51–60 of 252 posts
Let them eat stonks (Downvotes? "Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread.)
Alternative title: "events of 2020 case poverty rate to regress to 2017/2018 levels" Frankly I'm surprised the effect was so small considering that the industries hit hardest by covid employ a heck of a lot of people who are near the poverty line to begin with. I would expect all those people to be pushed to the other side of the line resulting in a much more dramatic increase in the poverty rate.
I think using the word regress seems to imply that it was improving. Wealth inequality in the U.S. has been getting worse at faster rates, even before 2020.
Alternative title: "events of 2020 case poverty rate to regress to 2017/2018 levels" Frankly I'm surprised the effect was so small considering that the industries hit hardest by covid employ a heck of a lot of people who are near the poverty line to begin with. I would expect all those people to be pushed to the other side of the line resulting in a much more dramatic increase in the poverty rate.
>Frankly I'm surprised the effect was so small It's not over yet! And won't be for a long time. There are a lot of people just scrapping by right now. All it will take is one big financial hit to knock them down into true poverty.
In reality, there are a lot more people than this who are just on the edge of scraping by. Some of their own volition (some people on the edge make $200k+ and it's because of a series of poor decisions), but even more people because the poverty line doesn't even pay for their studio apartment (I see you, California!), much less food or anything else.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think that's what OP is saying and if that's the case, they are wrong. Minimum wage is not inflationary. It has other problems like the fact it never ever decreases poverty, and has a good chance of increasing unemployment, and is a one-size-fits all ($15/hr in NY, is different than $15/hr in Alabama) ... but it isn't inflationary. You're not creating new money.
Agreed, the reason minimum wage is bad policy and unethical is that you're making it illegal to pay someone below a certain threshold, which stated differently is making it illegal for a sufficiently unskilled worker to get any job. But I don't see how minimum wage could be inflationary, but if it were it certainly wouldn't be enough to "wipe out savings" - that requires hyperinflation.
Inflation is a boogeyman. I heard a friend of mine not wanting any sort of covid stimulus checks because it would make his and his family's savings depreciate.
The poverty rate is an awful metric. It simply counts the number of people who earn below a certain income. So people dipping $1 below the line are counted the same as those dipping $10,000 below the line. So, poverty-rate alleviation measures can be implemented simply by focusing on the top end of those under the limit - of course, this doesn't help much. What we should really worry about is the poverty gap - the am…
> What we should really worry about is the poverty gap - the amount of income people need to get people above the poverty line. Is that not showing an increase right now too? I mean, I don't disagree that serious analysis needs more info than a single number. But... what's the policy distinction here that you're trying to argue? There's no mystery to the current situation: people are out of work due to the pandemic a…
Effective policy considers the true goal - people are living better - and takes into account Goodhart's law as possible. I would say OP is arguing that the latter goal metric is better for humans than the former, and I agree.
This and a spiraling mental health crisis are predictable outcomes from poor public health policies executed during the pandemic. For unskilled labor jobs like the service industry, lockdowns are devastating which has fueled the inequality fire in 2020. Now, talks for a massive federal minimum wage increase means further sending people into poverty by destroying the value of what small savings anyone on the bottom mi…
I just started reading Pikkety and at 2010 already private owned capital was at 600% of GDP (almost reaching pre WW1 lvl). I wonder how it's now when stock rised 4x in the last 4 years (probably will rise more with next relief). They have some DB online with such info. I'm of opinion that work is no longer profitable (and I have top non-exec salary). I'm not from US but IMO federal wage is stupid but on state lvl I w…
However, I doubt the politicians will do it as it's harder to explain.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Did you mean "stocks"?
"stonks" is a common internet meme standin for "stocks". In the same way "pwned" is a standin for "owned", etc.
I think it's not meant to suggest a typo, but rather the slurred accent that comes with being overenthusiastic and loud. I'd compare it to using "Murica" instead of "America" to sugges that somebody is being nationalistic -- and I think there's supposed to be a significant (but not perfect) overlap between the two groups.
Let them eat stonks (Downvotes? "Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", spoken in the 17th or 18th century by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread.)
You aren't being downvoted because people didn't get the reference. You are being downvoted because short joke responses are generally frowned upon on HN.