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>> the US has less than 10% and going down First of all, there's no evidence it's going down. Secondly, 10% is a wild figure. That's far over the breach for th

>> the US has less than 10% and going down First of all, there's no evidence it's going down. Secondly, 10% is a wild figure. That's far over the breach for the population to begin to alter their behaviour by either hoarding or spending. My point was, the mentality of coping with even 10% inflation is very foreign to Americans. But it's a learned skill, and people will learn it. When they do, it will resemble Argentina during the 10% phases (2003-2012 for instance). That's not necessarily terrible if you're coming down from 100%, but it's a brand new experience that Americans haven't come around to. And it does a lot of very weird things to your politics. It makes everything more populist far-right or far-left than it would need to be otherwise. It feeds into conspiratorial thinking. It is a regressive tax. 10% is a HUGE regressive tax right now on American citizens, and it's kind of a miracle that they haven't rioted more.

pjc50 3y ago
> there's no evidence it's going down https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthly-inflation-rate-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthl... Prices won't go down, but the rate of change of prices can go down. > begin to alter their behaviour by either hoarding or spending. Median savings is not huge: https://www.usnews.com/banking/articles/the-average-savings-account-balance https://www.usnews.com/banking/articles/the-average-savings-... Not to mention that middle America has fixed rate 30 year mortgages, an absolutely extraordinary product that means their payments are fixed in nominal dollars for a huge length of time. So if they get a raise that keeps up with inflation, inflation actually makes them "richer". The effects are largely dominated by gas and energy prices, which Americans really will get upset over but seem to be recovering. I don't think there's any realistic way you can prevent against 10% gas price jumps and still have a free market.
- deleted 3y ago
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RandomLensman 3y ago
A fair amount of Americans where adults in the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s... it isn't that new of an experience for them.
greedo 3y ago
You should look at inflation rates in the 70s and 80s. This didn't destroy the US, though it was painful.
marcosdumay 3y ago
Yes, it's a wild figure for the US (as a comparison, the US had an year with higher inflation than Brazil). But that lasted for a short period, and it's been measured going down. Anyway, hoarding gold is not a natural behavior for a population at 10% inflation. It's natural for a population that distrusts the government and the financial markets. Inflation by itself pushes people into banks.
- plonk 3y ago
  Why would inflation push people into banks? In my (EU) country, banks don’t offer anything that matches current inflation besides speculative investments.
  - marcosdumay 3y ago
    It pushes people into high-liquidity short-term investments. Banks are the main place you find those.
    - landemva 3y ago
      In USA at banks near me, I don't find high liquidity with decent returns. Rates on savings accounts are paltry, and CDs are only liquid if ignoring early withdraw penalties. I use bank to accept revenue and transfer it to brokerage houses where it sits in highly liquid money market with better returns than bank savings.

pjc50 3y ago

> there's no evidence it's going down https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthly-inflation-rate-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/273418/unadjusted-monthl... Prices won't go down, but the rate of change of prices can go down. > begin to alter their behaviour by either hoarding or spending. Median savings is not huge: https://www.usnews.com/banking/articles/the-average-savings-account-balance https://www.usnews.com/banking/articles/the-average-savings-... Not to mention that middle America has fixed rate 30 year mortgages, an absolutely extraordinary product that means their payments are fixed in nominal dollars for a huge length of time. So if they get a raise that keeps up with inflation, inflation actually makes them "richer". The effects are largely dominated by gas and energy prices, which Americans really will get upset over but seem to be recovering. I don't think there's any realistic way you can prevent against 10% gas price jumps and still have a free market.

deleted 3y ago
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RandomLensman 3y ago

A fair amount of Americans where adults in the second half of the 1970s and early 1980s... it isn't that new of an experience for them.

greedo 3y ago

You should look at inflation rates in the 70s and 80s. This didn't destroy the US, though it was painful.

marcosdumay 3y ago

Yes, it's a wild figure for the US (as a comparison, the US had an year with higher inflation than Brazil). But that lasted for a short period, and it's been measured going down. Anyway, hoarding gold is not a natural behavior for a population at 10% inflation. It's natural for a population that distrusts the government and the financial markets. Inflation by itself pushes people into banks.

plonk 3y ago
Why would inflation push people into banks? In my (EU) country, banks don’t offer anything that matches current inflation besides speculative investments.
- marcosdumay 3y ago
  It pushes people into high-liquidity short-term investments. Banks are the main place you find those.
  - landemva 3y ago
    In USA at banks near me, I don't find high liquidity with decent returns. Rates on savings accounts are paltry, and CDs are only liquid if ignoring early withdraw penalties. I use bank to accept revenue and transfer it to brokerage houses where it sits in highly liquid money market with better returns than bank savings.