Inflation 7%

[bave]

It also shows a poverty rate that's risen above "a rising real median income."
FDR's New Deal created the Great American Middle Class and WWII extended its existence until the mid 1970s.
Since then rising fortunes among the US investor class have come at the expense of productive wage labor.

Yea, your poverty rate calculation also excludes all forms of government transfers, which have *dramatically* increased over the last few decades.

FDR's New Deal created the middle class? Yikes, that's an interesting (and false) point of view. The New Deal was leading the US down into a whole new depression shortly after it started, it was WW2 that brought the US out of the depression and the creation of the middle class more than anything else. That's not really a debated point btw. The middle class ceased to exist in the mid 70's? Says who? All the data, including yours, contradicts that.

Where was the expense to wage labor? Last I checked the real median wage continued to increase and is, again, the HIGHEST IN THE MAJOR ECONOMIC WORLD.

Your entire point of view is undermined by the two most basic facts.

The US has the most progressive tax code in the developed world.
The median household income in the US is the highest in the major economy world.

What exactly is your complaint? You just want more? Nevermind the fact that the median household has it better here than anywhere else in the world economically. You just want the rich to have less, even if it means you having less? That's super well thought out.

 

[bave]

It also shows a poverty rate that's risen above "a rising real median income."

Oh btw, remember how I talked about economist taking data points out of context? You just did it with your poverty rate chart. It is some seriously cherry picked data. You notice that your data point started in 1995? Why is that? What was the chart looking like before that exactly? Why did they start it in the economic hay day of the late 90's?

Answer: Because it was the lowest point in recorded history.

Here is the actual data, from a federal agency:

https://aspe.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/private/pdf/154286/50YearTrends.pdf

You will note, page 9. The poverty rate, as of 2014 when that was published, is largely sitting right around the average over the last ~50-60 years. That is also unadjusted for government transfers, which would dramatically reduce it.

 

[HangLow]

​

 

[bave]

.

What do you just have a meme factory?

What exactly is the problem with a commodity company making a profit when the underlying price moves up? Did you complain for all the years Exxon was struggling? When XOM's margins are a ~third of GOOG and AAPL, are you pointing that out?

No. You just have a problem with a fossil company, pure politics.

 

[newpublius]

Producers set the prices that consumers pay.
https://seekingalpha.com/article/3026896-a-little-asset-price-inflation-is-a-good-thing

Government's failure to regulate finance capitalism's asset price inflation over the past 25 years has now produced a rise in the price of ordinary goods and services.

But your thesis is that inflation is occurring because of market power. In the aggregate, the price increases have not kept up with the increase in the input costs. Some will, some won't, some will be on the average.

 

[georgephillip]

FDR's New Deal created the middle class? Yikes, that's an interesting (and false) point of view.

Do you prefer Herbert Hoover's POV?
Hoover felt providing direct assistance to individuals was socialism.
The New Deal put over 9 million Americans back to work, so unless you believe having a job is not a necessary condition for creating a middle class, FDR's solution laid the groundwork for the creation of the largest middle class in history after US oligarchs crashed the global economy in 1929.

 

[georgephillip]

You will note, page 9. The poverty rate, as of 2014 when that was published, is largely sitting right around the average over the last ~50-60 years. That is also unadjusted for government transfers, which would dramatically reduce it.

What's happened since 2014 to plunge more US families into poverty?
How have US billionaires fared over the past eight years?

https://www.statista.com/chart/22068/change-in-wealth-of-billionaires-during-pandemic/

Inflation doesn't rise and fall based solely on monetary policy as FDR proved during WWII when he protected Americans against the disruption of normal economic activity by imposing price ceilings on 3 million businesses and more than 8 millions goods.

 

[georgephillip]

The US has the most progressive tax code in the developed world.
The median household income in the US is the highest in the major economy world.

How about the cost of living in the US?
Specifically, how does US household debt compare with the rest of the developed world and who gets rich from all that debt?

https://wolfstreet.com/2021/02/06/t...-consumer-borrowing-in-weirdest-economy-ever/

 

[georgephillip]

But your thesis is that inflation is occurring because of market power. In the aggregate, the price increases have not kept up with the increase in the input costs. Some will, some won't, some will be on the average.

How are corporate profits driving inflation?
The following OPINION came up first on my search page:

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/corporate-profits-drive-60-of-inflation

"Higher prices aren't just a result of supply chain chaos or government spending. Inflation is being driven by the pricing power and higher profits of corporations, costing $2,126 per American."​

 

[bave]

The New Deal put over 9 million Americans back to work, so unless you believe having a job is not a necessary condition for creating a middle class, FDR's solution laid the groundwork for the creation of the largest middle class in history after US oligarchs crashed the global economy in 1929.

Again, there isn't an economist around that will support the idea that the New Deal was the primary contributor to the rise of the American middle class in the 50's and 60's compared to the second world war. Not a one.

What's happened since 2014 to plunge more US families into poverty?

Again, I pointed out the gross misrepresentation of your analysis in my last post complete with federal agency data. The poverty rate in the US currently is largely in line with the average over the last 50-70 years, even while ignoring government transfers which have dramatically increased. You are ignoring *all* of that. You are being naive at best, intellectually dishonest more than likely, or just incapable at worst. Pick one.

How have US billionaires fared over the past eight years?

How does a billionaire's wealth increasing because of the stock market, which is largely the result of monetary policy for the last decade, in any way harm the lower and middle class?

Inflation doesn't rise and fall based solely on monetary policy as FDR proved during WWII when he protected Americans against the disruption of normal economic activity by imposing price ceilings on 3 million businesses and more than 8 millions goods.

Are you seriously trying to use WW2 command economics as a basis for modern application of price controls? Look genius, when the entire world was at war and there was nothing but war production and effectively single end consumer that can work. We are as far away from that example as one could possibly be. Are you also honestly suggesting that from 1941 to 1945 we were in "normal economic activity"? Read a damned book.

How about the cost of living in the US?
Specifically, how does US household debt compare with the rest of the developed world and who gets rich from all that debt?

You can compare cost of living in the US to our global peers and we will stack up rather favorably. Better yet, you can look at median household income PPP and you will see the same result.

Household debt has more to do with consumer habits and behavior than anything else. Look at the consumerism in the US compared to our global peers. You don't see Western Europe's middle class buying the things the American middle class does, for good reason.

How are corporate profits driving inflation?
The following OPINION came up first on my search page:

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/corporate-profits-drive-60-of-inflation

"Higher prices aren't just a result of supply chain chaos or government spending. Inflation is being driven by the pricing power and higher profits of corporations, costing $2,126 per American."​

Of course. Where does pricing power come from? A misaligning of supply and demand. Meaning, there is more demand chasing scarcer goods and thus producers of goods can raise prices. This is economics 101. It is also a means of combating shortages. I am sure you would love federal price controls through your misguided view of how it went during WW2. However a more apt comparison would be Soviet price controls. Great for controlling inflation, problem is the goods just didn't exist for you to consume as a result. Would you like me to tell you that the price of gasoline is $1/gallon but you have nowhere to buy it? Would that make you feel better?

 

[newpublius]

How are corporate profits driving inflation?
The following OPINION came up first on my search page:

https://mattstoller.substack.com/p/corporate-profits-drive-60-of-inflation

"Higher prices aren't just a result of supply chain chaos or government spending. Inflation is being driven by the pricing power and higher profits of corporations, costing $2,126 per American."​

But again most price increases aren't keeping up with the inputs which is why the PPI exceeds the CPI.

But I digress, even if we assume this is 100% accurate, it is still not correct. It conflates relative price changes with an increase in the general price level. Even if we presume a company is straight up a greedy monopolist one must always remember that increased prices from monopolists aren't good, but they actually aren't inflationary because the consumer who spends more on these goods doesn't have the money to spend on others. There's a distinction between relative price changes and an increase in the general price level, learn the difference.

 

[rahl]

Ugh, what a thoughtless trope.

The US has the highest median household income of any major economy around the world. Damn near twice that of France while at the same time having the most progressive tax code in the world.

Do you want a more equal society where *EVERYONE* makes less money? Because that's what it seems you are asking for. You want to build a French economy where everyone has a fraction of the money? I don't think you do, do you? You just want to complain about other people having more than you while ignoring the fact that the average guy in the US does better than any of his major global peers while paying less in tax to boot.

Btw, how do you claim the middle class has been destroyed? Your own chart shows a rising real median income.

Why do you repeat this lie after having it proven false so many times?

 

[bave]

But again most price increases aren't keeping up with the inputs which is why the PPI exceeds the CPI.

But I digress, even if we assume this is 100% accurate, it is still not correct. It conflates relative price changes with an increase in the general price level. Even if we presume a company is straight up a greedy monopolist one must always remember that increased prices from monopolists aren't good, but they actually aren't inflationary because the consumer who spends more on these goods doesn't have the money to spend on others. There's a distinction between relative price changes and an increase in the general price level, learn the difference.

You are even under the supposition that a monopoly does in fact exist, let aone broadly, in the US.

Someone had this debate earlier about diapers claiming there was a monopoly, they disappeared when I showed them that the two largest suppliers of disposable diapers in the US had a combined ~31% market share. In order for any of these inane ramblings to work you have to assume there is a global price conspiracy.

 

[Kushinator]

The US has the highest median household income of any major economy around the world. Damn near twice that of France while at the same time having the most progressive tax code in the world.

Household data is not longitudinal. It's invalid to try to compare what a household was in the U.S. in 2018 to a household in France. You're supposed to know better.

 

[bave]

Household data is not longitudinal. It's invalid to try to compare what a household was in the U.S. in 2018 to a household in France. You're supposed to know better.

More or less same result if you use mean hourly wage.

 

[Kushinator]

More or less same result if you use mean hourly wage.

Why forgo citation of you are even bothering to respond?

 

[bave]

Why forgo citation of you are even bothering to respond?

www.google.com

It's readily available and you know how to find it, let's not play dumb.

 

[Kushinator]

www.google.com
It's readily available and you know how to find it, let's not play dumb.

It's not my job to source your claims.

 

[bave]

It's not my job to source your claims.

 

[georgephillip]

Again, there isn't an economist around that will support the idea that the New Deal was the primary contributor to the rise of the American middle class in the 50's and 60's compared to the second world war. Not a one.

I never said the New Deal was "the primary contributor to the rise of the American middle class".
Do you know any economists who believe Social Security and FDIC deposit insurance did not contribute to the origin of the US middle class?

 

[Kushinator]

You're not being reasonable... and i know your game. The second i attempt to fulfill your responsibility, you just pivot. It's lazy posting at the very least.