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Seriously. Great comment. Example: Food price inflation is not something one can choose to accept or reject, you have to eat regardless. When all the grocery

Seriously. Great comment. Example: Food price inflation is not something one can choose to accept or reject, you have to eat regardless. When all the grocery stores and farmer's markets (and everything in between) all have relatively similar if not equal pricing on the most basics one needs (fresh veggies and fruit), there's no choice, not even an illusion of choice. This article misses the point completely - we depend on our elected officials to rid us of inflation, but unfortunately they've become victim to regulatory capture, or worse - political pressure. JPowell is a terrible central banker, regardless of what happens going forward. It's not all Biden's fault, either, no matter what the media wants anyone to think.

im3w1l 4y ago
Well if veggies are so expensive why don't they buy cake?
- NickC25 4y ago
  Ha! Cake, despite being loaded with preservatives and cheap sugars, is incredibly expensive. I have celiac disease so gluten-free cakes are my only option if I want cake, and those cakes are, well, prohibitively expensive. shit even gluten-free cake/cookie/brownie mix is like $18-20 which is crazy.
- klyrs 4y ago
  I wanted a quick binge treat last week and two slices of grocery store cake were $12.99. I actually didn't eat cake, nor the $3 apple that I walked by on the way to the cake department.
- anonymousiam 4y ago
  For those who didn't seem to get it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake
seanmcdirmid 4y ago
You can value shop, like buy asparagus when it is $1.99/lbs and not when it is $4.99/lbs. I’m pretty picky at the store, and usually what’s on sale is fresher anyways. Your costs still go up, of course, but it keeps grocery stores on their toes at least. We are all to blame for inflation: we just got addicted to cheap money, and were not willing to vote for longer term economic health, the politicians just gave us what we wanted.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- matthewdgreen 4y ago
  We also had a massive pandemic that shut down half the economy and we took fiscal and monetary action to get through it with minimal chaos. I feel like we need to remind each other of that from time to time, lest we just forget these extraordinary events.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    The cheap money was stressing the system before the pandemic relief came in and made everything fall over. You can't cut rates unless you are prepared to raise them, cheap money only works as stimulus if you make money more expensive in good times. If we were more conservative with our monetary policy, then we could have prepared better for the next stress event. At least we could stop things from getting crazy (e.g. the housing market). We've basically forgotten the 90s already.
    - matthewdgreen 4y ago
      The cheap money was not stressing the system. That’s the reason interest rates went back down after a brief rise in the late 2010s: everyone was worried about a recession and there was absolutely no sign of inflation in consumer prices.
      - seanmcdirmid 4y ago

im3w1l 4y ago

Well if veggies are so expensive why don't they buy cake?

NickC25 4y ago
Ha! Cake, despite being loaded with preservatives and cheap sugars, is incredibly expensive. I have celiac disease so gluten-free cakes are my only option if I want cake, and those cakes are, well, prohibitively expensive. shit even gluten-free cake/cookie/brownie mix is like $18-20 which is crazy.
klyrs 4y ago
I wanted a quick binge treat last week and two slices of grocery store cake were $12.99. I actually didn't eat cake, nor the $3 apple that I walked by on the way to the cake department.
anonymousiam 4y ago
For those who didn't seem to get it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_them_eat_cake

seanmcdirmid 4y ago

You can value shop, like buy asparagus when it is $1.99/lbs and not when it is $4.99/lbs. I’m pretty picky at the store, and usually what’s on sale is fresher anyways. Your costs still go up, of course, but it keeps grocery stores on their toes at least. We are all to blame for inflation: we just got addicted to cheap money, and were not willing to vote for longer term economic health, the politicians just gave us what we wanted.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
matthewdgreen 4y ago
We also had a massive pandemic that shut down half the economy and we took fiscal and monetary action to get through it with minimal chaos. I feel like we need to remind each other of that from time to time, lest we just forget these extraordinary events.
- seanmcdirmid 4y ago
  The cheap money was stressing the system before the pandemic relief came in and made everything fall over. You can't cut rates unless you are prepared to raise them, cheap money only works as stimulus if you make money more expensive in good times. If we were more conservative with our monetary policy, then we could have prepared better for the next stress event. At least we could stop things from getting crazy (e.g. the housing market). We've basically forgotten the 90s already.
  - matthewdgreen 4y ago
    The cheap money was not stressing the system. That’s the reason interest rates went back down after a brief rise in the late 2010s: everyone was worried about a recession and there was absolutely no sign of inflation in consumer prices.
    - seanmcdirmid 4y ago