Even adjusted for “inflation” they’re making record profits for the most part.
They just realized that since a handful of giant corporations control all the major brands, if everyone raises prices no one has other options.
It’s fucking price fixing. And neither political party wants to do anything because they get a lot of donations from corporations to pretend there’s any other reason for this besides greed.
The trick they used to fire it up "inflation" is hitting staples like eggs and meat... very smart move and like criminal but jack shit Daddy Sam gonna do for stupid peasants here.
Rent is another one, they are not even going after well off, they are literally punking people from the bottom up.
When the gov and giant corps are in bed together, it almost makes for a fascist state. Just need to solidify the power into one, maybe two parties for good PR and…oh wait…
There has to be at least two so they can argue about stuff that doesn’t effect the people so wealthy to be insulated from them…
Meanwhile no matter who wins an election, the rich win 100% of the time.
Bonus point if your two official parties are also “private groups” who can do literally anything they want. They could even legally nominate the exact same person to the general even if that person didn’t run in either primary.
They’re private parties, they can do whatever the fuck they want and they’re also the only ones who can change the system they dominate.
You do that, and revolution is more of an inevitablity on a long enough timeline.
It’s also because as social security is closer and closer to failing, seniors are extremely reliant on retirement plans that rely on always increasing stock market values.
Stock only go up when profits go up. Everything else be damned.
The worst thing over the middle of the pandemic was when news reporters started using the i word.
It’ kind of crazy how quickly the tone of interviews from industry reps and leaders shifted. From: “We’re sorry but we’ll all get through this. There are supply chain shortages due to not being able to transport or produce these essential goods and it leads to a chain reaction”
to
“YUP inflation. Sorry nothing we can do about it you know how that economy do.”
And yet, I feel like I see a different article every other day saying, "the economy doesn't suck it just seems like that to everyone who isn't well off." 😡
The fact that people feel like the economy is bad is important, but im completely annoyed by a lazy media that uses meh at best polling surveys as a replacement for looking at actually facts. Like, you can actually measure these things. Inflation has been improving for months now, and the economy overall is actually strong, but you’d never know it between all the ‘Biden make economy bad!’ propaganda outlets like Fox News combined with trad media replacing reporting facts with reporting opinions.
The best part is that much of the reason houses are getting bigger and cars becoming more luxurious is because that’s the only way to maintain higher profits. Because we have achieved abundance, the only way to stay on top is for Capitalists to make not participating in the endless consumerist cycle ridiculously difficult.
Case in point: dumb phones. I have felt like my phone addiction is too great, so I have been researching dumb phones. After all, I got by with just a flip phone for years, what’s the harm in going back to something like a Light Phone? Turns out, modern society is built on the assumption that you have a smartphone to install a random app just to accomplish a goal like checking in for a flight, or reading a QR code for a menu, or otherwise.
The standards have “raised,” but only in a way that maintains profit over what’s actually good for humanity.
Well, if you count the corporations as people and give them votes proportional to their income, income does seem to be exceeding inflation. I'm sure in no time trickle-down economics will allow us poor folk to see some of that wealth. I for one certainly already see the wealth that my lovely landlady possesses.
I don’t understand the endgame of price gouging. It eventually will just completely destroy the economy.
I hate consumerism and capitalism, but like in functional capitalism the goal is to get people circulating cash as much as possible. The endgame of a massive pool of money on the part of the ruling class effectively will mean that currency is worthless over time.
Even under a shitty economic system that rewards greed, this doesn’t work for long. Only prioritizing the aims of literal psychopaths is a really fucking bad idea.
They don’t care if the currency is worthless over time because that’s not how they’re storing their wealth. And in the meantime, they enjoy increased inequality due to the Cantillon effect.
Their endgame is surviving in a bunker they build between now and then.
The endgame of a massive pool of money on the part of the ruling class effectively will mean that currency is worthless over time.
How do you figure that? The only thing that would make that currency worthless is the people circulating the currency losing faith in it, i.e. revolution. Is that where your comment is going?
Not specifically. History has repeated a few times here, but “inflation”, either in a normal pace or artificially created, literally means money is worth less over time. 1920s Germany is a specific and extreme example of this that out in a disastrous way, and also coincides with a similar climate of political extremism. An overview of that period of time in Germany
The hyperinflation that occurred during the end of the Weimar Republic was because the government was “printing money” artificially devaluing the currency at extreme rates.
That isn’t even close to whats happening in the United States these days. The USA hasn’t “printed money” like that since the middle of 2020 with the end of QE4 (Quantitative Easing, 4th round). Further, in 2023 the USA is currently doing the opposite of “printing money” to control inflation, which is known as Quantitative Tightening..
the current interest rate is still historically low relatively
USA government is not printing money which would artificially increase inflation
USA government is doing the opposite of printing money which naturally decreases increase inflation
We are a long LONG way from the triple digit hyperinflation Weimar Republic or in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Zimbabwe_$100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg
All I’m really saying is: “artificially driving inflation is a bad idea and here’s a historical precedent that supports this.” I’m not saying it’s an identical situation. I know that it’s not.
I’d even argue that artificially driving up inflation in a controlled way is a good idea in certain situations. If you’re a nation with good domestic production of vital materials (food, fuel, etc), and have a strong export market with a strong currency, your strong currency drives down exports.
Increasing inflation makes your currency worth less, allowing other nations to buy your exports in larger quantity. China has done this for years artificially keeping their currency value low.
Like everything else with monetary policy, each thing is just a tool. Its possible to use it to create as well as destroy.
You’re assuming our economy is made of “rational actors” as some Big Brains would tell you our theories are based off of.
The only rationale is “This make me money now. I do this. Company fail later? Me no care me have gold parachute. New company hire me for more and me do money thing again. Me successful important CEO man.”
Even under a shitty economic system that rewards greed, this doesn’t work for long
That’s kind of the point, though: they literally don’t care about anything except short term profits, be they billionaires or corporations.
Get enough money fast enough and you’re rewarded maximally. Anyone thinking longer than the next quarter, fiscal year at the very most, will be overtaken by those that don’t.
The way the system is set up, once you have more than a set amount of money, you’re rich for the rest of your life. You won’t be allowed to fail even if you’re so bad at business that you lose a billion dollars in a decade where anyone else of your means profited like never before.
The government will bail you out in exchange for children going hungry in schools and commuter bridges crumbling.
There’s all incentives in the world to make a shitload of money fast and none to earn in a sustainable way.
Well, it’s true. Wages took a hit after the pandemic, and workers who earn less are hit especially hard. Being in an union helps, but even unionized workers took a blow in 2021. Plus the minimum wage has been stagnant for decades now.
Reminds me of the dumb friend I used to have who claimed economic collapse would hit poor people last and least, hence former friend. I have to admit I’m rather curious if his opinion has changed now that he’s a sixty + yo first time father who’s company folded and baby mama is bat-guano bpd.
Being in a union definitely makes a big difference. My union agreed to continue with the existing contract through COVID and put off any raises for the time being. We finally signed a new contract and it includes about a 9% raise each year for the next three years. That should put us ahead of where we would have been if we had gotten the usual raises.
Been with the same company for decades, great relationship with my boss, good performance reviews, haven't seen more than 3.5% in one year for a LONG time.
Yeah, looking at those charts it seems like things are really just back to the same before the pandemic. It’s possible people were getting more with things like increased unemployment or stimulus checks during the pandemic so it feels like less now? But based on just the charts it doesn’t seem people are any better/worse off (especially since employment data from the pandemic has a lot of caveats).
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