REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

I'm surprised there's not an inflation thread yet

POSTED BY: 6IXSTRINGJACK
UPDATED: Saturday, March 23, 2024 09:51
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PAGE 9 of 15

Wednesday, November 2, 2022 7:10 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Oil companies post massive profits as consumers feel squeeze from high gas prices

ExxonMobil pulled in nearly $20 billion in profit. Chevron took in more than $11 billion, Shell $9.5 billion, BP over eight billion. And, today, the world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported making $42 billion this quarter.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: Oil companies' record profits today are not because they're doing something new or innovative. Their profits are a windfall of war, the windfall from the brutal conflict that's ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/oil-companies-post-massive-profits-a
s-consumers-feel-squeeze-from-high-gas-prices


Exxon Mobil Corp is $111.91 per share
up by 76.13% so far this year
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/XOM:NYSE?authuser=0&window=YT
D


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, November 2, 2022 10:27 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Oil companies post massive profits as consumers feel squeeze from high gas prices

ExxonMobil pulled in nearly $20 billion in profit. Chevron took in more than $11 billion, Shell $9.5 billion, BP over eight billion. And, today, the world's largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, reported making $42 billion this quarter.

Joe Biden, President of the United States: Oil companies' record profits today are not because they're doing something new or innovative. Their profits are a windfall of war, the windfall from the brutal conflict that's ravaging Ukraine and hurting tens of millions of people around the globe.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/oil-companies-post-massive-profits-a
s-consumers-feel-squeeze-from-high-gas-prices


Exxon Mobil Corp is $111.91 per share
up by 76.13% so far this year
https://www.google.com/finance/quote/XOM:NYSE?authuser=0&window=YT
D


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two





Just remember how Second spent the last two years blaming everyone but Democrats for the economy, going so far as to constantly say that the government and the President himself have no power over prices.

By this time next week he will blame Republicans for the economy for the next two years.

--------------------------------------------------

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Wednesday, November 2, 2022 2:35 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


I looked at my utility bill for last month. Had 2 different rates for Natural Gas.

Natural Gas cost was 0.52130 for 6 of the 30 days, and 1.14020 for 24 of the 30 days.

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Thursday, November 3, 2022 12:09 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
I looked at my utility bill for last month. Had 2 different rates for Natural Gas.

Natural Gas cost was 0.52130 for 6 of the 30 days, and 1.14020 for 24 of the 30 days.



That's actually typical of the natural gas bills. Not the insane prices, but splitting them up based off of how many days into the month your billing cycle is. I assume it's because of monthly contracts. Bills in Indiana and Illinois are split like this too.

You're doing better than my old man in Illinois is. He was 62 cents in September and $1.31 in October.

Here in Indiana I was 24 cents in September and 56 cents in October.

Yeah... I'm much lower than both of you, but 56 cents is FAR more than I've ever paid before and it's only supposed to go up for everyone.

--------------------------------------------------

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus

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Sunday, December 11, 2022 12:04 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


MarketWatch: Household wealth down by $13.5 trillion in 2022, second-worst destruction on record

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/household-wealth-down-by-13-5-trilli
on-in-2022-second-worst-destruction-on-record-11670623787


Archive link to get around paywall: https://archive.vn/UN5nh



Heh... I didn't even notice that gas prices have dropped to around $3.00 per gallon by me until I was out with my friend yesterday. I haven't had my car since October. That'll be nice when I get it back.

Just noticed in the recent weekly flier that the price of lumber finally came down too. It's still not a good price, but $3.48 for a 2x4 stud is a lot better than the $7.50 it was costing last spring/summer, and way better than the $10 or $12 it cost the summer before that. Normally I would buy some to get a little stock built up with the price drop, but this time I don't think it will be going back up because with house prices crashing I doubt all the lumber on hand is going to be used all that much and the prices should drop further.

Besides a few killer sales on tools and small tech items for my collection during Black Friday weekend, the only thing I bought since October was a 4'x4' panel of hard board yesterday. And that panel cost $4 less than it did 2 weeks ago when I last looked at it.


Hopefully for Americans, at least the price of food will start dropping back down to reasonable levels along with the gas and lumber prices. I'm so stocked up on food that I could go another year to buy any more myself, but if I see a dip I'll stock up on more.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Tuesday, December 13, 2022 2:21 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Inflation dropped like a stone in November


https://jabberwocking.com/inflation-dropped-like-a-stone-in-november/

The core inflation figure you'll see in headlines is 6.0%. The core inflation figure if you measure monthly instead of yearly is 2.4%. The core inflation figure if you use better rent figures is -1.2%. Take your pick.
https://jabberwocking.com/whats-up-with-rent-inflation/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 12:26 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Ain't shit that dropped, retard.

It just stopped climbing at a record pace.

Everything is still FAR more expensive than it was under 4 years of Trump.

The only reason that lumber prices dropped (and still higher than they were 2 years ago by 30%) is because the FED had to come in and raise the rates every month to the point where everybody's going to lose tons of equity on their homes (on top of all the money they've lost to inflation and lost in the stock market already) and the home builders aren't building shit when they can't turn a profit since the bank interest will be taking all of those profits.


Democrats poison everything they touch.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 9:05 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Ain't shit that dropped, retard.

It just stopped climbing at a record pace.

Everything is still FAR more expensive than it was under 4 years of Trump.

The only reason that lumber prices dropped (and still higher than they were 2 years ago by 30%) is because the FED had to come in and raise the rates every month to the point where everybody's going to lose tons of equity on their homes (on top of all the money they've lost to inflation and lost in the stock market already) and the home builders aren't building shit when they can't turn a profit since the bank interest will be taking all of those profits.


Democrats poison everything they touch.

My grandfather explained inflation to me. Long ago, I went shopping at the local lumberyard with him. "These use to be a nickel. Now they are fifty cents," he said. Today, when I go to a lumberyard, what use to be fifty cents is now approaching five dollars. My grandpa was wise when he said that I could get rich if I owned a forest and a sawmill because I could keep raising prices on something as simple as pinewood. People would just have to pay the price or do without. That is how inflation works, 6ix. Lumber prices go up and down, but those who want to be rich will, using only commonsense, keep pushing their prices upward whenever they can. It's funny how the middle class never seems to understand that prices are controlled by the rich who got there by NOT willingly lowering prices, except on special occasions. 6ix, your talk about prices and politics and interest rates set by the Fed is nothing compared to the real forces that raise prices.

U.S. Inflation Calculator
Calculate how the buying power of the U.S. dollar has changed over time.
https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 9:39 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


I don't debate inflation with a moron.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 10:13 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
I don't debate inflation with a moron.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Are you one of those guys who thinks that working in a sawmill or hauling logs for LP https://lpcorp.com/ or stacking wood at Home Depot is the way to remain in the middle class? It is not because those industries are either hiring fewer people as the machinery gets better or they simply cut the pay of their employees by keeping the pay the same. Inflation does the actual cutting without the boss telling you that pay will decrease by 7% this year. That is the beautiful part about inflation if you an employer rather than an employee.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 10:19 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


lol

Whatever dude. Get your ass out of the basement and go take out the trash for your mom. Don't make her ask again.

It's a real shame for her that your dad split and isn't around to smack the shit out of your lazy, worthless ass.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 10:37 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Inflation gives employers an excuse to raise their prices without admitting prices will rise no matter what. Because of inflation, they can pretend that they had to. Inflation is also great for lowering employee pay without confronting an angry employee with a deliberate decision by management to cut pay. Inflation is good for employers, but not for employees. Employees cannot understand what employers are doing, which makes life easy for sellers to gouge customers and employees.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 12:55 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


You've said the same wrong thing three times in a row now.

You're an idiot.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Thursday, December 15, 2022 6:24 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


If SECOND knew anything about economics he'd know we have fascism, not capitalism.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake


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Friday, December 16, 2022 10:19 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
If SECOND knew anything about economics he'd know we have fascism, not capitalism.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake


I'm not being a knee-jerk critic, BTW. Under CAPITALISM different producers or service providers have to compete for markets, as well as employees competing for jobs. Under CAPITALISM it's not the case where "they" can charge anything they feel like.

But the essential ingredient of capitalism that's missing from SECOND's view is competition. That means that what SECOND poses as capitalism is, at best, monopolism. But if monopolies and oligopolies/cartels have taken the reins of government and direct policy to their benefit, which they have, then you can arguably say you have fascism.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake


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Friday, December 16, 2022 10:40 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


And who even knows who really owns anything anymore.

Remember when Coca Cola just sold Coca Cola?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_brands

There is no competition out there anymore. Not any real competition.

Pepsi or Coke aren't going to undercut the other because they don't have to and it would only hurt their take when the opposite side did the same. For all I fuckin' know somebody owns both of them. Wouldn't be surprised to hear that if it ever came out.


Capitalism was great. We're way past that now though. I guess you could argue that what we've got now up until one company owns everything (including the world governments) was the natural conclusion to Capitalism all along.

I mean, this IS a Firefly site and that's a main part of the backstory that most people probably forgot or just overlooked in the first place.


All that's left for them to do now is disarm the world population, completely emasculate men and then feminize them, and give handouts to everybody until everyone is completely dependent on the Government teat and unable to wipe their own asses. Then just watch them slowly take everything away from you until everyone but those at the tippy top of the pyramid have 8 billion slaves. Yanno... until they decide to delete everyone with non-essential jobs by getting them to take non-essential jabs or just releasing the solution outright.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, December 17, 2022 10:16 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
If SECOND knew anything about economics he'd know we have fascism, not capitalism.

Will you ever understand that capitalists do NOT run their businesses, in any country, to benefit their customers? (They don't run businesses to create high-paying jobs, either, but that is another story.)

Businesses raise their prices at every opportunity because that is what is best for business, not what is best for customers. That is why some countries have laws against businesses price gouging customers before and after hurricanes.

That is why governments inspect, for example, slaughterhouses. Without inspections, businesses willingly sell diseased, dirty, germy meat, which would never happen if businesses actually cared about what is best for the customer.

Businesses form monopolies and duopolies and oligopolies because that is best for businesses, not what is best for customers. That is why governments in many countries have Antitrust Laws in order to stop this behavior by businesses.
https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitru
st-laws/antitrust-laws


"If SECOND knew anything about economics he'd know we have fascism, not capitalism."

None of the bad business practices, including inflating prices whenever possible, has anything to do with fascism. Cheating the customer, but being very careful to NOT make cheating blatantly obvious to the customer, is a typical business practice in capitalism in all countries. The less-than-obvious cheating is unconnected to fascism. It is just greedy and dishonest business people trying to make more money than they deserve. They will smile, tell you they are being truthful and giving you a good deal, then they cheat you out of a little extra money, raising their prices by 10%. It is inflation in action.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 17, 2022 11:08 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK




--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, December 17, 2022 1:23 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.



Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:
If SECOND knew anything about economics he'd know we have fascism, not capitalism.

SECOND: Will you ever understand that capitalists do NOT run their businesses, in any country, to benefit their customers? (They don't run businesses to create high-paying jobs, either, but that is another story.)



OMFG, YOURE SO STUPID!!!

CLEARLY you haven't taken a single course or read a single book on "capitalism", much less economics.

One critical aspect of capitalism, and "the thing" that makes it palatable to it's proponents and advocates, is the presence of COMPETITION. I posted this before. I even underlined it! But you still somehow managed to miss it!

The theory is that if you have multiple producers and multiple customers and multiple employees, each acting in their own SELF INYEREST, it will reach an ideal equilibrium through the magic of COMPETITION.

Adam Smith's 'Invisible Hand", hello? Clearly you haven't heard/read about it? Even tho you pretend to know about it?

The problem is that "capitalism" is an unstable state. It inevitably evolves to something that is NOT CAPITALISM.

Many books have been written about this evolution. You clearly haven't read them, either.


-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake


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Saturday, December 17, 2022 2:49 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

The problem is that "capitalism" is an unstable state. It inevitably evolves to something that is NOT CAPITALISM.

Many books have been written about this evolution. You clearly haven't read them, either.

Is it because of "something that is NOT CAPITALISM" that the economy does not always run smoothly? (The U.S. economy experienced serious recessions beginning in 1973, 1981, 1990, 2001, and 2007. Actually, the U.S. economy has been having recessions for hundreds of years.) List of 48 recessions in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States

Signym, you might also want to look at A Short History of Prices, Inflation since the Founding of the U.S.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/second-quar
ter-2017/a-short-history-of-prices-inflation-since-founding-of-us


Signym, inflation is not "something that is NOT CAPITALISM". Inflation and Deflation have always been part of capitalism.

Signym, you appreciate the virtues of a market economy and the power of the invisible hand. But the invisible hand isn’t always our friend. The individual pursuit of self-interest can lead to counterproductive behavior. Sometimes the individual pursuit of one’s own interest, instead of promoting the interests of society as a whole, can actually make society worse off. There is even a name for it: Market Failure. Failure is part of capitalism. It is not "something that is NOT CAPITALISM".
https://www.econlib.org/library/Topics/College/marketfailures.html

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Saturday, December 17, 2022 3:45 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


I'm starting to think that we're not actually disagreeing on much on this topic and we're just so used to arguing about everything that the wires are getting crossed.

But seriously... Be careful with those computer desk chairs. I'm kind of terrified about sitting on mine that I bought almost 20 years ago now. I think I'm going to toss it and use one of the camping chairs instead. I like my rectum in one piece without a 3 foot rod and shrapnel shoved up it 100mph while my legs and ass hair catch on fire.

The fake leather has already long since started to peel off of it, and I see no ROI in keeping that thing around anymore when I've got plenty of other chairs to put in a spot where I'm not even regularly sitting down anyhow.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, December 17, 2022 4:55 PM

SIGNYM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.


Quote:

SIGNYM:
The problem is that "capitalism" is an unstable state. It inevitably evolves to something that is NOT CAPITALISM.
Many books have been written about this evolution. You clearly haven't read them, either.

SECOND: Is it because of "something that is NOT CAPITALISM" that the economy does not always run smoothly? (The U.S. economy experienced serious recessions beginning in 1973, 1981, 1990, 2001, and 2007. Actually, the U.S. economy has been having recessions for hundreds of years.) List of 48 recessions in the United States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States

Signym, you might also want to look at A Short History of Prices, Inflation since the Founding of the U.S.
https://www.stlouisfed.org/publications/regional-economist/second-quar
ter-2017/a-short-history-of-prices-inflation-since-founding-of-us


Signym, inflation is not "something that is NOT CAPITALISM". Inflation and Deflation have always been part of capitalism.



You keep referencing books and articles that you haven't even read, and concepts you don't understand.

Inflation is "Too much money chasing too few goods".

If there are "too few goods" .... not enough bread, or eggs, or toilet paper... what you have is a shortage. In worse case, a famine.

But once "money" comes into the picture, and it can be debased at will (including through coin clipping, counterfeiting, debt creation and fiat/electronic currency) inflation becomes a possibility. There was inflation in Imperial Rome. There was inflation in the Spanish empire, thanks to their habit of stealing gold from the New World to increase their coffers, but not investing to increase production. There was inflation in monarchical England ( https://britanniacoincompany.com/blog/coin-clipping-the-great-recoinag
e-of-1696
/) and France.


Quote:

SECOND: Signym, you appreciate the virtues of a market economy and the power of the invisible hand.

No I appreciate the value of the Invisible Hand as a rationalization for unbridled greed.

BTW, "inflation" and "recession" are NOT opposites of each other. More concepts that you don't understand.

-----------
Pity would be no more,
If we did not MAKE someone poor - William Blake


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Monday, December 19, 2022 6:56 AM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by SIGNYM:

Inflation is "Too much money chasing too few goods".

You latched onto explanations as if you are talking about laws of physics when most of economics is the psychology of humans. It is as if you have never seen panicky people desperately outbidding one another for some commodity or, on the flip side, panicky people canceling orders because they suddenly feel poor. Probably you cannot see that economics is not at all like physics because you are that panicky person, not the stone-cold person watching your fearful behavior while they are testing to measure the highest price you will pay for a commodity. The testing consists of raising prices and measuring how much is sold.

Signym, you would probably understand inflation better if you watch the price of natural gas skyrocket all over the world because the EU was fearful of what Russia was going to do. Here is a simpler commodity that doesn't fluctuate in price minute by minute. The prices only change at monthly intervals.

Inflation in action! The F-150 Lightning sells faster and faster as the price rises higher and higher, which means there will be even more price increases in the future until Ford discovers the highest price its customers will tolerate. If Ford gets too greedy, or customers start feeling fearful because the interest rate on their bank auto loan is too high, sales will collapse. When that happens, Ford offers price discounts and/or low-interest rate loans from Ford Credit.

The Ford F-150 Lightning Pro electric pickup truck is now 40% more expensive than it was when Ford officially started taking orders for it in January 2022. The vehicle went from $40,000 at launch to $47,000 in August and then $52,000 in October. The base Pro model is now $55,974.

Why can Ford keep raising prices? Because the F-150 Lightning price hikes don't seem to be deterring customers. Sales have increased throughout the year as more and more customers receive their pre-orders and rave reviews roll in, including a PCMag Editors' Choice award. Ford recently added a third shift at its Michigan plant in a bid to increase production capacity significantly next year, CNBC reports.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/ford-raises-price-on-f-150-lightning-ev-pic
kup-truck-for-third-time-in


Ford had originally planned to build about 40,000 Lightnings per year, in a new facility adjacent to its longtime pickup factory in Dearborn. But it decided to expand the factory to boost production after early demand for the electric truck exceeded its expectations. Ford is expanding the newly built facility to hit a top capacity of 150,000 units by next fall. The third shift was added in November, bumping up the electric truck plant’s employment from 500 to roughly 750 people. (That is less than 10 manhours of work per truck)

The plant is now running three rotating crews of workers on 10-hour shifts seven days a week, maintaining a high level of production even as construction workers scramble to complete an expansion of the facility.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/13/ford-moves-to-boost-production-of-elec
tric-f-150-lightning-pickup-truck.html


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Monday, December 19, 2022 8:18 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


I'm going to be laughing at all of you regretting that Lightning purchase.

Have fun loading up that bed that wasn't meant to carry anything.



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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, December 23, 2022 9:07 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by JEWELSTAITEFAN:
I looked at my utility bill for last month. Had 2 different rates for Natural Gas.

Natural Gas cost was 0.52130 for 6 of the 30 days, and 1.14020 for 24 of the 30 days.



That's actually typical of the natural gas bills. Not the insane prices, but splitting them up based off of how many days into the month your billing cycle is. I assume it's because of monthly contracts. Bills in Indiana and Illinois are split like this too.

You're doing better than my old man in Illinois is. He was 62 cents in September and $1.31 in October.

Here in Indiana I was 24 cents in September and 56 cents in October.

Yeah... I'm much lower than both of you, but 56 cents is FAR more than I've ever paid before and it's only supposed to go up for everyone.

--------------------------------------------------

Falsus in unum, falsus in omnibus




We creeped up over 62 cents for December. If memory serves it was 64 cents.

This cold snap isn't going to help either, but I'm sure that I'll be WAY below the "efficient" neighbors when I get my energy report next month.

I just got mine for October/November and I was 28% less than the efficient neighbors. Now, with a huge swing down in temps and me keeping it as low as possible without worrying about pipes freezing it might actually end up being as much as 40% less than the ENs... Which is something I didn't think would be possible before.

58 degrees is what it's been set at all day while I could monitor it, down from the 60 I turned it to last night before I went to sleep. By tomorrow afternoon when we're solidly back in positive temps it will go back to 56 degrees.




I had it up to 60 most of last month when it wasn't super cold, and that got me the 28% less than stat. But after my monthly bill was $11 higher than the same month last year and that it means that I've now paid them $4 more than last year, down to 56 it will stay as long as there is no pipe freezing to worry about.

They will not win.



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Friday, December 23, 2022 10:50 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


CNN: It’s freezing. Cranking up the heat is going to cost you

https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/22/business/heating-expenses-winter-storm

Quote:

The average cost of home heating is projected to jump increase by 17.2% from last winter to $1,208, according to a November report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

The cost to heat homes is expected to be 35.7% higher this winter than the 2020-2021 winter, the report said.

More than 100 million people across the United States are under winter weather and wind chill alerts. The National Weather Service is describing it as a “once-in-a-generation type event.”

The spike comes as prices for natural gas – the most popular way to heat homes in America – have surged. Electricity prices have also climbed sharply.



Not me. I'm only down $4 so far this winter over last year, and the nice warm temps next week are going to make up for the cold snap this week.


NYP: The pain isn’t goin’ away: Inflation cost households an extra $10K

https://nypost.com/2022/12/22/the-pain-isnt-goin-away-inflation-cost-h
ouseholds-an-extra-10k
/

Quote:

$10K household woe

Finally, even normalizing the inflation rate does not cancel the price hikes of the past two years. Since President Biden took office, the cumulative 13.8% inflation is roughly 10% higher than the baseline rate. This has cost the typical household approximately $10,000 over two years.

Those household costs will continue rising even if the inflation rate normalizes. That is because this recent extra 10% inflation will remain embedded in prices moving forward. Inflation rates may return to 2% or 3%, but they will be applied to a permanently elevated price level. And with wage growth notably slower than price growth over the past two years — producing the steepest decline in real wages in decades — most families will remain behind.

In the meantime, families are heading into a holiday season with one-year price surges of 10.6% for food, 13.1% for energy (including gasoline) and 14.2% for transportation services. The new inflation report is welcome news, but it’s a small battle in a painful, extended war.



Not me. All of my expenses are done for the year and I'm only up about $1k from last year. More than half of that was car repairs I didn't have last year. Last year wasn't any more expensive than the previous year since I made other cuts to offset the higher gas prices.





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Saturday, December 24, 2022 10:37 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Thermostat safely back down to 56 with no worries of pipes freezing anymore.

A toasty 4 degrees positive outside with a high of 11 on the way today. Wind Chill will drop to -11 at the warmest point, which will more or less be repeated on Christmas day, giving way to a high in the low to mid 20's on Monday, 30's on Tuesday, and then about a week of highs in the high 40's and 50's.

I plan to drop the thermostat back down to 53 once it's in the 40s/50s again to make up for the excess during this cold snap.



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Tuesday, December 27, 2022 3:13 PM

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Back in 1965, $1 million would buy you almost 50 median-priced houses at $20,200 each.

Today you can buy two at $454,900 each if you're lucky enough to live in a median place.

Put a different way, for a 1965 millionaire an average house would amount to only a paltry 2% of his assets. For today's sham millionaires it's half their total wealth.



https://jabberwocking.com/whats-it-like-to-have-1-million-dr-evil/

Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States (MSPUS)
Observation: Q3 2022: $454,900



https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=Ybyr

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Tuesday, December 27, 2022 3:19 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


OK, Apologist.

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Tuesday, December 27, 2022 5:05 PM

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Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
OK, Apologist.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

Inflation in the bigger world works the same as inflation of a single house's price. The seller will mow the lawn, edge the weeds taking over the driveway and flower beds, replace some rotten wood and slap a coat of paint on everything then ask 100% or 200% more than the seller paid. Some gullible buyer then pays the inflated price. That is how houses went from a median price of $20,000 in 1965 to $450,000 in the 3rd quarter of 2022. That is also how millions of different items' prices inflated by 100% since the last time you bought one. Sellers raise prices not because they must but because buyers will find a way to either pay or do without, to the everlasting benefit of sellers who control the transactions. It's always better to be a seller than a buyer because sellers have more control. Sadly, most people have nothing to sell for years, until they sell that house at a hugely inflated price and get a single taste of what it is like for the top 1% every working day of the year.

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, December 27, 2022 5:57 PM

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Approximation





https://jabberwocking.com/news-you-can-use-how-to-handle-numbers-like-
a-true-nerd
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Tuesday, December 27, 2022 6:36 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


No shit. I don't need a history on inflation by you dude. Even Ted knows what inflation is.

But Biden* fucked everything up.




And no. It's not good to be a seller right now.

Guys like me get to come in and buy everything of yours for nothing when you're panic selling or just selling whatever isn't bolted in place just to pay the rent.


You have a kindergartner's view of economics.



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Thursday, December 29, 2022 6:07 AM

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The Fed’s future is barreling toward us

Author Kevin Drum, Published on December 28, 2022 – 4:37 pm

If you don't believe me, perhaps you'll believe the brilliant Cal economist Brad DeLong:

Remember: NONE of the interest-rate increases the Fed has undertaken since its lift-off from zero (see the graph, below) have yet had time to affect the real economy of demand, production, and employment. And NONE of the interest-rate increases the Fed has undertaken since its lift-off from zero will begin to have effects on inflation for at least another six months. The inflation trajectory is, so far, what it would have been had the Fed stayed at zero up to this moment. That means that there is, now, an awful lot of monetary contraction in the pipeline.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=YdFl


The thing to keep firmly in mind at all times is that we've been living in an artificial world since the start of the pandemic. Nothing is happening because of organic defects or strengths in the underlying economy, but because of either the pandemic itself or our response to it.

The Fed, however, can't bring itself to believe this. They continue to live in a world where inflation is a sign of deep economic cancer that has to be ruthlessly hacked away before it metastasizes—and damn the consequences. They simply can't abide the notion that the best response in our current situation was always to do nothing until the pandemic economy went away on its own.

So instead they did something. They made things worse. Huzzah. Poor people across the country are going to pay the price for this by next summer.

https://jabberwocking.com/the-feds-future-is-barreling-toward-us/


https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=YdFQ


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, December 29, 2022 8:49 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Just keep in mind that even your boy Krugman is backing out of the debate.

https://dnyuz.com/2022/12/26/is-the-inflation-storm-letting-up/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/26/opinion/is-the-inflation-storm-lett
ing-up.html?searchResultPosition=2


Not only did he admit his own shortcomings in this article here:

Quote:

What explains falling inflation? It now looks as if much, although not all, of the big inflation surge reflected one-time events associated with the pandemic and its aftermath — which was what Team Transitory (including me) claimed all along, except that transitory effects were both bigger and longer lasting than any of us imagined.


... but he then stated the following:

Quote:

So why shouldn’t we be celebrating? You can pick over the entrails of the inflation numbers looking for bad omens, but I’m ever less convinced that anybody, myself included, understands inflation well enough to do this in a useful way. Basically, as you exclude more and more items from your measure in search of “underlying” inflation, what you’re left with becomes increasingly strange and unreliable.


Credit where credit is due... Paul is actually shouldering some responsibility for getting everyone into this mess now. (Which by no coincidence has landed him in the "Opinion" doghouse at NYT).

I do have a lot of respect for somebody who can admit they were wrong... Particularly about something this impactful to so many people. I also have a lot of respect for people who can admit that they just don't know.


Taking off the smarmy-know-it-all-cunt mask is a good look for you, Paul. Let's see how long this lasts.



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Wednesday, January 4, 2023 6:51 AM

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Are rising prices about monetary policy or about firms’ economic power to set their prices? Yes to both.

Opinion | The Football Game Theory of Inflation by Paul Krugman

If you don’t think of economists as party animals, you’re right. Or at least that’s the conclusion one might draw from the fact that several prominent economists carried on a thoughtful, earnest online debate about inflation over the past weekend — that is, on New Year’s Eve and the day after, when I thought we were supposed to be drinking champagne and then nursing hangovers.

But it really was a good discussion — the kind of thing I was looking for all those years ago when I chose economics as a profession, relatively free of politicization and nastiness. That is not to say that it was without political implications.

The discussion was kicked off by Olivier Blanchard, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund (a towering figure in the profession, who happens to be one of the economists who has gotten recent inflation more or less right).

He started off by making a point that he said is “often lost in discussions of inflation and central bank policy.” He went on: “Inflation is fundamentally the outcome of the distributional conflict, between firms, workers and taxpayers. It stops only when the various players are forced to accept the outcome.”
https://twitter.com/ojblanchard1/status/1608967176232525824

Although Blanchard is nobody’s idea of a leftist, he nonetheless got immediate pushback from economists who insisted that inflation is always the result of excessive demand, of too much money chasing too few goods or, what is roughly the same thing, the consequence of an excessively hot economy.
https://twitter.com/JohnHCochrane/status/1608999009364119554
https://uneasymoney.com/2023/01/01/you-say-potato-i-say-potahto-you-sa
y-tomato-i-say-tomahto-you-say-distribution-i-say-expectation
/

Others rose to Blanchard’s defense, notably M.I.T.’s Ivan Werning, who has been doing research on wage-price spirals. Jared Bernstein, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, also weighed in, praising Blanchard for bringing the role of economic power into the inflation discussion.
https://twitter.com/IvanWerning/status/1609272215647698944
https://twitter.com/econjared46/status/1609602823091617795

So what was all this about? To some extent it involved people talking past each other, emphasizing different aspects of the same story. But there are also some real policy issues that, as Blanchard suggested, tend to get lost when we think of inflation merely as a question for the Federal Reserve and its counterparts abroad.

At one level, of course Blanchard is right. Companies that charge higher prices and workers who demand higher wages aren’t doing so because the money supply has increased; they’re trying to increase their incomes (or offset declines in their incomes caused by, say, rising energy prices). And inflation happens when the attempts of firms and workers to claim a bigger share of the economic pie are inconsistent, when the additional purchasing power being demanded exceeds what the economy can deliver.

Reading the discussion, I found myself remembering a remark made way back in the 1970s by William Nordhaus, another eminent economist (and Nobel laureate) who happens to have been my first mentor in the field. Nordhaus compared inflation to what happens in a football stadium when the action on the field is especially exciting. (If you don’t find American football exciting, think of it as a soccer match.) Everyone stands up to get a better view, but this is collectively self-defeating — your view doesn’t improve because the people in front of you are also standing, and you’re less comfortable besides.

Now, what people who claim that inflation is caused by a hot economy are saying is, in effect, that while the immediate source of stadium discomfort is that people are trying to get a better view of the action at others’ expense, the root cause of the problem is that the game has gotten too exciting. Companies would always like to raise prices and workers would always like to negotiate higher wages, but they only go for it when sales are high and jobs are abundant. Cool things down: Make the game less interesting — that is, push the economy into a slowdown or even a recession — and people will return to their seats — that is, inflation will slow.

And that is, in fact, basically the policy major economies are pursuing to control inflation. The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are raising interest rates in a deliberate effort to slow their economies and risk recession, precisely to persuade companies that they no longer have “pricing power” and persuade workers that they can’t demand such big wage increases.

But is that really the best we can do? We want football games to be exciting; must they remain boring to keep spectators in their seats? Correspondingly, there are many good aspects to a hot economy — among other things, tight labor markets seem to be leading to a welcome fall in wage inequality, which had been rising for many years. Must we forsake these gains to control inflation?

Back in the 1970s, there was widespread talk of “incomes policy” — some combination of incentives and moral suasion that might reconcile low inflation with a hot economy. Such talk faded away partly, I think, because of a bad experience with Richard Nixon’s price controls, and partly because of a general loss of faith in government competence.

But there have been some historical examples of successful incomes policy. Notably, in 1985 Israel cured high inflation without a severe recession, in part by imposing temporary wage and price controls.

Realistically, nothing like that is going to happen in major economies in the foreseeable future. But is it really foolish to imagine that we can make the fight against inflation somewhat less painful by looking for tools that go beyond just raising interest rates until businesses and workers have learned their limits?

President Biden has been given considerable grief for jawboning corporations that he accuses of taking advantage of inflation to engage in profiteering. European nations have been criticized for trying to contain energy bills with price controls. We can debate the specifics of these policies, but are they wrong in principle?

The answer I took from this weekend’s discussion is no. And it’s definitely encouraging to see prominent economists willing to reconsider the policy orthodoxy of the moment.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/03/opinion/inflation-economy.html

The tweet on inflation that got the discussion going:

1/8. A point which is often lost in discussions of inflation and central bank policy. Inflation is fundamentally the outcome of the distributional conflict, between firms, workers, and taxpayers. It stops only when the various players are forced to accept the outcome.

2/8. The source of the conflict may be too hot an economy: In the labor market, workers may be in a stronger position to bargain for higher wages given prices. But, in the goods market, firms may also be in a stronger position to increase prices given wages. And, on, it goes.

3/8. The source of the conflict may be in too high prices of commodities, such as energy. Firms want to increase prices given wages, to reflect the higher cost of intermediate inputs. Workers want to resist the decrease in the real wage, and ask for higher wages. And on it goes.

4/8. The state can play various roles. Through fiscal policy, it can slow down the economy and eliminate the overheating. It can subsidize the cost of energy, limiting the decrease in the real wage and the pressure on nominal wages.

5/8. It can finance the subsidies by increasing taxes on some current taxpayers, say exceptional profit taxes, or through deficits and eventual taxes on future taxpayers (who have little say in the process...)

6/8. But, in the end, forcing the players to accept the outcome, and thus stabilizing inflation, is typically left to the central bank. By slowing down the economy, it can force firms to accept lower prices given wages, and workers to accept lower wages given prices.

7/8. It is a highly inefficient way to deal with distributional conflicts. One can/should dream of a negotiation between workers, firms, and the state, in which the outcome is achieved without triggering inflation and requiring a painful slowdown.

8/8. But, unfortunately, this requires more trust than can be hoped for and just does not happen. Still, this way of thinking inflation shows what the problem is, and how to think of the least painful solution.

5:24 PM · Dec 30, 2022
https://twitter.com/ojblanchard1/status/1608967176232525824

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Wednesday, January 4, 2023 12:23 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Write as many paragraphs as you'd like. None of this happened while Trump was President.

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Wednesday, January 4, 2023 4:27 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


LOL... Wow! Talk about a reach!


https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/three-pieces-of-good-economic-
news-for-the-new-year/ar-AA15Xlj5


Looks like this Annie Lowrey broad is propagandizing as hard as she possibly can.




P.S. Annie. Gas prices near me have increased $.50 per gallon in the last week.

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 7:16 AM

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Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Write as many paragraphs as you'd like. None of this happened while Trump was President.

Do you really believe Trump had control over the economy rather than the Richest Americans in charge of Corporations? The Richest 1% (and especially the Richest 0.1%) run the economy, not the President. And it is Congress, State Legislatures, Counties, and Cities, not the President, who decide how the 46% of GDP is spent by the different levels of governments.

List of countries by government spending as percentage of GDP
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_spending
_as_percentage_of_GDP


The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 7:17 AM

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Inflation is hydraulic, not something you change by clapping your hands
Author Kevin Drum Published on January 4, 2023 – 9:08 pm

The New York Times reports that the Fed is still worried about inflation:

Federal Reserve officials worried that inflation could remain uncomfortably fast, minutes from their December meeting showed, and some policymakers fretted that financial markets might incorrectly interpret their decision to raise interest rates more slowly as a sign that they were giving up the fight against America’s rapid price gains.

I get it. I'm not an economist, and it's easy to heckle from the cheap seats. If I were sitting on the Fed board I might feel more nervous about things.

But the Fed seems to have fallen completely into the rabbit hole of forward expectations. That is, they believe the Fed needs to credibly signal what it's going to do so that financial markets will respond "correctly."

There are some cases where this makes sense, mostly when you're dealing with a recession or a crash. If markets know that the Fed is committed to being a liquidity backstop, they will panic less and be less likely to produce a doom spiral.

But I just don't get the whole "forward expectations" school of thought when it comes to inflation. How are the markets going to respond? Will companies decide not to raise prices? Will workers decide not to ask for higher wages? I've never seen any credible evidence of this outside of hyperinflation episodes.

Rather, I continue to believe that inflation is fundamentally hydraulic. It goes up and down based on underlying movements of the economy, and that's it. These fundamentals might or might not include money supply, interest rates, tightness of labor markets, oil prices, endogenous variables, and so forth, all lagged by various amounts (oil hits inflation quickly, interest rates take a year or so). The Fed controls some of these, but (a) has only a modest impact and (b) has to be aware of lags.

In any case, I have no reason to think that expectations are on this list. Hell, Japan has been trying to raise inflation for years with no luck. And serious economists have taken to saying that nobody understands inflation. If that's the case, then why are so many people enthused about expectations, which strikes me as akin to clapping your hands or wearing a WIN (Whip Inflation Now) button? It just doesn't work.

But I'm open to argument on this. What's the best shortish piece around on the impact of expectations on inflation?

https://jabberwocking.com/inflation-is-hydraulic-not-something-you-cha
nge-by-clapping-your-hands
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 9:17 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Write as many paragraphs as you'd like. None of this happened while Trump was President.

Do you really believe Trump had control over the economy rather than the Richest Americans in charge of Corporations? The Richest 1% (and especially the Richest 0.1%) run the economy, not the President. And it is Congress, State Legislatures, Counties, and Cities, not the President, who decide how the 46% of GDP is spent by the different levels of governments.



Did I say that?

No.

All I said is that it is Objective FACT that none of this happened while Trump was President.

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 9:17 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Well Kevin... maybe if your President* and his administration wasn't so busy lying about inflation for a full year and have his Leftoid Media (such as yourself) running that narrative when everybody knew it was bad, they could have been addressing it before it became a big problem instead.

Quote:


Rather, I continue to believe that inflation is fundamentally hydraulic. It goes up and down based on underlying movements of the economy, and that's it. These fundamentals might or might not include money supply, interest rates, tightness of labor markets, oil prices, endogenous variables, and so forth, all lagged by various amounts (oil hits inflation quickly, interest rates take a year or so). The Fed controls some of these, but (a) has only a modest impact and (b) has to be aware of lags.

In any case, I have no reason to think that expectations are on this list. Hell, Japan has been trying to raise inflation for years with no luck. And serious economists have taken to saying that nobody understands inflation. If that's the case, then why are so many people enthused about expectations, which strikes me as akin to clapping your hands or wearing a WIN ( W hip I nflation N ow) button? It just doesn't work.



Well that's nothing but two paragraphs of apologism. Nothing you've written on the economy would sound anything like what you've written if Trump were in office still right now instead of Biden*.

At least Paul Krugman comes out and basically apologies when he says that he doesn't know what's going on anymore. You just say that it's The Economists that admit they don't know what's going on anymore, but you still seem to think that you have it all figured out.

Quote:

I get it. I'm not an economist


No. You're not. But that doesn't stop shitrag Jabberwokeing from letting you write pages and pages about it and collect all the graphs that Second copies and pastes here.

Or posting weird shit there like this for their readers to see:

https://jabberwocking.com/a-very-special-weekend-lunchtime-photo/


"Self portrait, 2022." After seeing this, you can't unsee it.

Indeed, Kevin. Indeed.

And I'm sure JabberWokeing and its readership thought it was such a stunning and brave photograph for you to put out there for the world to see, while telling you that you shouldn't lose any weight and you are perfect just the way you are.

You are a walking comorbidity.

Congratulations though on the recent news on your pre-Covid Leukemia. That does sound promising.

Make sure they're checking on your heart after all of those boosters. Look out for blood clots too.



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Thursday, January 5, 2023 12:42 PM

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Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

All I said is that it is Objective FACT that none of this happened while Trump was President.

Also a fact is that Trump had no control of prices or anything other than his mouth while he was President.

In the fact based world: Of the 172 countries analyzed by Investment Monitor, 74 had inflation rates in excess of 10%. The US wasn't one of them. Argentina and Turkey are the only G20 countries in the top ten highest inflation ranks globally. Russia, the country with the third-highest inflation in the G20, ranks 54th globally. Obviously, the people setting prices in Russia, Turkey, and Argentina are too aggressive at price increases for their countries' own good, but the people who set the prices are doing fine which is why they will keep raising prices until something or someone stops them.

https://www.investmentmonitor.ai/insights/which-countries-have-the-hig
hest-level-of-inflation
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 3:24 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

All I said is that it is Objective FACT that none of this happened while Trump was President.

Also a fact is that Trump had no control of prices or anything other than his mouth while he was President.



That's not the point. You're arguing that companies have complete control over prices and can do this whenever they want to and that American policy such as killing the Keystone Pipeline, doubling the trillions per year added to the US Debt, and the entire myriad of market and economic meddling done under the current administration doesn't effect prices at all.

I'm arguing that for two years under Biden* that the prices of everything have raised at insane rates that more than half of Americans alive today never saw in their lives, and under four years of Trump they didn't.

You have no argument.



--------------------------------------------------

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 6:00 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

. . . doubling the trillions per year added to the US Debt . . .

Try explaining this away, 6ix:

Donald Trump
National debt contribution $8.2 trillion
Percentage increase 40.43%
https://www.sounddollar.com/national-debt-by-president

Candidate Trump decried the national debt in 2016 and promised to eliminate it. It's only gotten bigger.
https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/politics/elections/2020/10/27/d
onald-trump-has-failed-keep-campaign-pledge-erase-national-debt/3682405001
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Thursday, January 5, 2023 8:16 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

. . . doubling the trillions per year added to the US Debt . . .

Try explaining this away, 6ix:

Donald Trump
National debt contribution $8.2 trillion
Percentage increase 40.43%



Sure.

(Numbers below are end of year)

2016 $19,573,000,000,000 - What Obama left Trump with (After adding 7.633 TRILLION)
2017 $20,245,000,000,000 - $672 BILLION increase in 2017.
2018 $21,516,000,000,000 - $1.271 TRILLION increase in 2018.
(Democrats assume control of Senate and House in 2019)
2019 $22,719,000,000,000 - $1.203 TRILLION increase in 2019.
2020 $27,748,000,000,000 - $5.029 TRILLION COVID-19 and 2020 recession

$2.3 TRILLION spent on CARES act on March 27th 2020.
$484 BILLION spent on "Phase 3.5" on April 4th, 2020.
$900 BILLION spent on CAA stimulus and relief bill on December 27th 2020.

So... $3.684 TRILLION spent on COVID stimulus in those three bills alone, otherwise 2020 would have been $1.345 TRILLION (Although I'm sure there was more covid related spending to account for if I felt like digging further).


So cut your number in about half and that's what he really spent until Democrats destroyed the country over a virus that doesn't kill anyone.



Meanwhile, your dumb bitch President* has already spent $4,776 TRILLION in two years.








Anyhow, that's not part of our argument. So get back on topic.


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Quote:

Originally posted by second:
Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:

All I said is that it is Objective FACT that none of this happened while Trump was President.

Also a fact is that Trump had no control of prices or anything other than his mouth while he was President.



That's not the point. You're arguing that companies have complete control over prices and can do this whenever they want to and that American policy such as killing the Keystone Pipeline, doubling the trillions per year added to the US Debt, and the entire myriad of market and economic meddling done under the current administration doesn't effect prices at all.

I'm arguing that for two years under Biden* that the prices of everything have raised at insane rates that more than half of Americans alive today never saw in their lives, and under four years of Trump they didn't.

You have no argument.






Reply to this, or don't bother replying.

--------------------------------------------------

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Friday, January 6, 2023 10:03 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


I'm going to consider that argument dead now, Second. Feel free to post some dumb shit about it when the need arises and I'll crush it right back into the ground where it belongs.



Meanwhile, in... reality?

CNN: Cardi B’s NSFW advice on inflation

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/05/economy/cardi-b-complains-inflation

It appears that Cardi B is not on board with inflation.

Quote:

She said she noticed the skyrocketing prices from a “summary” of money spent in her home every week, prompting her to ask “what the f**k is going on?” So, she said she had to see with her own eyes, and went to a grocery store to see the prices for herself.

“Lettuce was like $2 a couple of months ago, and now it’s like f**king $7,” Cardi B said in the minute-long video. “Of course I’m going to say something: The f**k?!”

“I think that sh*t is crazy,” she added, sympathizing with “middle-class people or people in the hood” about the increase in grocery prices.




REENACTMENT:




Quote:

Cardi B used her platform, consisting of nearly 30 million followers on Twitter, to ask the higher-ups to “put that sh*t the f**k down.” She added that if those responsible for the high prices were to see her post, they might “put it down.”

...

When a Cardi B fan asked if the video will decrease prices, the rapper said: “Not necessarily cause of me, but if we bring enough awareness to inflation you never know.”



Yanno... I wanted to make a joke about how "awareness" of inflation was just the silver bullet we needed to put it down, as if 90% of the people in this country aren't already fully fucking aware that inflation is lowering everybody's quality of life right now... But she's not wrong.

We've been lied to for 1 1/2 years by Democrats, Media and Economists that inflation wasn't a problem. It's only just in the last few weeks that any of them are admitting that they were wrong. They're not admitting that they STRAIGHT UP LIED to everyone, and they're surely not admitting that THEY CAUSED IT, but at least they're pretending now that they just became aware of the problem and that it does indeed exist.

I guess my only problem with Cardi B. trying to spread awareness about the issue is the timing. She could have been pushing this in the spotlight with her platform back when we were all still being lied to, but she only now comes out and says anything about it after the Democrats, Media and Economists admit that it is a problem.


Quote:

Her advice during these times? Budgeting, because if you don’t, you’re “going to go broke soon.”


That's not bad advice either. But for most people being trounced by inflation right now it's just too little too late as well. If you were already living paycheck to paycheck before Biden* was sworn into office, you're not going to be able to do much more right now than possibly keep the lights on and food on the table while paying the higher rent. And anybody who still has a roof over their head that also follows Cardi B. on Twitter has already figured out this necessity the hard way long before she tweeted about it.

Budgeting is ALWAYS what you should be doing, because if you don't, you're going to go broke eventually.

--------------------------------------------------

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Friday, January 6, 2023 10:15 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
Budgeting is ALWAYS what you should be doing, because if you don't, you're going to go broke eventually.



Remember when Disney actually taught you life lessons worth learning?



I'm glad somebody finally uploaded this video to YT.

I guess it's been up their for 4 years now, so it must have been a while since I wanted to post it here, but I know I'd looked for it many times over the years to bring it into one of my threads. Back when I was a kid, my brothers and I would record as many Disney shows as we could when Disney offered a free week (usually during Spring Break), and we'd watch those quite a bit over the years. This episode, along with the one where Donald Duck signs up for the Army were the two that still stick into my head to this day.

You should always have at least $5 or $6k in the bank, not to be touched for shit you don't need, ready and waiting for an emergency.

Once you've got that, you can lower your savings rate but make 1/2 of your yearly salary the next goal. And when you get there, if you're not already trained, save a little bit less and make 1 year salary the next goal. By then, saving money every week shouldn't even be a chore, but a habit. And watching that number slowly increase over the years is actually a gratifying experience... Arguably giving you as much pleasure as that new shiny hunk of metal and plastic you don't need would have given you.

It doesn't happen overnight, and for most people in the current economy it's just completely out of reach, but take these necessary budget cuts and new spending behaviors you're learning in the bad times with you into the good times and the next time our Government fucks everything up, it won't be killing you with the stress. It will just be irritating for you, knowing that the money you managed to save up is not going to buy as much as it did when you saved it, is all.

--------------------------------------------------

Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Friday, January 6, 2023 1:21 PM

SECOND

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/folder/1uwh75oa407q8/Firefly


Natural gas prices skyrocketed this month in Southern California



•Kevin Drum / January 06, 2023 at 10:24AM

Our local gas company is alerting us in advance that January is going to be rough:

The warning Southern California Gas Co. issued to its customers was unusually blunt: “There’s no easy way to put this,” the company said. “January bills are likely to be shockingly high.” Anyone who heats their home with natural gas is likely to see a January bill that is more than double what they paid a year earlier, SoCalGas said.

It's funny, though. Natural gas prices for the rest of the US did NOT spike recently.

So what's the deal?

SoCalGas and other utilities have attributed the sudden and dramatic surge in prices to unusually cold winter weather in California and the Pacific Northwest, which boosted demand for heat, as well as supply and distribution constraints.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration pointed to reduced capacity because of pipeline maintenance in West Texas that lowered westbound natural gas flows. The EIA reported that Pacific region natural gas storage inventories in December were 30% below the five-year average.

I dunno. It might be chilly out here, and Texas might have some pipeline problems, but over the course of two months we've gone from the same price as everyone else to 7x the national price? That seems to call for a little more detailed explanation, especially in a state that went through the whole Enron fiasco 20 years ago and is still pretty suspicious about these things.

https://jabberwocking.com/natural-gas-prices-skyrocketed-this-month-in
-southern-california
/

The Joss Whedon script for Serenity, where Wash lives, is Serenity-190pages.pdf at https://www.mediafire.com/two

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Friday, January 6, 2023 3:31 PM

6IXSTRINGJACK


It's probably what happened to EVs.

Biden* announces $7,500 rebates on EVs and GM and Ford immediately raise their average price for EVs by $7,500.

Isn't California paying out a stimulus bill to combat inflation on heating costs and gas now?


At least it's not cold in So. Cal. and the people shouldn't be damaged any more than everybody in the country who needs heat to live.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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Saturday, January 7, 2023 2:05 AM

6IXSTRINGJACK


Quote:

Originally posted by 6IXSTRINGJACK:
It's probably what happened to EVs.

Biden* announces $7,500 rebates on EVs and GM and Ford immediately raise their average price for EVs by $7,500.

Isn't California paying out a stimulus bill to combat inflation on heating costs and gas now?


At least it's not cold in So. Cal. and the people shouldn't be damaged any more than everybody in the country who needs heat to live.



Yup.

https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/california-stimulus-checks

They always get it back one way or the other.

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Growing up in a Republic was nice... Shame we couldn't keep it.

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