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> while wages rose and stimulus reigned, measured inflation was low as were rates. Investors have been walking away with more and more of the productivity sinc

> while wages rose and stimulus reigned, measured inflation was low as were rates. Investors have been walking away with more and more of the productivity since about 1970 or so. Young people are less likely to own a home due to insane asset price increases during that time and the fed kept lowering rates in spite of this. They raised interest rates specifically to prevent a "wage price spiral" but had no problem with the price spiral around housing because wages weren't going up as well. If CPI was accurate you'd have the same standard of living your grandfather had. A decent house on a single salary, pension, new car in the driveway. The modern young professional class lives in overpriced apartment blocks, a lot of them don't even own a car. The iPhone doesn't make the mandatory two income household with no assets lifestyle equivalent to what we had previously. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LABSHPUSA156NRUG https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LABSHPUSA156NRUG

JumpCrisscross 3y ago
> If CPI was accurate you'd have the same standard of living your grandfather had. A decent house on a single salary, pension, new car in the driveway. CPI speaks to price levels. It says nothing about standards of living, just cost. Nobody argues that if you were on the winning team, life in the 50s wasn’t great. Naturally, if you poll folks from different backgrounds, that rose tint fades a bit. Unfortunately, we don’t have fine-grained economic statistics from the 50s to today.
- willcipriano 3y ago
  If wages are up and CPI is accurate why are living standards down?
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > wages are up and CPI is accurate why are living standards down Living standards are not down over ten years. Statistically and, for me, anecdotally. I’m making no comparison over lifetimes because we haven’t been collecting e.g. real median household income over that interval. Fortunately, it’s beside the point. You alleged “wages start[ed] to tick up then all of the sudden” rates were raised. That’s untrue. Wages were rising for a decade, including precipitously through the pandemic, before we did anything about it.
    - willcipriano 3y ago
      When economists say standards of living are higher they mostly mean life expectancy has increased and we have iPhones. Go around at talk to some of the young people you know, are they willing to trade a few years at the end of their life and their iPhone to get out of student debt and own a home?
      - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
        > When economists say standards of living are higher they mostly mean life expectancy has increased and we have iPhones This is incorrect. > talk to some of the young people you know We’re paying down our debt and buying homes. We’re more stretched than our grandparents were at our age, but our objective quality of life is far superior. I wouldn’t give up modern telecommunications for a bigger house.
        willcipriano 3y ago
        You own nothing and you are happy?
        JumpCrisscross 3y ago
        > You own nothing and you are happy? I own assets and am happy. (The home owning is often a source of stress that competes with my happiness.) The last ten years saw my prospects increase materially. I’ve also noticed as much in my friends with more blue-collar jobs. Statistics show a similar trend: broad gains with pockets of instability.

JumpCrisscross 3y ago

> If CPI was accurate you'd have the same standard of living your grandfather had. A decent house on a single salary, pension, new car in the driveway. CPI speaks to price levels. It says nothing about standards of living, just cost. Nobody argues that if you were on the winning team, life in the 50s wasn’t great. Naturally, if you poll folks from different backgrounds, that rose tint fades a bit. Unfortunately, we don’t have fine-grained economic statistics from the 50s to today.

willcipriano 3y ago
If wages are up and CPI is accurate why are living standards down?
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > wages are up and CPI is accurate why are living standards down Living standards are not down over ten years. Statistically and, for me, anecdotally. I’m making no comparison over lifetimes because we haven’t been collecting e.g. real median household income over that interval. Fortunately, it’s beside the point. You alleged “wages start[ed] to tick up then all of the sudden” rates were raised. That’s untrue. Wages were rising for a decade, including precipitously through the pandemic, before we did anything about it.
  - willcipriano 3y ago
    When economists say standards of living are higher they mostly mean life expectancy has increased and we have iPhones. Go around at talk to some of the young people you know, are they willing to trade a few years at the end of their life and their iPhone to get out of student debt and own a home?
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > When economists say standards of living are higher they mostly mean life expectancy has increased and we have iPhones This is incorrect. > talk to some of the young people you know We’re paying down our debt and buying homes. We’re more stretched than our grandparents were at our age, but our objective quality of life is far superior. I wouldn’t give up modern telecommunications for a bigger house.
      - willcipriano 3y ago
        You own nothing and you are happy?
        JumpCrisscross 3y ago
        > You own nothing and you are happy? I own assets and am happy. (The home owning is often a source of stress that competes with my happiness.) The last ten years saw my prospects increase materially. I’ve also noticed as much in my friends with more blue-collar jobs. Statistics show a similar trend: broad gains with pockets of instability.