4 ms·

Food prices, rent, medical costs, education. I feel like all the expenses that disproportionately affect non-millionaires aren't cooling. Feels like corporati

by cwkoss 3y ago

Food prices, rent, medical costs, education. I feel like all the expenses that disproportionately affect non-millionaires aren't cooling. Feels like corporations used inflation as cover to ratchet up prices and while inflation may have 'cooled' I get the feeling that those prices aren't going to readjust back down. Getting increasingly expensive to be poor in this country.

laidoffamazon 3y ago
Wages are now growing faster than inflation in the country so this isn't really accurate. The poorest have seen the largest wage growth even during the high inflation periods last year.
- alfalfasprout 3y ago
  The poorest, sure. The majority of americans are still net losers in all of this. Keep in mind their wages were also stagnant for a long period of time.
  - laidoffamazon 3y ago
    Wagers were stagnant in the 2000s. Since 2015 real wages have been going up. Even today real wages are still higher than they were in 2018. You can argue about being below trends or whatever, fine. But it's factually wrong to say Americans are worse off today than they were in the past.
blitzar 3y ago
> prices aren't going to readjust back down That would be deflation. Inflation of 10% means something that was $100 goes to $110, if inflation goes back to 1% for the next year that $100 thing will be $111.10 next year. It always goes up ... and it compounds.
- paxys 3y ago
  Yeah I have no idea why people can't grasp this simple concept. Inflation could be 0% for the next decade and consumer prices still wouldn't go back to what they were in 2019. The only way to stay ahead is to ignore the absolute price of things and instead make sure your salary and investments are increasing at a higher rate than whatever the CPI number is.
  - blitzar 3y ago
    As I wrote my comment in my head "dont be a condescending prat, people know this" circulating with "no they dont".
- cwkoss 3y ago
  I'm not talking about the supply chain costs of goods rising - from my view - corporations used inflation as cover to increase their profit margins and they are continuing to hold these high margins instead of going back to the competitive business as usual that we previously had. A costco sized bag of potato chips is now $11. Systemic economic factors only account for a fraction of that price hike in my appraisal. The idea that them dropping their price to a more reasonable $7 would be 'deflation' is overapplying economic theory terms. Pruning branches on one tree isn't deforestation. I feel like there is a certain breed of capitalist who took econ 101 and is deluded into thinking any backpressure of corporate greed is risking a 'deflationary spiral'.
  - ProfessorLayton 3y ago
    Businesses don't price their goods and services arbitrarily, they do so based on supply and demand. Let's put greed and supply chain disruptions aside for a second: The reason bags of potato chips cost $11 now is because someone is still buying them at that price. It would not make sense to drop the price to $7 if they're selling out at $11, business just doesn't work that way, and frankly neither do people. Would you offer to take a lower salary despite being offered more?
  - blitzar 3y ago
    [flagged]
zmgsabst 3y ago
Inflation “cooling” means that prices are still going up, but more slowly. Heating vs cooling of inflation is the acceleration, not the velocity of prices.
Invictus0 3y ago
That's what happens when you release a trillion in helicopter money
MattGaiser 3y ago
Labour intensive goods in a world of ever more expensive labour and strong wage growth.
dghughes 3y ago
Same here in Canada. I'm single and making more than I even have but it seems most of it has been eaten away by inflation. I can't image how someone making minimum wage ($14.50/hour here) and most likely part-time is surviving. Average rent is $1,500/month and groceries seem to be climbing up in real-time as you watch the new e-paper prince displays.
matchbok 3y ago
There's 0 evidence of "greedlation". It takes only a minute to think why all these companies decided to collude and raise prices now and why not 5 years ago. Ten? Why now? Makes no sense. If they can do it now they would have done it years ago.
- mitthrowaway2 3y ago
  > It takes only a minute to think why all these companies decided to collude and raise prices now and why not 5 years ago. Ten? Why now? Corporate greed is mathematically synonymous with corporate non-competitiveness. Rather than dismissing this possibility a priori, maybe there are reasons why companies used to be more aggressive with their price competition, but aren't anymore? One possibility that comes to my mind is a concentration of ownership in index funds, possibly interacting with rising interest rates at high stock valuations. If 40% of your voting shares are controlled by a fund manager who also controls 40% of your competitor (as well as the rest of the index), that will be a loud voice on your board pushing against cut-throat competition. He'll tell you, and your competitors across the index, that you all need to get your earnings up to protect your stock price because P/E ratios are falling amidst rising bond yields, and that the way to do this is for the whole index to increase prices until consumption starts to decline, where profits peak, rather than fighting with each other over market share.
- cwkoss 3y ago
  They are doing it now because people will blame systemic economic factors rather than individual actors. Makes a lot of sense to me.
  - Auracle 3y ago
    I don’t see what blame has to do with it. Normally if a package of Oreos suddenly jumped up to $5 from $4, you wouldn’t choose not to purchase it because you “blamed” Nabisco or whoever. You wouldn’t buy it because you’d decide your money could be better spent on another snack. It’s not like competition suddenly stopped existing the last couple of years and of Hydrox could swoop in from the grave and start taking that sweet sweet Oreo money they would.
Natsu 3y ago
Prices are still going up, just more slowly. That's the "cooling." It's just a happy face on the fact that we've had several years of awful inflation. But inflation allows numbers to keep going up while hiding the fact that you can get less with those bigger numbers. People will be glad they're finally making $15/hr or $20/hr without realizing that it may not be as good as what they had before just because everything is more expensive. Meanwhile, politicians can blame "greed" while ignoring that it's caused by them printing money as a way to deflect blame for the stealth taxes.

by cwkoss 3y ago

laidoffamazon 3y ago

Wages are now growing faster than inflation in the country so this isn't really accurate. The poorest have seen the largest wage growth even during the high inflation periods last year.

alfalfasprout 3y ago
The poorest, sure. The majority of americans are still net losers in all of this. Keep in mind their wages were also stagnant for a long period of time.
- laidoffamazon 3y ago
  Wagers were stagnant in the 2000s. Since 2015 real wages have been going up. Even today real wages are still higher than they were in 2018. You can argue about being below trends or whatever, fine. But it's factually wrong to say Americans are worse off today than they were in the past.

blitzar 3y ago

> prices aren't going to readjust back down That would be deflation. Inflation of 10% means something that was $100 goes to $110, if inflation goes back to 1% for the next year that $100 thing will be $111.10 next year. It always goes up ... and it compounds.

paxys 3y ago
Yeah I have no idea why people can't grasp this simple concept. Inflation could be 0% for the next decade and consumer prices still wouldn't go back to what they were in 2019. The only way to stay ahead is to ignore the absolute price of things and instead make sure your salary and investments are increasing at a higher rate than whatever the CPI number is.
- blitzar 3y ago
  As I wrote my comment in my head "dont be a condescending prat, people know this" circulating with "no they dont".
cwkoss 3y ago
I'm not talking about the supply chain costs of goods rising - from my view - corporations used inflation as cover to increase their profit margins and they are continuing to hold these high margins instead of going back to the competitive business as usual that we previously had. A costco sized bag of potato chips is now $11. Systemic economic factors only account for a fraction of that price hike in my appraisal. The idea that them dropping their price to a more reasonable $7 would be 'deflation' is overapplying economic theory terms. Pruning branches on one tree isn't deforestation. I feel like there is a certain breed of capitalist who took econ 101 and is deluded into thinking any backpressure of corporate greed is risking a 'deflationary spiral'.
- ProfessorLayton 3y ago
  Businesses don't price their goods and services arbitrarily, they do so based on supply and demand. Let's put greed and supply chain disruptions aside for a second: The reason bags of potato chips cost $11 now is because someone is still buying them at that price. It would not make sense to drop the price to $7 if they're selling out at $11, business just doesn't work that way, and frankly neither do people. Would you offer to take a lower salary despite being offered more?
- blitzar 3y ago
  [flagged]

zmgsabst 3y ago

Inflation “cooling” means that prices are still going up, but more slowly. Heating vs cooling of inflation is the acceleration, not the velocity of prices.

Invictus0 3y ago

That's what happens when you release a trillion in helicopter money

MattGaiser 3y ago

Labour intensive goods in a world of ever more expensive labour and strong wage growth.

dghughes 3y ago

Same here in Canada. I'm single and making more than I even have but it seems most of it has been eaten away by inflation. I can't image how someone making minimum wage ($14.50/hour here) and most likely part-time is surviving. Average rent is $1,500/month and groceries seem to be climbing up in real-time as you watch the new e-paper prince displays.

matchbok 3y ago

There's 0 evidence of "greedlation". It takes only a minute to think why all these companies decided to collude and raise prices now and why not 5 years ago. Ten? Why now? Makes no sense. If they can do it now they would have done it years ago.

mitthrowaway2 3y ago
> It takes only a minute to think why all these companies decided to collude and raise prices now and why not 5 years ago. Ten? Why now? Corporate greed is mathematically synonymous with corporate non-competitiveness. Rather than dismissing this possibility a priori, maybe there are reasons why companies used to be more aggressive with their price competition, but aren't anymore? One possibility that comes to my mind is a concentration of ownership in index funds, possibly interacting with rising interest rates at high stock valuations. If 40% of your voting shares are controlled by a fund manager who also controls 40% of your competitor (as well as the rest of the index), that will be a loud voice on your board pushing against cut-throat competition. He'll tell you, and your competitors across the index, that you all need to get your earnings up to protect your stock price because P/E ratios are falling amidst rising bond yields, and that the way to do this is for the whole index to increase prices until consumption starts to decline, where profits peak, rather than fighting with each other over market share.
cwkoss 3y ago
They are doing it now because people will blame systemic economic factors rather than individual actors. Makes a lot of sense to me.
- Auracle 3y ago
  I don’t see what blame has to do with it. Normally if a package of Oreos suddenly jumped up to $5 from $4, you wouldn’t choose not to purchase it because you “blamed” Nabisco or whoever. You wouldn’t buy it because you’d decide your money could be better spent on another snack. It’s not like competition suddenly stopped existing the last couple of years and of Hydrox could swoop in from the grave and start taking that sweet sweet Oreo money they would.

Natsu 3y ago

Prices are still going up, just more slowly. That's the "cooling." It's just a happy face on the fact that we've had several years of awful inflation. But inflation allows numbers to keep going up while hiding the fact that you can get less with those bigger numbers. People will be glad they're finally making $15/hr or $20/hr without realizing that it may not be as good as what they had before just because everything is more expensive. Meanwhile, politicians can blame "greed" while ignoring that it's caused by them printing money as a way to deflect blame for the stealth taxes.