Inflation

[ShadesOfBloo]

You must learn young grasshopper.

This should definitely go in the meme thread, grasshopper.

It certainly complements this one that was posted a while back:

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[shogun32]

Medical cost malfeasance is a whole chapter in of itself and exists in large part because of the govt meddling.

 

[dnstommy]

I think it’s a little silly to blame the consumer for somebody else’s greed when it’s said that the public is to blame for high prices because they pay them. I mean sure, if you don’t like the price of a strut tower brace, you’re not going to die if you don’t buy it (depending on how you drive). But if you don’t like the price of bread what are you gonna do, starve to stick it to ‘em? They can go without you buying bread longer than you can go without bread. With the border being a sieve and all, even if you and your whole family refuse to buy bread there’s another twenty people behind you that think paying $5 a loaf if like paradise. The solution to a collective, large scale problem is rarely an individual one.

If prices are being inflated due to greed, I don’t see a good reason why you can’t prosecute people for that. If the burden of high prices could fall on the consumer, well it could also fall the other way. Would it be a criminal act to deny a thirsty man in the desert your canteen unless he gave you a thousand dollars? I think it would be a crime. I’m sure somebody will say it’s not a crime and somehow the highest form tyranny to say otherwise. Oh and actually, by charging a thousand dollars for a sip, that guy is actually a genius for using his big brain to recognize how he could get rich. You probably think this analogy is silly but it happens a thousand times a day throughout hospitals and veterinarians in this country.

Explain why it should be legal to be a greedy piece of shit? Oh greed is natural or just part of the human condition? So is being a pederast, so you gonna stand up for that too?

“I got mine and f!ck you!” is not a noble thing to say and my visceral reaction to that attitude is the same as if somebody said “check out my 13 year old girlfriend.” Maybe if we all had this reaction then progress could be made, I dunno.

but yeah, prices of everything are getting out of hand. sorry for the rant. I just spent about five grand for a few hours in urgent care so I’m saltier than that IV which was crafted by Gucci himself and I guess they charge by the molecule

I would agree with you, but this situation is very unique. When Covid era stimulus was injected into the economy people went nuts. They bought everything and anything. This is still gong on today in certain sectors. Remember lumber, furniture, etc... There was no shortage of lumber. There was insane demand and we paid it.

A few months ago, ground beef here was $8 a pound. So I stopped buying it, because that price is insane. So now it is back to $4 a pound. I am sure I was not alone in my curtailing of beef purchases during the surge. Now people are pulling back on fast food because the greed from McDonalds drove the big mac to $14. People have stopped going and McD has announced they are reducing prices. We the consumer are in charge of how much stuff costs because we can just stop buying it.

But there is always the things we need and have no alternative for that we get screwed on. "How much are you willing to pay for air, health, shelter and water?"

 

[GTP]

I was born in 1956 and so I have witnessed several decades of changes since WW2.

The old business model used to be "make a better mousetrap and people will buy it". Engineers were the heads of companies, manufacturing was domestic, product quality was high, profit margins were reasonable, companies were smaller and privately owned, and the owner made 10x of the line worker.

I think a fundamental economic change started around 1980. Marketing and advertising really took off. Sales people became company heads. Marketing staff now literally design the products for aesthetics and features, and then think that "dime a dozen" engineers can make it cheap and still work, and finally have it made in China so highest profit margin. Companies merge with or buy their competitors, CEOs make 600x of the employees, and shareholders demand short-term performance at the expense of long-term sustainability.

Now the new business model is "first identify the money source, create an urgent need/want from that pool through marketing, and then come up with a product or service with the highest possible profit margin to fill it." The product that most perfectly proves this is the cell phone.

Even product ownership is slowly falling by the wayside. TV viewing is no longer free, but has become on-demand streaming and charged by the month. Every product "feature" is now subject to become a monthly service fee. Perhaps adaptive cruise, lane-keep assist, remote start, etc., of our cars will be bundled for $50/month. Cars, housing, furnishings, tools: any hard good you can think of may ultimately no longer be owned but leased.

 

[GTP]

The best book I have read in twenty years is Davos Man. It explains A LOT about how our Have/Have-Not's world works, and has shaped my view on many aspects of life. It is my #1 recommended reading to anyone.

 

[shogun32]

The best book I have read in twenty years is Davos Man. It explains A LOT about how our Have/Have-Not's world works

What, no Amazon affiliate link?


Ps remember when it was Barnes or booksamillion, or other chain?

 

[GTP]

What, no Amazon affiliate link?


Ps remember when it was Barnes or booksamillion, or other chain?

Yeah, well guess which was at the top of the search list?
Turns out that Amazon is a villain in that book, so I chose the NPR link since it gives a synopsis of the book.

 

[MAGS1]

Yeah, well guess which was at the top of the search list?
Turns out that Amazon is a villain in that book, so I chose the NPR link since it gives a synopsis of the book.

Amazon, a villain? Nah, would never believe that. They’re just a tiny little book store with a convenient app

 

[GTP]

Amazon, a villain? Nah, would never believe that. They’re just a tiny little book store with a convenient app

The example in the book is where Bezos goes up in his rocket, thanking all the "stakeholders" (modern PC speak for "employees"), and yet would not offer sick leave pay for them.

Apparently his new yacht is so big that it needs a smaller yacht just to get to it!

 

[GTP]

Furthermore, Amazon is another example of "find money source / create product-service" model. Amazon mainly is a convenient one-stop "browser" of 3rd party vendors. So no true value-add there. Their methods to keep those vendors in line are quite clever and yet also cutthroat.

PayPal and Ebay are also good examples. 3% of every PayPal transaction started Musk onto his path to riches, and ~15% cut to eBay makes them very rich too.

 

[MAGS1]

The example in the book is where Bezos goes up in his rocket, thanking all the "stakeholders" (modern PC speak for "employees"), and yet would not offer sick leave pay for them.
Apparently his new yacht is so big that it needs a smaller yacht just to get to it!

He’s living the peasant life since his divorce. The real billionaires take helicopters to their small yachts which then takes them to their mega yachts which then take them to their glitzy aircraft carriers

It’s staggering the lifestyle some of these folks lead. Even if I had the means, I’m not sure I’d even want stuff like that. I’d probably be more like Leno. Give me a warehouse full of cool cars and I’ll just wear denim every day. And I don’t need a ton of cars either, I’d probably just pick a dozen or two of my favorites and call it good. Modesty

 

[Strokerswild]

He’s living the peasant life since his divorce. The real billionaires take helicopters to their small yachts which then takes them to their mega yachts which then take them to their glitzy aircraft carriers

It’s staggering the lifestyle some of these folks lead. Even if I had the means, I’m not sure I’d even want stuff like that. I’d probably be more like Leno. Give me a warehouse full of cool cars and I’ll just wear denim every day. And I don’t need a ton of cars either, I’d probably just pick a dozen or two of my favorites and call it good. Modesty

Funny, a friend and I were just talking about this the other day. Not much would change dramatically from current state if a giant pile of cash fell in my lap. My existing home would just get methodically gutted and upgraded room by room. And I'd buy out a couple of the neighbors and build said unassuming warehouse full of favorite cars on their former couple of acres.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

I am cool with prosecuting the greedy. As long as I am the one who makes the rules.

The same argument has been used by those who want to limit HP in automobiles. Hey, if ya got the dinero to buy 1000HP or build it who in the hell has the right to tell you that you can’t. That is actually envy, not a solution to greed.

Set you bars in life higher. Encourage everyone you come in contact with to success. And never waste a moment being envious of what someone else has. What ever you want you can achieve. Earn it by your own work, not on trying to get a piece of someone else’s.

I yield my time.

 

[Paul McWhiskey]

Funny, a friend and I were just talking about this the other day. Not much would change dramatically from current state if a giant pile of cash fell in my lap. My existing home would just get methodically gutted and upgraded room by room. And I'd buy out a couple of the neighbors and build said unassuming warehouse full of favorite cars on their former couple of acres.

So, not much would change? Ok.

 

[Torched10]

Fair point.

As for charging $3 to use the restroom or cut a line, if we live long enough, we may see that circle back around.

From Milton Friedman noble prize winner fircecomics
Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”

There it's is biden spent 2 trillion over budget
More money chasing supply drives prices up and there's no way to bring them down

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