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No serious economist believes the old wives tale about deflation keeping consumers on the sidelines while they wait to save 1 cent (or yen) on a can of soda nex
by hudibras 12y ago
No serious economist believes the old wives tale about deflation keeping consumers on the sidelines while they wait to save 1 cent (or yen) on a can of soda next year. But it's got "truthiness" so it keeps getting brought up in these HN discussions.
- justincormack 12y agoYeah, economics has become very political and it doesnt help that the subject is pretty poor anyway in terms of evidence. The HN economics discussions are cringeworthy, just people shoving half understood falsehoods around.
- bildung 12y ago> No serious economist believes the old wives tale about deflation keeping consumers on the sidelines while they wait to save 1 cent (or yen) on a can of soda next year. A serious economist is able to differentiate between goods that can (and will) be delayed an a consumable like a can of soda. Cars are an example of a consumer good where consumption observably is affected by deflation.
- nhaehnle 12y agoYes. This whole "deflation makes customers delay their purchases" thing is annoying precisely because there really are much better reasons for worrying about deflation, and serious economists are warning against deflation all the time. It is just for different reasons, mostly having to do with the fact that the economy runs on debt, and deflation kills debtors.