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>Both the Fed and the Biden administration have said rapid price increases are being stoked by temporary factors, such as hiccups in the faster-than-expected re

>Both the Fed and the Biden administration have said rapid price increases are being stoked by temporary factors, such as hiccups in the faster-than-expected reopening of the economy. Or the fact you pumped a load of unnecessary money into the economy via "stimulus" checks and "relief" packages.

ProAm 5y ago
The US has been printing money and dumping it into the economy since 2008
- andrew_ 5y ago
  The existence of prior bad policy doesn't negate continuance of bad policy. If we were speaking about the prior administration, the same point would apply. This will have significant impact on several generations to come.
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  Yep and it's stupid. That directly causes inflation. This is why people are jumping to cryptocurrencies and don't trust fiat currencies anymore. Luckily our amazing government has now decided we should tax crypto since they screwed up their own currency so badly.
- beervirus 5y ago
  This last year is way off the charts.
SantalBlush 5y ago
Completely disagree that the stimulus checks were unnecessary, and I'm really curious what you think a superior solution to the COVID economy would have been. I think people take for granted that our economy could be in a much, much worse position right now given the events of 2020.
- shiftpgdn 5y ago
  The third one went out after the vaccine was widely available. Honestly with expanded unemployment benefit we didn’t even need the second one.
- engineer_22 5y ago
  After the stimulus checks I saw a lot of television boxes out at the curb when it was trash day. YMMV
- Vaslo 5y ago
  The stimulus checks made sense when people simply weren't allowed to work. I lean very right with my fiscal opinions and I can understand why we stimulated since government (with no choice!) created the quarantine issue, and people needed to eat. But now, with so many open jobs and no one willing to fill them, they should not only cut the stim checks but cut back on other forms of assistance to force people to go out and work and learn new skills. Until this happens, inflation will keep rising.
  - TheAdamAndChe 5y ago
    Wages haven't kept pace with productivity since the 70's, largely because of a lack of leverage by employees. Inequality and stagnation have been causing significant pressures, arguably causing the surge in populism in 2016. Why not let employees have leverage for a while?
- CountDrewku 5y ago
  >Completely disagree that the stimulus checks were unnecessary They were completely unnecessary for a LOT of people. I can guarantee almost no one on HN needed a stimulus check. If you were working a white collar job remotely you did not need one. Those checks should not have been given to anyone that was still employed through this. It was all a political game to garner votes. >I'm really curious what you think a superior solution to the COVID economy would have been. To not shutdown businesses that needed to be physically open to survive. You really think those checks helped out all those small restaurants/bars/etc. that weren't even allowed to be open during all of this? Additionally, they sent a bunch of money to other countries so we'll get to pay for that as well.

ProAm 5y ago

The US has been printing money and dumping it into the economy since 2008

andrew_ 5y ago
The existence of prior bad policy doesn't negate continuance of bad policy. If we were speaking about the prior administration, the same point would apply. This will have significant impact on several generations to come.
CountDrewku 5y ago
Yep and it's stupid. That directly causes inflation. This is why people are jumping to cryptocurrencies and don't trust fiat currencies anymore. Luckily our amazing government has now decided we should tax crypto since they screwed up their own currency so badly.
beervirus 5y ago
This last year is way off the charts.

SantalBlush 5y ago

Completely disagree that the stimulus checks were unnecessary, and I'm really curious what you think a superior solution to the COVID economy would have been. I think people take for granted that our economy could be in a much, much worse position right now given the events of 2020.

shiftpgdn 5y ago
The third one went out after the vaccine was widely available. Honestly with expanded unemployment benefit we didn’t even need the second one.
engineer_22 5y ago
After the stimulus checks I saw a lot of television boxes out at the curb when it was trash day. YMMV
Vaslo 5y ago
The stimulus checks made sense when people simply weren't allowed to work. I lean very right with my fiscal opinions and I can understand why we stimulated since government (with no choice!) created the quarantine issue, and people needed to eat. But now, with so many open jobs and no one willing to fill them, they should not only cut the stim checks but cut back on other forms of assistance to force people to go out and work and learn new skills. Until this happens, inflation will keep rising.
- TheAdamAndChe 5y ago
  Wages haven't kept pace with productivity since the 70's, largely because of a lack of leverage by employees. Inequality and stagnation have been causing significant pressures, arguably causing the surge in populism in 2016. Why not let employees have leverage for a while?
CountDrewku 5y ago
>Completely disagree that the stimulus checks were unnecessary They were completely unnecessary for a LOT of people. I can guarantee almost no one on HN needed a stimulus check. If you were working a white collar job remotely you did not need one. Those checks should not have been given to anyone that was still employed through this. It was all a political game to garner votes. >I'm really curious what you think a superior solution to the COVID economy would have been. To not shutdown businesses that needed to be physically open to survive. You really think those checks helped out all those small restaurants/bars/etc. that weren't even allowed to be open during all of this? Additionally, they sent a bunch of money to other countries so we'll get to pay for that as well.