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WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

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Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#81

Post by benaadams »

beachwood23 wrote: post #33
shortandsweet wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does bitcoin solve this? Last time I checked there's no fixed bitcoin price either. The currency is so volatile on news, it's sagging and spiking all over the place.

You are correct that there is no fixed price. However, you might be assuming that the US Dollar has a fixed price too. The US Dollar is fixed at the price of the US Dollar, which is of course only a relative value. Likewise, a Bitcoin is worth what a Bitcoin is worth. The difference between the two, what the OP is pointing out above you, is that Bitcoin currency has a limited supply and so can't be devalued. Relative…

USD is required to pay US taxes; that gives it a baseline reference point.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#82

Post by avianlyric »

bwb wrote: post #67
bryanlarsen wrote: post #25

The author obviously wants you to believe that it was the abandonment of the gold standard, but there are several other theories that have more credence with mainstream economists. The early 70's was the start of a horrible period of stagflation: stagnation coupled with inflation. Some do blame the loss of the gold standard, but the leading theory is the OPEC oil crisis. Others blame market regulations, the EPA was p…

hmmm... dropping energy isn't going to help with the big costs families face in terms of health insurance and costs, day care, college costs, or housing. Am i wrong :)?

> And energy is a massive component in the price of almost everything we consume.

This includes healthcare, day care, college costs. Even if only indirectly.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#83

Post by api »

Juliate wrote: post #79
api wrote: post #43

I think the idea that major historical trends have one cause is a huge fallacy. There are almost always many causes. Other than the end of Bretton Woods a lot of things happened in the early-mid 1970s, like... * Breaking of union negotiating power by explicit anti-union measures and by globalization that allowed corporations to undercut domestic labor with cheaper overseas labor. * The establishment of environmental…

Correlated only, the race to space (& moon) was essentially called off? - feasability (putting a human in space, and on the moon) was demonstrated - equivalence between Russia and America was set - there was no big price left within reach at that point - Apollo stopped around 72 - international cooperation started

I think that can be counted as part of a trend: the end of the era when the US tried to do big things (outside the military).

This era's beginning could maybe be dated to the late 1800s and the railroads.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#85

Post by bpt3 »

beachwood23 wrote: post #33
shortandsweet wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does bitcoin solve this? Last time I checked there's no fixed bitcoin price either. The currency is so volatile on news, it's sagging and spiking all over the place.

You are correct that there is no fixed price. However, you might be assuming that the US Dollar has a fixed price too. The US Dollar is fixed at the price of the US Dollar, which is of course only a relative value. Likewise, a Bitcoin is worth what a Bitcoin is worth. The difference between the two, what the OP is pointing out above you, is that Bitcoin currency has a limited supply and so can't be devalued. Relative…

Bitcoin advocates focus on the limited supply when comparing to the USD, and forget that bitcoin also has very limited utility as a currency. I don't want to transact in something so volatile, nor something with such high transaction cost or latency.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#86

Post by xyst »

ZacharyPitts wrote: post #10

Amazed that the site does not call out Nixon completely abandoning the gold standard in 1971. Financial investments thusly did not need to be backed by actual assets anymore, to the point of today where the whole of money is loans against loans against loans.

Random thought: since the US dollar hasn't been backed by a physical asset in decades, does it really make sense to prosecute a person(s) for "stealing money." Stealing implies you have taken something of value and requisitioned it for ones self, but since money has no actual value was it really stolen?

Especially in the digital age, the numbers you see in your bank account are just 0s and 1s sitting dormant in some server farm.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#87

Post by prepend »

I think this may just be the greater shift to programming and digital tools. This makes it more important to have fewer employees who are responsible for the productivity gains of large groups of workers.

I think the specific inflection point is a bit manufactured, but I the theme over these decades is tech.

I love tech because it allows for near zero marginal cost of distribution and one person to reach many. But I think it’s harsh on “analog workers” where it’s about lots of people instead of clever tech.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#88

Post by roywiggins »

treeman79 wrote: post #80
bryanlarsen wrote: post #25

The author obviously wants you to believe that it was the abandonment of the gold standard, but there are several other theories that have more credence with mainstream economists. The early 70's was the start of a horrible period of stagflation: stagnation coupled with inflation. Some do blame the loss of the gold standard, but the leading theory is the OPEC oil crisis. Others blame market regulations, the EPA was p…

People always underestimate the cost of regulations. Even when good, the cost is big. Health care is a good example. Keeping patient data private is a good thing. However it’s also absolutely crushing in its impact in the industry. Tiny projects can take months or years. HIPPA terrifies so many IT people. Driving away top developers.

It's spelled "HIPAA."

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#89

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

bobcostas55 wrote: post #26

Nothing, these charts are just the result of picking the wrong deflator. This chart shows what happens when you use the (correct) GDP deflator: https://worthwhile.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451688169e20134878d...

Can you provide more detail? I’ve definitely wondered about how general-purpose an inflation correction mechanism can be.

When I see rising rents, corrected for inflation, I always wonder if maybe rent should be a more significant part of the correction, until it’s flat-ish after the correction. But then food, another universal necessity, wouldn’t be flat. Choosing the right deflator, if I’m using the word correctly, seems really hard.

Re: WTF Happened in 1971? (2019)

#90

Post by djur »

triangleman wrote: post #66
djur wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, we narrowly averted disaster. Did you know that amendment required a supermajority to raise taxes?

Not true: https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-joint-res...

That's after it was amended. The original proposal did have a 3/5ths majority requirement:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/104th-congress/house-joint-res...

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