4 ms·

In US from late 90s to mid 2000s the price of housing kept increasing, dollar vs. euro plunged and dollar vs. many commodities dropped as well. But some how the

In US from late 90s to mid 2000s the price of housing kept increasing, dollar vs. euro plunged and dollar vs. many commodities dropped as well. But some how there was very low inflation???

coob 13y ago
Interest rates, although falling, were relatively high.
noloqy 13y ago
Inflation rates, also in the western countries, are messed up statistics. Many 'corrections' are taking place that seem pretty much unjustifiable, lowering the reported inflation rate. Governments are selling inflation indexed securities, and thus have an incentive to report lower than actual inflation rates. They can do so because the reporting institutions are often government subsidiaries. I can imagine inflation "manipulation" is going on at a scale that has far greater consequences than LIBOR gate.
- GFischer 13y ago
  In Uruguay, and I imagine Argentine as well, several social security payments are directly tied to inflation. Salary increases are also inflation-adjusted, which leads to unions calling governments liars, governments calling the unions greedy and liars, etc... Inflation is a serious thing, especially in these countries.
  - iwwr 13y ago
    If the government is fighting to maintain a legally mandated purchasing power, that just guarantees even higher inflation. Either they are willing to suspend the guarantee, or let the currency dissolve in (yet another) hyperinflation.
dualogy 13y ago
Asset bubbles are great for inflation to hide in so it won't show up on your grocery bill. If you're not in the market for whatever is the hot bubble right now, works great ;)
diminish 13y ago
The truth is; many countries (known examples; US, China, India, Turkey, Argentina) , significantly manipulate inflation and jobless stats, by playing with the contents and weight of the baskets used or definitions of job seekers/willingness to work. The economist's spotlight on Argentina is due to the British establishment's dislike of the currently elected Argentinian government and England/Argentina tensions of the past decades.
- wslh 13y ago
  > The economist's spotlight on Argentina is due to the British establishment's dislike of the currently elected Argentinian government and England/Argentina tensions of the past decades. Indeed the current situation in Argentina is very extreme in terms of democracy: people being prosecuted for thinking differently, the government building an explicit criminal association. The conflict with the Falklands is finished and the Argentinisn government uses it as smokescreen.
- seppo0010 13y ago
  The argentinian official CPI is totally messed up, and it's been years with all argentinians knowing that. In the US, the inflation is so close to 0 that the index can be manipulated without rising as much suspicion.

In US from late 90s to mid 2000s the price of housing kept increasing, dollar vs. euro plunged and dollar vs. many commodities dropped as well. But some how there was very low inflation???

coob 13y ago

Interest rates, although falling, were relatively high.

noloqy 13y ago

Inflation rates, also in the western countries, are messed up statistics. Many 'corrections' are taking place that seem pretty much unjustifiable, lowering the reported inflation rate. Governments are selling inflation indexed securities, and thus have an incentive to report lower than actual inflation rates. They can do so because the reporting institutions are often government subsidiaries. I can imagine inflation "manipulation" is going on at a scale that has far greater consequences than LIBOR gate.

GFischer 13y ago
In Uruguay, and I imagine Argentine as well, several social security payments are directly tied to inflation. Salary increases are also inflation-adjusted, which leads to unions calling governments liars, governments calling the unions greedy and liars, etc... Inflation is a serious thing, especially in these countries.
- iwwr 13y ago
  If the government is fighting to maintain a legally mandated purchasing power, that just guarantees even higher inflation. Either they are willing to suspend the guarantee, or let the currency dissolve in (yet another) hyperinflation.

dualogy 13y ago

Asset bubbles are great for inflation to hide in so it won't show up on your grocery bill. If you're not in the market for whatever is the hot bubble right now, works great ;)

diminish 13y ago

The truth is; many countries (known examples; US, China, India, Turkey, Argentina) , significantly manipulate inflation and jobless stats, by playing with the contents and weight of the baskets used or definitions of job seekers/willingness to work. The economist's spotlight on Argentina is due to the British establishment's dislike of the currently elected Argentinian government and England/Argentina tensions of the past decades.

wslh 13y ago
> The economist's spotlight on Argentina is due to the British establishment's dislike of the currently elected Argentinian government and England/Argentina tensions of the past decades. Indeed the current situation in Argentina is very extreme in terms of democracy: people being prosecuted for thinking differently, the government building an explicit criminal association. The conflict with the Falklands is finished and the Argentinisn government uses it as smokescreen.
seppo0010 13y ago
The argentinian official CPI is totally messed up, and it's been years with all argentinians knowing that. In the US, the inflation is so close to 0 that the index can be manipulated without rising as much suspicion.