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It’s really disheartening to see the percentage of people that don’t understand this (and feel perfectly comfortable having an argument about it). People postin

It’s really disheartening to see the percentage of people that don’t understand this (and feel perfectly comfortable having an argument about it). People posting comparisons of receipts from 8 years ago and saying that prices are “really still up 30%” and “they’re lying to us”.

Capricorn2481 3y ago
I see lots of people saying something different, which is the current state of prices doesn't match the rate of inflation we had the past few years. I'm way more disheartened by people talking about inflation like it's the end all be all of prices. We know what price gouging looks like.
- merpnderp 3y ago
  We've had about 20% total inflation since 2021. In some sectors it is higher and some lower. Even Amazon's recent history of price gouging is only going to add up to peanuts on their yearly gross. I think it's more people just don't understand compounding rates and if you inject more dollars into the economy than there are goods and services, you'll have more dollars chasing those same goods and services.
soperj 3y ago
They are lying to us though. Inflation is and was higher than what they're saying it is.
- tekla 3y ago
  Where is the evidence?
  - adr1an 3y ago
    Casual stroll through the supermarket at OP's neighborhood
    - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
      > Casual stroll through the supermarket at OP's neighborhood At which point I’m sure they’re considering their metropolitan statistical area’s figures instead of the national ones. /s
  - s3r3nity 3y ago
    Not OP, but where I _may_ agree with the sentiment is that inflation has a wide distribution of impact by the underlying category of goods/services. e.g. food, energy, electricity, shelter, apparel, etc. Namely, even if average / median inflation is going down, inflation is still non-zero - and even still very high - in categories that significantly impact lower-income households, urban families, farmers, etc.
    - deleted 3y ago
      [deleted]
  - soperj 3y ago
    Just look at the economists who are calculating inflation using the 80s methodologies and it's been way higher that the public figure.
- Clubber 3y ago
  Inflation isn't even across all states. Some states experience higher inflation than the national average. https://usafacts.org/articles/which-us-regions-have-the-highest-inflation-rates/ https://usafacts.org/articles/which-us-regions-have-the-high...
amanaplanacanal 3y ago
Is this just young people? Those of us that lived through the 70s and 80s remember very well how this stuff worked.
- wredue 3y ago
  Let me assure you that people not understanding extremely basic economics come from all walks of life. In fact, I was just listening to a random, she must’ve been 60 year old woman and her mother in a waiting room rant about “how is prices going up with inflation going down”. I’ve been working for 20 odd years now and still have coworkers who started the day I did rant “these fucking forced union wage increases! Don’t they know that I’ll hit a new tax bracket and then take home less money than before!” These people are 40+ years old. They should know better.
  - colejohnson66 3y ago
    The misconception of tax brackets is also frustrating. Tax brackets are marginal. If a tax bracket cutoff is, say, 10% at 100k, and you cross it to 110k, only 10k is taxed at 10%. The other 100k is taxed as before.
- Izkata 3y ago
  The last 3.5 years have also screwed with peoples' sense of time, it's really common to see measures that normally get compared year-to-year instead get compared to 2019.
  - AnimalMuppet 3y ago
    Yes. But in fairness, inflation was basically zero for a decade before that. So it's kind of "since inflation (re)started", which makes a kind of sense, even though it's hard to compare to all the reported figures, which are annual.
Aunche 3y ago
It's very easy to have selection bias. For example, your favorite restaurant might have been cheap when it was under the radar, but then they rose their prices by 30% after they went viral.

Capricorn2481 3y ago

I see lots of people saying something different, which is the current state of prices doesn't match the rate of inflation we had the past few years. I'm way more disheartened by people talking about inflation like it's the end all be all of prices. We know what price gouging looks like.

merpnderp 3y ago
We've had about 20% total inflation since 2021. In some sectors it is higher and some lower. Even Amazon's recent history of price gouging is only going to add up to peanuts on their yearly gross. I think it's more people just don't understand compounding rates and if you inject more dollars into the economy than there are goods and services, you'll have more dollars chasing those same goods and services.

soperj 3y ago

They are lying to us though. Inflation is and was higher than what they're saying it is.

tekla 3y ago
Where is the evidence?
- adr1an 3y ago
  Casual stroll through the supermarket at OP's neighborhood
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > Casual stroll through the supermarket at OP's neighborhood At which point I’m sure they’re considering their metropolitan statistical area’s figures instead of the national ones. /s
- s3r3nity 3y ago
  Not OP, but where I _may_ agree with the sentiment is that inflation has a wide distribution of impact by the underlying category of goods/services. e.g. food, energy, electricity, shelter, apparel, etc. Namely, even if average / median inflation is going down, inflation is still non-zero - and even still very high - in categories that significantly impact lower-income households, urban families, farmers, etc.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
- soperj 3y ago
  Just look at the economists who are calculating inflation using the 80s methodologies and it's been way higher that the public figure.
Clubber 3y ago
Inflation isn't even across all states. Some states experience higher inflation than the national average. https://usafacts.org/articles/which-us-regions-have-the-highest-inflation-rates/ https://usafacts.org/articles/which-us-regions-have-the-high...

amanaplanacanal 3y ago

Is this just young people? Those of us that lived through the 70s and 80s remember very well how this stuff worked.

wredue 3y ago
Let me assure you that people not understanding extremely basic economics come from all walks of life. In fact, I was just listening to a random, she must’ve been 60 year old woman and her mother in a waiting room rant about “how is prices going up with inflation going down”. I’ve been working for 20 odd years now and still have coworkers who started the day I did rant “these fucking forced union wage increases! Don’t they know that I’ll hit a new tax bracket and then take home less money than before!” These people are 40+ years old. They should know better.
- colejohnson66 3y ago
  The misconception of tax brackets is also frustrating. Tax brackets are marginal. If a tax bracket cutoff is, say, 10% at 100k, and you cross it to 110k, only 10k is taxed at 10%. The other 100k is taxed as before.
Izkata 3y ago
The last 3.5 years have also screwed with peoples' sense of time, it's really common to see measures that normally get compared year-to-year instead get compared to 2019.
- AnimalMuppet 3y ago
  Yes. But in fairness, inflation was basically zero for a decade before that. So it's kind of "since inflation (re)started", which makes a kind of sense, even though it's hard to compare to all the reported figures, which are annual.

Aunche 3y ago

It's very easy to have selection bias. For example, your favorite restaurant might have been cheap when it was under the radar, but then they rose their prices by 30% after they went viral.