irish schoolchildren will have no trouble comprehending the idea of inflation in economics and accounting classes.
TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
> Yet we enjoy one of the highest standards of living The US ranks 16th on the Where-to-be-born Index.[1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where-to-be-born_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where-to-be-born_Index
- refurb 10y ago
  Yet people line up for years for a chance to immigrate to the US! Weird!
- tagawa 10y ago
  I guess you meant this as confirmation of his/her statement?
- dmix 10y ago
  US is #8 in HDI which is the formal measurement for standard of living. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Dev...
  - simongray 10y ago
    HDI is actually a really poor estimator of Standard of Living. It is measurement of development, but it really cannot be used to compare Standard of Living, especially in developed countries. HDI before 2010 was useless for comparing developed countries as it was literally just a composed index of life expectancy, literacy rate and GDP per capita: for most developed countries literacy rate and life expectancy are basically at the top of the index, so the only differentiating factor is GDP per capita (PPP) which is a pretty misleading indicator anyway. They then tried to make it more relevant in 2010 and also created an income inequality-adjusted version. This new index uses GNI instead of GDP and uses years of schooling rather than literacy rate (which is basically 99-100% for all developed countries) which makes it bit better, but it still doesn't figure in life satisfaction or other relevant measures into standard of living which is why it's still mainly a way to rank developing countries. The income inequality-adjusted version is slightly better, but still doesn't measure any psychological well-being.
- 10y ago

by pcurve 10y ago

ktRolster 10y ago

And don't think deflation hasn't been happening already in the U.S. The only difference is, unlike Japan, unscrupulous U.S. food companies have been cutting ingredient quality and content size, rather than raising price for the past 10 years. You seem to have gotten confused between inflation and deflation. With deflation, prices decrease, not increase.

pcurve 10y ago
Your last paragraph is correct, but I was using the term in more macro environment context. 25 year of unchanged nominal price is symptom of deflationary environment. The reluctance by the Japanese company to raise price even when costs were going up speaks volume about the strong downward pricing pressure in the Japanese market. Though not to the same degree, similar environment has been brewing here in the U.S. for awhile. Companies don't want to raise prices, and only do so as a last resort. If economy was better, they would do so without fear that their competitors would not follow suit.
- mindslight 10y ago
  > strong downward pricing pressure in the Japanese market Downward pricing is what one would expect in any stable market, given that price optimization is the primary market mechanic. Technology is getting ever-better, so it takes ever-larger efforts to erase its gains and create the artificial inflation prescribed by the central banksters.

jseliger 10y ago

These countries are all showing syptoms of first-world economy disease; low-birth rate, government budget deficit, high healthcare expenditure, bureaucracy There are two other major problems in parts of the U.S. and Europe (in particular) that're underrated: 1. insane land-use control laws that make it illegal to build reasonably price housing (see Matt Yglesias's The Rent is Too Damn High for more: http://www.amazon.com/TheRent-Too-Damn-High-Matters-ebook/dp/B0078XGJXO http://www.amazon.com/TheRent-Too-Damn-High-Matters-ebook/dp...) and 2. transfer payments to older people that were originally conceived and executed when the number of workers to retirees was much different than it is now. The first is important because it impedes family formation and innovation. The second is important because it makes not having children easier, because other people's children will be forced to support you through their contribution to transfer payment programs. Yet neither issue gets much play in the press.

naveen99 10y ago
There is plenty of unincorporated land in the us. You can't have it both ways. You want to live in an area that is the way it is because of housing association rules, and then not live by the rules. If you revoke the rules, your neighbors will leave. You may as well build in unincorporated land to begin with.
- toomuchtodo 10y ago
  > If you revoke the rules, your neighbors will leave. You may as well build in unincorporated land to begin with. Houston has no zoning regulations, and its one of the fastest growing metros in the US.
  - naveen99 10y ago
    Houston has super neighborhoods many of which have deed restrictions which accomplish similar things. Houston is a happy a good way to go. As you can have a poor super neighborhood next to a rich one. But I still hear some people in the rich super neighborhood complaining about the deed restrictions, the only thing separating them from their neighbors across the super neighborhood line. They could have bought in the other super neighborhood, but they didn't want that either...

kiba 10y ago

Healthcare cost partly the result of an aging population with expensive chronic diseases? Priority would be ironically to research anti-aging to extend youthful lifespan. However, some problems are a result of a screwed up incentive structure in healthcare that is yet to be fixed, and may be harder than the technical problem.

naveen99 10y ago
We already have human growth hormone, testosterone, igf etc that can make your body heal and recover like a younger person atleast for sometime. You can also chose to have one child or 4 children. Just depends: do you get more happiness from 1 pampered child, or 4 modestly raised children.
bad_user 10y ago
Anti-aging treatments wouldn't fix anything. Don't you get it? Our economy is broken because it relies on an ever growing workforce. For a slowing economy you only need natality to be equal with mortality rates. It's a freaking Ponzi scheme.
- gozur88 10y ago
  It doesn't rely on an ever growing workforce. It relies on ever growing consumption, whether that's by a growing work force or a not-growing workforce that's spending more.

internaut 10y ago

Not to mention, and here I am forced to curse: how much actual fucking food is there in a shop today? Seriously, get rid of the sweets (<3) and sweet-like items from the store. What's left? It's usually about 1/4 of the store or less. Food inflation in quality and quantity is a serious problem and it's damaging our health and wallets. Relatedly; freddo frogs are becoming an extravagance. https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/comments/18yx14/the_cost_of_a_freddo_will_never_be_10p_again/ https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/comments/18yx14/the... At least British and Irish schoolchildren will have no trouble comprehending the idea of inflation in economics and accounting classes.

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago

> Yet we enjoy one of the highest standards of living The US ranks 16th on the Where-to-be-born Index.[1] 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where-to-be-born_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where-to-be-born_Index

refurb 10y ago
Yet people line up for years for a chance to immigrate to the US! Weird!
tagawa 10y ago
I guess you meant this as confirmation of his/her statement?
dmix 10y ago
US is #8 in HDI which is the formal measurement for standard of living. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Dev...
- simongray 10y ago
  HDI is actually a really poor estimator of Standard of Living. It is measurement of development, but it really cannot be used to compare Standard of Living, especially in developed countries. HDI before 2010 was useless for comparing developed countries as it was literally just a composed index of life expectancy, literacy rate and GDP per capita: for most developed countries literacy rate and life expectancy are basically at the top of the index, so the only differentiating factor is GDP per capita (PPP) which is a pretty misleading indicator anyway. They then tried to make it more relevant in 2010 and also created an income inequality-adjusted version. This new index uses GNI instead of GDP and uses years of schooling rather than literacy rate (which is basically 99-100% for all developed countries) which makes it bit better, but it still doesn't figure in life satisfaction or other relevant measures into standard of living which is why it's still mainly a way to rank developing countries. The income inequality-adjusted version is slightly better, but still doesn't measure any psychological well-being.
10y ago