141–150 of 720 posts
As Taleb likes to say, an efficient system is the opposite of a robust system, kind of by definition. We are now witnessing the effects of our modern hyper-efficient just-in-time global manufacturing system.
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Spend 5K on a really nice commuter electric bicycle. You'll be doing a solid for the Environment and you'll have an EV that makes you fitter.
My problem with dropping 5K on a bike is that they get stolen
And that's to say nothing of the opportunistic catalytic converter thefts if you park your car on the street overnight.
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Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.
>and might be more reliable in general Cars in, say, the 1960s were not "more reliable in general." It's not all semiconductor-related of course--they also rusted out quickly in areas that got snow--but 5 years/50K miles is about what you were looking at for vehicle lifetime. Also much lower fuel efficiency, to say nothing of lack of what we'd consider routine safety features today.
On that, Availability is the result of all the rest. With the important part of planned Availability, because that excludes stuff like planned maintenance. Arguably modern cars beat old ones in that category.
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Maybe this is a dumb question, but does anyone still produce cars without chips? It's possible, and in the current environment it seems like it would be a major competitive advantage-- and might be more reliable in general.
"Without chips" is not really possible if you want to sell in first-world markets, way to many requirements (engine efficiency, safety features, ...) you would be hard-pressed to meet otherwise.
So new cars are going to be come more expensive due to supply limitations and in turn used cars will continue to become more expensive as they can rise to a certain % of the new car price. At the same time housing prices continue to sky rocket. Seems like not a great time for someone just stepping into adulthood and financial responsibility.
Spend 5K on a really nice commuter electric bicycle. You'll be doing a solid for the Environment and you'll have an EV that makes you fitter.
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Not really a great time for anyone really, at least from the vantage point you're referring to.
If you're an established adult who owns a house and two cars, your assets have skyrocketted. You're having a great time.
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https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/08/18/opinion/infla... "In July, some of these sectors (used cars in particular) experienced a big deceleration in inflation, bolstering the argument" https://news.yahoo.com/us-used-car-bubble-burst-141009925.ht... "The price index for used vehicles rose 0.2% in July, after having risen at least 7.3% in each of the previous three months. The category was one of the few, along…
Used cars have a natural price cap, and my understanding is that it has been reached. They are too close to the price of a new car to go any higher.
The article (and others about this topic) indicate that the chip shortage isn't just a static. They all claim that chip and other supply chains (all based on South East Asian) are all under new pressure from delta strain spread. In fact, I wonder how much of this really is chip supply vs general supply. Most articles on this open with headlines about chip supply, but then contains quotes from Toyota about "supply" an…
[1] https://www.renesas.com/us/en/about/press-room/notice-regard...
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When the supply of goods goes down, it pushes prices up.
But inflation has to do with the supply of money, not the supply of goods, right? Genuine question
Inflation can be caused by many things: reduced supply, increased demand, expectation of future price increases, degradation in the quality/desirability of alternative products (eg bond yields), and, yes, an increase in the amount of dollars chasing an asset class/product/service.
Re: your original question, to be a bit pedantic, the supply of money on its own cannot cause inflation in consumer goods except via extremely odd channels (e.g., inflation expectations). A trillion dollars sitting in a bank account has approximately no effect on prices. Like a bullet in a chamber, money at rest has no effect on consumers' experience of inflation until it's propelled forward.
But it's important not to conflate causes with definitions. Also, attributing causes of inflation to particular instances of inflation is often extremely and inherently political. The inflation we've seen in consumer goods is a complex phenomenon with many disparate causes. Beware of anyone selling you a "just-so" story for the cause of inflation in a few dozen disconnected goods and services.
Especially if that story aligns perfectly with their ideology/product/investment/political campaign.
And even more especially if they start the story by conflating one possible cause of inflation with the very definition of the thing.
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If you're an established adult who owns a house and two cars, your assets have skyrocketted. You're having a great time.
how? can you capitalize on that upside somehow? sell them, live in a tent until prices are down?