8 ms·

Looks like we're in the 'blaming suppliers for being greedy' stage of inflation. Haven't seen that one before.

yoyohello13 3y ago
It’s not irrational to be mad. All the poor see is that they are getting screwed and the rich are doing fine (sometime thriving) no platitudes about “economics” are going to make them feel better.
- mannerheim 3y ago
  That's all very fine. But it ends the same way every time.
- astrange 3y ago
  Wages by definition also increase with inflation. (Inflation is a general increase in prices and wages are a price.) Though you can have both unemployment and inflation at once, called stagflation. Also in the US, the lowest 10% of real wages has grown significantly since 2020, lowering income inequality vs the middle class.
  - effingwewt 3y ago
    I'll need some citations on those numbers. In states like Texas minimum wage is still $7.25/hr and many places pay just that. How do you reconcile your numbers with that? Bills have outpaced wages to the point nearly a whole generation of young adults have given up on home ownership and have had to move back home. Mortgages are increasing in years and rates, even new cars have. Income inequality has never been higher and you're seriously saying it's gotten better since the greatest wealth transfer in history?!
    - mannerheim 3y ago
      https://equitablegrowth.org/u-s-income-and-wealth-inequality-are-no-longer-increasing-but-a-return-to-the-equitable-levels-of-the-mid-20th-century-isnt-likely-anytime-soon/ https://equitablegrowth.org/u-s-income-and-wealth-inequality... > In states like Texas minimum wage is still $7.25/hr and many places pay just that. > How do you reconcile your numbers with that? 'Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the 196,000 workers earning the federal minimum wage or less made up 3.1 percent of all hourly paid workers in the state. Nationwide, those earning the federal minimum or less accounted for 2.3 percent of the hourly paid workforce.' And that's only those paid hourly, not salaried.
    - astrange 3y ago
      > How do you reconcile your numbers with that? https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31010/w31010.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31010/w310... It doesn't matter what the minimum wage is though, it matters what people are actually paid. Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage and they're doing okay. > Bills have outpaced wages to the point nearly a whole generation of young adults have given up on home ownership and have had to move back home. Not true, and Texas is fairly affordable. (It's blue states that aren't because they all refuse to build homes.) https://www.redfin.com/news/gen-z-millennial-homeownership-rate-home-purchases/ https://www.redfin.com/news/gen-z-millennial-homeownership-r... > Mortgages are increasing in years and rates, even new cars have. Rate increases theoretically don't affect the total price of a new mortgage because you can negotiate the sale price down to make up for it. Supply and demand is what controls the total price. Higher rates do reduce new construction though. Cars got more expensive because they stopped making cheap new cars, which is bad, but it's not 100% of CPI any more than rent is. > Income inequality has never been higher and you're seriously saying it's gotten better since the greatest wealth transfer in history?! No, income (wage) inequality peaked in 2014 and has been flat since, then decreased since 2019. https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/inequality-might-be-going-down-now https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/inequality-might-be-going-down... The real great wealth transfer in history was the 2020 CARES act giving a lot of money to the poor. We should do it again. (This is the one that a lot of people online like to say "we only got $600" about which is a straight up lie. It was up to $2400/month for an unemployed mother with children.) The one that went up is wealth inequality, meaning value of unrealized assets like stock portfolios. But that's not nearly as real as cash. (Also, our top tech billionaires Gates/Bezos/Musk helped inequality out by losing half of their wealth by cheating on their wives or buying Twitter.)
      - yladiz 3y ago
        > Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage and they're doing okay. It’s more complicated than that, and you know it, or you’re using that fact to further your point somewhat disingenuously. Yes, there in no minimum wage defined by law, but in practice it’s around €20 due to the collective bargaining agreements (read: unions) in most industries.
Dylan16807 3y ago
I don't see how "they have increased prices more than inflation" is blaming them for inflation. Though that assumes the "everything" in the post is an exaggeration because I think the price of "everything" is inflation.
- WalterBright 3y ago
  The way inflation is measured is debatable. It's in the government's best interests to measure it in such a way as to make the number as small as possible.

It’s not irrational to be mad. All the poor see is that they are getting screwed and the rich are doing fine (sometime thriving) no platitudes about “economics” are going to make them feel better.

mannerheim 3y ago
That's all very fine. But it ends the same way every time.
astrange 3y ago
Wages by definition also increase with inflation. (Inflation is a general increase in prices and wages are a price.) Though you can have both unemployment and inflation at once, called stagflation. Also in the US, the lowest 10% of real wages has grown significantly since 2020, lowering income inequality vs the middle class.
- effingwewt 3y ago
  I'll need some citations on those numbers. In states like Texas minimum wage is still $7.25/hr and many places pay just that. How do you reconcile your numbers with that? Bills have outpaced wages to the point nearly a whole generation of young adults have given up on home ownership and have had to move back home. Mortgages are increasing in years and rates, even new cars have. Income inequality has never been higher and you're seriously saying it's gotten better since the greatest wealth transfer in history?!
  - mannerheim 3y ago
    https://equitablegrowth.org/u-s-income-and-wealth-inequality-are-no-longer-increasing-but-a-return-to-the-equitable-levels-of-the-mid-20th-century-isnt-likely-anytime-soon/ https://equitablegrowth.org/u-s-income-and-wealth-inequality... > In states like Texas minimum wage is still $7.25/hr and many places pay just that. > How do you reconcile your numbers with that? 'Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Stanley W. Suchman noted that the 196,000 workers earning the federal minimum wage or less made up 3.1 percent of all hourly paid workers in the state. Nationwide, those earning the federal minimum or less accounted for 2.3 percent of the hourly paid workforce.' And that's only those paid hourly, not salaried.
  - astrange 3y ago
    > How do you reconcile your numbers with that? https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31010/w31010.pdf https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31010/w310... It doesn't matter what the minimum wage is though, it matters what people are actually paid. Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage and they're doing okay. > Bills have outpaced wages to the point nearly a whole generation of young adults have given up on home ownership and have had to move back home. Not true, and Texas is fairly affordable. (It's blue states that aren't because they all refuse to build homes.) https://www.redfin.com/news/gen-z-millennial-homeownership-rate-home-purchases/ https://www.redfin.com/news/gen-z-millennial-homeownership-r... > Mortgages are increasing in years and rates, even new cars have. Rate increases theoretically don't affect the total price of a new mortgage because you can negotiate the sale price down to make up for it. Supply and demand is what controls the total price. Higher rates do reduce new construction though. Cars got more expensive because they stopped making cheap new cars, which is bad, but it's not 100% of CPI any more than rent is. > Income inequality has never been higher and you're seriously saying it's gotten better since the greatest wealth transfer in history?! No, income (wage) inequality peaked in 2014 and has been flat since, then decreased since 2019. https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/inequality-might-be-going-down-now https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/inequality-might-be-going-down... The real great wealth transfer in history was the 2020 CARES act giving a lot of money to the poor. We should do it again. (This is the one that a lot of people online like to say "we only got $600" about which is a straight up lie. It was up to $2400/month for an unemployed mother with children.) The one that went up is wealth inequality, meaning value of unrealized assets like stock portfolios. But that's not nearly as real as cash. (Also, our top tech billionaires Gates/Bezos/Musk helped inequality out by losing half of their wealth by cheating on their wives or buying Twitter.)
    - yladiz 3y ago
      > Denmark doesn't have a minimum wage and they're doing okay. It’s more complicated than that, and you know it, or you’re using that fact to further your point somewhat disingenuously. Yes, there in no minimum wage defined by law, but in practice it’s around €20 due to the collective bargaining agreements (read: unions) in most industries.

Dylan16807 3y ago

I don't see how "they have increased prices more than inflation" is blaming them for inflation. Though that assumes the "everything" in the post is an exaggeration because I think the price of "everything" is inflation.

WalterBright 3y ago
The way inflation is measured is debatable. It's in the government's best interests to measure it in such a way as to make the number as small as possible.