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Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

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Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#341

Post by HillaryBriss »

kbos87 wrote: post #255
penpapersw wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can confirm. I worked a pretty decent software job with lower pay than others make for the same job for the past 5 years. Could barely afford insurance for my wife and I. We actually had to just give up and not pay for it the first few months of this year before I was laid off, figuring that paying the "fine" for not having health insurance plus whatever unlikely emergency medical costs we might have was cheaper. As…

The right answer is to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt those who are one step ahead of you because they've figured out "the game".

even better: lie, cheat, steal, and hurt those who are ten steps ahead of you. they're the ones with all the money.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#342

Post by ringaroundthetx »

> It’s good to spend time outside the bubble

I disagree. The only thing marginally good about being outside of the bubble is pulling up to a gas station and getting sandwiches, chips, candy and drinks for $4.32 total and being able to pay for it with a credit card without worrying about a $10 minimum. But if you've adopted celiac disease you are SOL.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#343

Post by dragonwriter »

roymurdock wrote: post #338
dragonwriter wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the Federal Reserve is an independent, non-government entity. Its a self-funded government entity created by law. > But it certainly feels like hyper-socialism because it undermines of the organizing principle of a democratic society - citizens should have both the right and the duty to elect officials to act on their behalf, and hold them accountable. Like many government entities, it's officials are appointed by…

I respect your comments and breadth of knowledge, but wish you would take things a bit less literally and argue/reason at a higher level. I noted all of your points in the comment's [1] footnote - I'm aware of the technicalities, but am making a broader argument. But don't just take it from me, here's an ex-president of the Minneapolis Fed making the same point: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-08-07/mayb…

> Do you feel like you are adequately represented in government, and that you can trust elected officials to appoint staff those who will make decisions in the best interest of you, your family, your city, state, nation, etc.?

No, but (as my comment history shows) that's because we have what is empirically shown to be a very poor electoral system (among those used in modern democracies), not because officers of the central bank are appointed rather than elected.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#344

Post by tripzilch »

edem wrote: post #339
rayiner wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's interesting that you identify ultra efficient hyper capitalism as the problem, then point the finger at Wall Street traders betting on mortgage backed securities. They really have nothing to do with each other. To the extent you can blame anyone for ultra efficient hyper capitalism, blame programmers. It's programmers that allowed Uber to turn the inefficient and leisurely taxi industry into the Uber/Lyft rat ra…

It is like calling your gun a killer when you pull the trigger. Blame the bosses of the programmers. We just try to make a living like everybody else.

Well, programmers have agency. Guns don't. If they did, sure enough I'd blame them for "being killers" in addition to blaming whoever commanded them.

For completeness, calling something a "killer" has several connotations. One is in the very literal sense by which I call a "screwdriving tool" a "screwdriver". This is technically correct and probably not what you mean. Another connotation involves blame, and you simply can't apply this to an object without agency.

(I'm still not pro-gun, btw. I just agree that calling it a killer is not a very convincing argument on the matter)

(Nor do guns "make a living like everybody else" :) )

My point is, if your boss commands you to do something unethical, this does not dissolve you of blame (unless you are an inanimate object :p).

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#345

Post by Unkechaug »

slackingoff2017 wrote: post #174
stephenbez wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume you meant the top 10%. In the US 56% of people will spend a year or more in the top 10%. 12% of people will spend a year or more in the top 1%. http://www.aei.org/publication/evidence-shows-significant-in...

I had no idea that 12% of the population makes top one percent income for at least a year of their life. What causes so many of these people to fail? How could there possibly be so many jobs that offer that kind of income. Or maybe it's that most jobs offering high income have short tenure..

Are they counting income from inheritance, selling assets (houses), etc? I wouldn't be surprised in that case.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#346

Post by stephenbez »

Unkechaug wrote: post #345
slackingoff2017 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had no idea that 12% of the population makes top one percent income for at least a year of their life. What causes so many of these people to fail? How could there possibly be so many jobs that offer that kind of income. Or maybe it's that most jobs offering high income have short tenure..

Are they counting income from inheritance, selling assets (houses), etc? I wouldn't be surprised in that case.

Short answer, not really.

It looks like this is the source for the claims: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal....

This is what the paper says: "Total family income is the measuring stick used to determine levels of affluence achieved. This is defined as taxable income of head of household and spouse, taxable income of other family members of the household, and transfer income of head, spouse, and others."

Based on what I know about US tax, you don't have to pay taxes on the first $500k in gains for your primary house (if married), and inheritances usually aren't considered taxable income.

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/capital-gains-and-your... https://www.hrblock.com/get-answers/taxes/income/is-your-inh...

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#347

Post by monksy »

rayiner wrote: post #217
unknown_apostle wrote: post #60

Working class people are being subjected to ultra efficient hypercapitalism, as in Uber drivers discovering they worked for free when they need to purchase a new car. Meanwhile Wall Street has been bailed out 2 times in the last 15 years alone with monetary policy. How many people went to jail? (And they haven’t learned a thing, on the contrary and quite spectacularly so.) If you want to know where the tech bubble co…

It's interesting that you identify ultra efficient hyper capitalism as the problem, then point the finger at Wall Street traders betting on mortgage backed securities. They really have nothing to do with each other. To the extent you can blame anyone for ultra efficient hyper capitalism, blame programmers. It's programmers that allowed Uber to turn the inefficient and leisurely taxi industry into the Uber/Lyft rat ra…

> blame programmers

Programmers are not making the decisions on how to operate. You're thinking about the businesses who attempt to cut their expense and make huge demands on their workforce, taxes, and on the market themselves.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#348

Post by penpapersw »

HillaryBriss wrote: post #341
kbos87 wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The right answer is to lie, cheat, steal, and hurt those who are one step ahead of you because they've figured out "the game".

even better: lie, cheat, steal, and hurt those who are ten steps ahead of you. they're the ones with all the money.

I'm sure there's got to be a way of getting ahead that doesn't involve lying, cheating, or stealing, from anyone, no matter how much they deserve it.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#349

Post by morgante »

kuschku wrote: post #286
morgante wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know when US people use their credit card? Every day. You know when Europeans use their credit card? When abroad. To me, that's just evidence of how backwards many Europeans are in their approach to credit cards. You seem to have an attitude that credit cards are inherently evil. They're just tools, which can be misused (and put you into debt) or used for maximum convenience (accruing rewards and protections al…

Credit cards always have a cost. You get 1.5% to 2% of your money back in rewards for a 3% fee. In Europe, fees are limited to far below that, and the European debit cards are limited to below 1% in fees. You don't get rewards from credit cards in that situation. In fact, credit cards always end up losing you money. Credit cards are the tragedy of the commons - if no one used them, everyone would profit. But as long…

> With a credit card, you pay with a simple number that anyone can just steal, and if you don't take care, you're fucked.

You seem to deeply understand credit cards. There is practically no risk to using them. As a consumer, your fraud liability is zero and entirely shifted to the merchant.

Of course you should pay off the bill every month. I never pay interest, rewards more than cover any fees I pay (I average 4-5% return on credit card spend), and I really don't know what risk you're talking about.

Re: Annual note to self: most of the world exists outside the tech bubble

#350

Post by morgante »

vertex-four wrote: post #287
morgante wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You know when US people use their credit card? Every day. You know when Europeans use their credit card? When abroad. To me, that's just evidence of how backwards many Europeans are in their approach to credit cards. You seem to have an attitude that credit cards are inherently evil. They're just tools, which can be misused (and put you into debt) or used for maximum convenience (accruing rewards and protections al…

It's less the availability of credit cards (they're highly available in a good many countries), it's more the assertion that if you're not using a credit card every day, there's something wrong with you. It's the fact that if you're not using a credit card in everyday purchases, you're losing the rewards and so essentially paying more for everything you buy - you're structurally punished for not participating. Debit…

People regularly assert that credit cards are factored into the cost of goods, but I posit that's mostly untrue. The cost of most things, especially "luxury" goods like restaurants, is set by the price the market will bear—not the cost of providing that good. Anecdotally, it's certainly not cheaper that equivalent goods and services are cheaper in Europe despite the lower credit card usage.
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