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> More money available to debtors means more money to pay for rent, cocktails and avocado toast. So this could drive inflation. It won’t necessarily drive infla

by larrik 4y ago

> More money available to debtors means more money to pay for rent, cocktails and avocado toast. So this could drive inflation. It won’t necessarily drive inflation but increasing disposable income of young people without much savings will likely increase their spending and the overall price levels. Seems like this is the stuff that the economy is built on. The inclusion of "avocado toast" makes me think I know exactly where this guy stands on basically every political issue without looking any deeper into him, though. > Or it could inflate asset prices as we’ve seen with the $12 trillion from Covid relief. I'm not an economist (thank God), but there's no way that's what happened here. Asset prices increased due to restricted supply. There's no way that lumber prices tripled in mid 2020 due to "covid relief funds". Besides, a ton of people were suddenly able to work from home and couldn't go out for fun. That meant saving huge amounts on gas and wear and tear on vehicles (or public transportation) and no more fun nights out to spend money on.

deleted 4y ago
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Volundr 4y ago
The inflation thing is hugely complicated. People like to blame it on the COVID checks like giving people a couple months rent over the course of 3 years is really sufficient to have a large effect on the economy. In reality COVID stimulus didn't help (inflation specifically), but you can't just look to individual stimulus to see it, you also have to look at all the stimulus targeting businesses. Even then it's just one small factor. Supply shocks, Russia, sudden changes in consumer behavior, low interest rates and more all play in. It's not a simple problem with a single cause, but it's more satisfying to point and blame one factor some else is responsible for, so most discourse on the topic, even from those we'd hope would know better since they are in charge of fixing it, is worthless.

by larrik 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

Volundr 4y ago

The inflation thing is hugely complicated. People like to blame it on the COVID checks like giving people a couple months rent over the course of 3 years is really sufficient to have a large effect on the economy. In reality COVID stimulus didn't help (inflation specifically), but you can't just look to individual stimulus to see it, you also have to look at all the stimulus targeting businesses. Even then it's just one small factor. Supply shocks, Russia, sudden changes in consumer behavior, low interest rates and more all play in. It's not a simple problem with a single cause, but it's more satisfying to point and blame one factor some else is responsible for, so most discourse on the topic, even from those we'd hope would know better since they are in charge of fixing it, is worthless.