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Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

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Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#21

Post by seibelj »

nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

You will get 100 different answers. I like the argument that inflation is actually high, but our outsourcing of goods that make up the consumer inflation algorithm to cheaper countries makes it seem like inflation is low, but goods that can't be outsourced (education, housing, startup unicorns, financial assets like stocks) were eating the excess inflation that had no other place to go.

So the real value of stocks is lower when adjusted for true inflation, but everyone claims inflation is minuscule / nonexistent so we can pretend that printing trillions of dollars and handing it to banks is having no effect.

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#22

Post by School-Cotton »

MiroF wrote: post #15
roenxi wrote: post #7

I suspect shutting down such broad swathes of the economy is unprecedented even in wartime. Nobody has any idea what we are toying with here or what happens next. It wouldn't be surprising if everything worked out well, and it isn't unthinkable that this ushers in the worst decade of chaos and suffering in the last 200 years. The economy is the most complicated machine we have and nobody knows what it is doing right…

> worst decade of chaos and suffering in the last 200 years Where in the world do you all come up with these statements?

The point was that we don’t have any clue whatsoever what will happen because this has never been done before in human history.

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#23

Post by tamaharbor »

ThrowawayR2 wrote: post #16
roenxi wrote: post #7

I suspect shutting down such broad swathes of the economy is unprecedented even in wartime. Nobody has any idea what we are toying with here or what happens next. It wouldn't be surprising if everything worked out well, and it isn't unthinkable that this ushers in the worst decade of chaos and suffering in the last 200 years. The economy is the most complicated machine we have and nobody knows what it is doing right…

I can't help but recall that the Great Depression and the resulting widespread poverty is considered by some historians to be one of the factors leading up WW2.

A good war can always be used to revive the economy.

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#24

Post by dang »

karlshea wrote: post #12
nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

> why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire? Because everything anyone involved in the markets has ever told you is a complete lie.

Maybe so, but please don't post unsubstantive comments here.

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#25

Post by asdff »

nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

It's expected that there is some pullback after that first leg down. Expect a second. Right now we are practically mirroring the chart from 2008, if you want to see where we are at.

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#26

Post by fataliss »

nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

The market doesn't reflect the health of your local businesses. It's largely chains and massive corporations that are publicly traded. Between the fed's $1.5T injection in the markets and the $500B bailout/loans for corporations, you can see how the numbers might not look too bad from Wall St's disconnected perspective. Today a lot of companies were announcing their numbers and matched ~ expected earnings. Q1 wasn't 100% trashed by Covid. Q2 might be a lot more interesting especially if the shelter in place lingers towards the end of the summer which would not surprise me. The modern American society has put a ridiculously disproportionate value on capital vs individual which is driving the dissonant signal from the stock market. People could be dying of hunger, but if the SP500 companies kept their numbers in line with expectation, the "stock market" would be green all over...

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#27

Post by d1zzy »

karlshea wrote: post #12
nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

> why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire? Because everything anyone involved in the markets has ever told you is a complete lie.

Including people on HN. /s

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#28

Post by [deleted] »

MiroF wrote: post #15
roenxi wrote: post #7

I suspect shutting down such broad swathes of the economy is unprecedented even in wartime. Nobody has any idea what we are toying with here or what happens next. It wouldn't be surprising if everything worked out well, and it isn't unthinkable that this ushers in the worst decade of chaos and suffering in the last 200 years. The economy is the most complicated machine we have and nobody knows what it is doing right…

> worst decade of chaos and suffering in the last 200 years Where in the world do you all come up with these statements?

[deleted]

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#29

Post by flyinglizard »

unFou wrote: post #17
nimbius wrote: post #8

Im sure someone on HN has explained this before, but why are the markets steady and rebounding when the actual state of the US economy is so dire?? I've been waiting on that promised $1200 check for 2 days shy of an entire month now, and every day that passes I see another bar or clothing store or furniture outlet with boards up on the windows.

How it was explained to me is that the markets don't always reflect the economy because the negative outcomes have already been priced in. So, if the markets were expecting a downturn in the economy of -20%, but the economy actually went down -15%, then the market might go up, even though the economy is still doing worse. Another possible explanation is that we're currently print a lot of money without producing much…

My feeling is that investors have steadier hands now after they've witnessed the 10+ year rally after the 2008 crash. No one wants to be left out. Eventually though the market will catch up with what's happening on the streets (unless the fed keeps pumping money in).

Re: Millions of Americans can't afford food, rent and other basics, report finds

#30

Post by fataliss »

lobbyingWins wrote: post #5

Can't afford food? Between food stamps and eating for $1.50/day (source- https://efficiencyiseverything.com/eat-for-1-50-per-day-layo... ) I don't think the problem is the cost of food. Rent, sure. Health insurance, sure. Food? Not the major expense, especially with food stamps.

Food stamps come with a whole bunch of restrictions on what you can and cannot buy with it. Want a big jug of milk to save and you need a big one anyway cause you have kids? Nope, the only approved milk is the half gallon, etc. etc. So for some people, while it might not be the top #1 problem it's def up there.
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