Every morning i get to make this face as I read the “Associated Press” to see what drivel the upstream “news” source for the mayo empire has deemed fit to feed down to the masses, usually resulting in me making a face like this:
a few days ago we got this real gem
Who wouldn’t like prices to start falling? Careful what you wish for, economists say
hmm well that sounds foreboding! what could possibly be bad about falling prices?
Wouldn’t it be great if prices actually fell — what economists call deflation? Who wouldn’t want to fire up a time machine and return to the days before the economy rocketed out of the pandemic recession and sent prices soaring?
yes! i think it would be good! i would like to be able to afford food that isn’t spaghetti!
Many economists caution, though, that consumers should be careful what they wish for.
why?!?
Mainly because falling prices tend to discourage consumers from spending. Why buy now, after all, if you can purchase what you want — cars, furniture, appliances, vacations — at a lower price later?
um… oki. so like, i can still spend less money? oki?!?
businesses would face intense pressure to cut prices even more
oh the humanity!!!
It’s certainly true that Americans can make their paychecks go further when prices are falling. If food or gasoline prices were to tumble, households would surely find it less painful to afford groceries or their commutes to work
oh my goodness imagine if those selfish people could afford groceries and commuting to work!
who will think of the businesses?!?! omg
anyways, i’ve spit all my coffee out. I love me some lib economic takes in the morning. so silly, so fun, we’re so doomed. what a broken ass system
rant over y’all thank you :3
It’s just gaslighting to try and convince people that the economy is still doing well despite their personal experience to the contrary.
I think it’s that, and also that these publications are written for the exact people their language is targeting. So it normalizes the kind of dialogues they’re having behind closed doors and helps shape the direction of that dialogue as well.
The Economy is great actually! (For the Wealthy) If we force regulations on the market to make the working class conditions better that will harm the Economy! (For the Wealthy)
Edit: And of course anything about the Economy is infested with neoliberal brainworms
I think it’s that, and also that these publications are written for the exact people their language is targeting.
Good point… That must be why i read these things and greet this weird feeling they I’ve heard this language, verbatim. I see myself holding a stale donut at every mgmt meeting I’ve ever been forced to attend. They’re not really talking to you. They’re just talking points. Points you then see repeated in media ad nauseam.
It’s not only demeaning because it’s so obviously bullshit, it’s, it’s… also paternal or something.
But maybe this is like you say, that it is even worse, they they’re not really talking to us at all.
it normalizes the kind of dialogues they’re having behind closed doors and helps shape the direction of that dialogue as well.
If the media aren’t even talking to us, but the caps, could that fact be why online libs are so consistently arrogant and dismissive?
Believing a lie like OPs piece means adopting the language too, and the imagined position of power that comes with it. It sounds just like how their bosses talk.
Threatening that lie also threatens their imagined position of power. Their arrogance is mental protection from the chains that bind em.
Sorry I ramble a bit, your comment was insightful and got me thinking.
It’s not only demeaning because it’s so obviously bullshit, it’s, it’s… also paternal or something.
I get that exact sense, like I’m being lectured by a disappointed parent.
If the media aren’t even talking to us, but the caps, could that fact be why online libs are so consistently arrogant and dismissive?
Believing a lie like OPs piece means adopting the language too, and the imagined position of power that comes with it. It sounds just like how their bosses talk.
Threatening that lie also threatens their imagined position of power. Their arrogance is mental protection from the chains that bind em.
I think you nailed it. This also is basically how you create an outlet for frustrations with material condition, directing them naturally to outlets that support capital.
It’s so fucking disgusting the way economists weaponize certain parts of language in order to make a good thing look bad.
Of course deflation over a very long period of time is very bad. It’s one of the reasons that cryptocurrencies are so crazy.
But obviously, if the price of food went down to the price it was before inflation, that’s not a bad thing. That just means you can fucking afford shit again.
This one boiled my blood. I’ll tell you what, once you become class conscious, it’s really hard to fucking ignore that every economist is getting you to work against your own best interests.
As a scholar once said, “economists are no better than priests”.
And it’s really hard to be worse or on even just on par with the child molestors in the Catholic church.
Wait until you learn about econophysics, the version of economics that gets way more accurate predictions just by stuffing economies into physics equations. Really demonstrates how unscientific economics is. Apparently it’s infested with Marxists for some reason.
The whole “consumers spend less” argument is so fucking idiotic. The consumption of items like food, energy and water cannot be delayed. Deflation for their prices will not impact consumer spending.
As for the consumption of durables, even if their consumption gets delayed, it cannot be delayed indefinitely. If people plan to buy TVs 1 year from now instead of today, then they will save money. If capitalists predict that people want to buy TVs 1 year from now, they will borrow this saved money from the banks and use it to boost TV production. Then 1 year from now, the exchange happens and everyone is happy. This is literally supposed to be how capitalism plans production. The very fact that economists are afraid of deflation shows that they don’t have the slightest faith in the system to plan for the future.
The whole drama about deflation and spending money now exists purely because capitalism can only respond to immediate signals. Its ability to plan ahead is terrible (not as if its ability to react to shortages/gluts today is any good).
In a centrally planned economy where monetary accounting has been replaced by labor time accounting, deflation is the natural tendency (as greater automation reduces labor time). Such an economy will have to plan for production on a larger time frame. If you were allowed to pre-order things in such an economy, it would be a relatively easy way to estimate demand for the future.
Why buy now, after all, if you can purchase what you want — cars, furniture, appliances, vacations — at a lower price later?
That is insane 😂
businesses would face intense pressure to cut prices even more
What?? I thought competition driving prices down was the main argument for capitalism!
Its so obvious these gentlemen are financed by monopolistas lol
Completely out of touch with how the majority of Americans spend their money. Most of us don’t even have savings! Why would I bother with savings when the $1000 Dave Ramsey suggests is actually $300 in real money? Imma buy the damn PS5
That is literally what the point of inflation is. To make it less appealing for people to save in order to fuel the short-sighted consumption economy.
The inflation thing reminded me of our wages here. Over here in Belgium, most people’s wages are tied to inflation (and deflation, actually). Companies keep nagging about it, sometimes saying: ‘but what about deflation??? Your wage would decline!!!’ Since it got implemented we had one entire QUARTER (not even year) of deflation. The rest was inflation.
wow that’s at least nice the wages are tied to inflation. I think the average raise among my friends was around 2% lol
Companies keep nagging about it, sometimes saying: ‘but what about deflation??? Your wage would decline!!!’
But then all the other prices would be decreasing too, so you wouldn’t actually be losing wages. Do people really fall for this shit?
You are braver than me, no way I could read that shit first thing in the morning, not good for my heart to start the day in a seething blinding rage
Luckily, if you’re like me and didn’t read this piece precisely because you knew it would make you angry, rest assured you don’t have to.
Judging by genzedongs excellent summary, it’s clear that once you’ve read one of these garbage capitalist apologia pieces you’ve read “all” of 'em.
Literal cult shit
Think about this, we will never get told that we’re in a recession, or that inflation is a runaway, but we’re in a convenience store. Typical working-class tradition is you get your snack and your drink for the day at a convenience store. Packs of peanuts are usually two for a dollar, or one for 59 cents. They’ve been this price for such a long time that I’m kind of flabbergasted they changed it. Those same packs of peanuts? One for $1.59, or two for $3.00. Let me get this straight, there’s no inflation, there’s no recession, but also your money goes one-third the way it used to. Keep in mind these are prices from from like 2016, not even 10 years ago… One dollar in 2016 feels like 30 cents today.
How in the absolute fuck am I going to plan for my future in a country where the money is losing value at such a rapid pace? As far as I’m concerned, if you’re saving money, that’s dumb, because your money’s losing value. You’re never going to beat the "real"l inflation rates. I haven’t even been in the workforce for 10 years, and I can tell you one thing, things aren’t going to get any better.
I have a feeling that the government doesn’t want us to think, “hey, yeah, we don’t need to be saving money because it’s going to lose value faster than it’ll accrue it, so we need to be spending, spending, spending” because I’m pretty sure that’s what causes hyperinflation. I’m not an economist, I’m just some guy, though, and hyperinflation tends to kill your country, your empire, so we’ll see.
There won’t ever be a recession so long as certain goods that are put into the consumer price index keep it going down. It’s like, sure, you can’t afford your groceries, you can’t afford to eat, but you can go buy a new TV for cheaper than you could ten years ago. So inflation is technically non-existent. But you can’t eat TVs, you can eat the rich.
Oh look another smart qualified economist who is too stupid to understand the concept “people need food to live”
Very serious field of research that isn’t literally just set up to justify the current atteocities.
I mean seriously I’m one of those dumb science birches who is just too immature and simple minded to understand economics but they taught us elastic vs inelastic demand on like the third day of my combined one semester econ class.
Call me an idiot or economically ignorant, but wouldn’t people spend more often when prices are low? Aren’t people more frugal when prices are high? I thought low prices encouraged people to buy more…
You’re thinking like somebody with more than 5 minutes of real world experience.
You’d think lower prices would mean higher consumption but you would he wrong because that would mean lower prices are good and they’re bad actually because the people with all the money from the current system said so.
