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I'd be fine with this if it was actually an organic movement where Americans realized consumerism didn't bring happiness My problem is the last few weeks have

I'd be fine with this if it was actually an organic movement where Americans realized consumerism didn't bring happiness My problem is the last few weeks have been an outright propaganda campaign against Americans to accept lower living standards which are a direct result of inflation caused by government policies and allowing companies to outsource everything. These types of headlines are almost a parody, Soviet Union tier stuff trying to normalize what is happening.

lotsofpulp 5y ago
How long would the world let Americans get paid more while other people around the world are willing to sell at lower prices? We expect market participants to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities in every other circumstance and buy low and sell high, why would it be different for the billions of people coming online around the world?
- testposttttt 5y ago
  The problem with this viewpoint is it is based on being a zero-sum game. A rising tide will raise all ships, crabs in a bucket hurts all involved. Also pharmaceutical prices directly contradict this. Americans are essentially subsidizing worldwide pharmaceutical costs.
taylodl 5y ago
There's a bit to unpack here. > "inflation caused by government policies" Inflation at present is primarily the result of the global pandemic and government's failure to coordinate their response with regards to shipping, hence the crises in global shipping at the moment. Governments spent the better part of 2020 and the first half of 2021 trying to keep their population safe. They took their eye off the eight ball in understanding how these events would impact global shipping. You could argue the policies affecting inflation were therefore the Covid-19 policies, but that really isn't constructive in resolving the situation we now find ourselves in. We can use it to model a better response the next time. Global pandemics have negative impacts to global supply chains. > "allowing companies to outsource everything" You mean allowing companies freedom? Funny how "free societies" do that! Meanwhile, economists of all political persuasions have been arguing for decades that this has been the key factor to America's success and her high standard of living. It has also encouraged investment in America's financial markets from all over the world. We're currently experiencing constrained supply due to the global shipping crises and constant demand. Econ 101 informs us this will result in price increases. I think the central banks have been pretty transparent about it. They still see inflation as a non-issue because they believe once the supply constraints are resolved prices will go back to normal. Meanwhile...what do you propose we do? With a constrained supply we're going to have to make do with less. This isn't propaganda, it's simple, basic economics.
- brodouevencode 5y ago
  I think you're a little too quick to let the US government off the hook here. It was well established that there would be supply chain issues as early as mid-summer 2020. Part of keeping the population safe and working is keeping the mechanisms for trade in place and working. This includes ensuring ports are cleared, staffed, and operational. It also includes not paying people to stay home. The constant threats of higher taxes and gigantic spending proposals also didn't help. Those costs get priced in at some point.
- rdevsrex 5y ago
  > "Inflation at present is primarily the result of the global pandemic and government's failure to coordinate their response with regards to shipping" I was pretty sure it was the trillions of dollars we printed to pay for all the pandemic stimulus. Not just shipping.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

How long would the world let Americans get paid more while other people around the world are willing to sell at lower prices? We expect market participants to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities in every other circumstance and buy low and sell high, why would it be different for the billions of people coming online around the world?

testposttttt 5y ago
The problem with this viewpoint is it is based on being a zero-sum game. A rising tide will raise all ships, crabs in a bucket hurts all involved. Also pharmaceutical prices directly contradict this. Americans are essentially subsidizing worldwide pharmaceutical costs.

taylodl 5y ago

There's a bit to unpack here. > "inflation caused by government policies" Inflation at present is primarily the result of the global pandemic and government's failure to coordinate their response with regards to shipping, hence the crises in global shipping at the moment. Governments spent the better part of 2020 and the first half of 2021 trying to keep their population safe. They took their eye off the eight ball in understanding how these events would impact global shipping. You could argue the policies affecting inflation were therefore the Covid-19 policies, but that really isn't constructive in resolving the situation we now find ourselves in. We can use it to model a better response the next time. Global pandemics have negative impacts to global supply chains. > "allowing companies to outsource everything" You mean allowing companies freedom? Funny how "free societies" do that! Meanwhile, economists of all political persuasions have been arguing for decades that this has been the key factor to America's success and her high standard of living. It has also encouraged investment in America's financial markets from all over the world. We're currently experiencing constrained supply due to the global shipping crises and constant demand. Econ 101 informs us this will result in price increases. I think the central banks have been pretty transparent about it. They still see inflation as a non-issue because they believe once the supply constraints are resolved prices will go back to normal. Meanwhile...what do you propose we do? With a constrained supply we're going to have to make do with less. This isn't propaganda, it's simple, basic economics.

brodouevencode 5y ago
I think you're a little too quick to let the US government off the hook here. It was well established that there would be supply chain issues as early as mid-summer 2020. Part of keeping the population safe and working is keeping the mechanisms for trade in place and working. This includes ensuring ports are cleared, staffed, and operational. It also includes not paying people to stay home. The constant threats of higher taxes and gigantic spending proposals also didn't help. Those costs get priced in at some point.
rdevsrex 5y ago
> "Inflation at present is primarily the result of the global pandemic and government's failure to coordinate their response with regards to shipping" I was pretty sure it was the trillions of dollars we printed to pay for all the pandemic stimulus. Not just shipping.