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U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

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81–90 of 345 posts

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#81
post #55

The fact the Fed is even contemplating a rate hike tells me they're misreading what's going on. The inflation we're seeing isn't a result of a hot economy needing to be kept in check, it's the fact that 40% of China's production is on lockdown and just about every product made, regardless of where it's made, is relying on part(s) coming from China. Supply is constrained and therefore prices are rising. Likewise, supp…

All inflation is a direct consequence of monetary policy

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe also losing 1.1 million people (according to the CDC's "excess deaths" website) wasn't that good for our economy either.

I really don’t want to sound calloused because caring for the weak and the elderly is a pillar of civilizations, but my impression was that the bulk of “excess deaths” were not among the most economically active populations. I could just as easily see this having the opposite economic effect: reducing the burden on the state for such things as retirement and Medicaid.

The excess death were among active demographics too. And in addition, the long term covid was affecting active demographics too. And also, the parents who had to drop out of workforce due to childcare being much more difficult were also active demographic too.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#83
post #55

The fact the Fed is even contemplating a rate hike tells me they're misreading what's going on. The inflation we're seeing isn't a result of a hot economy needing to be kept in check, it's the fact that 40% of China's production is on lockdown and just about every product made, regardless of where it's made, is relying on part(s) coming from China. Supply is constrained and therefore prices are rising. Likewise, supp…

In my neck of the woods, by far the largest and most impactful inflation has been in the housing sector - 50% price inflation over the past two years. This is entirely attributable to the Fed's pumping of soft assets like stocks, leading to a bunch of paper millionaires cashing out.

Also due to the fact that we stopped building new homes after 08. If supply keeps up with rising demand prices don't change.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#84
post #55

The fact the Fed is even contemplating a rate hike tells me they're misreading what's going on. The inflation we're seeing isn't a result of a hot economy needing to be kept in check, it's the fact that 40% of China's production is on lockdown and just about every product made, regardless of where it's made, is relying on part(s) coming from China. Supply is constrained and therefore prices are rising. Likewise, supp…

Yes it's the perfect storm for economic theories... increases in the money supply and actual product shortages both causing inflation at the same time.

Meanwhile increasing interest rates are in a nasty intersection with banks and other lenders stuck with low interest 30 year loans on their books, which make them very vulnerable to any new lenders.

definitely popcorn time.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#85

Shows just how sensitive our economy is to small interest rate fluctuations, having lived around the zero bound for over a decade. We've encouraged everyone to lever out as far as possible while at the same time making real production more and more difficult (or, during the early lock downs, impossible) and, well, the long run is here. Keynes was right: he's dead. Unfortunately, we, and our children, are not.

I, for one, consider myself fortunate that I'm not dead. :)

I guess you're saying that Keynesian doesn't work all that well when growth in supply is constrained. This doesn't seem necessarily to be the case, to the extent that people can be convinced to buy things that aren't in short supply? Demand for many essentials is inelastic, though.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#86
post #6

GDP: -1.4% DOW: -8.36% YTD S&P500: -12.22% YTD NASDAQ: -20.17% YTD Inflation: 8.5% Interest rate: 0.5%(increasing once by 0.25%) Balance of trade: $-89.2B >they still think the Fed will be able to rein in inflation without triggering a recession. It was raised once and everything is collapsing underneath. Don't know how you look at all this and think 'it'll be fine'. There's a general rule that this kind of behaviour…

> food scarcity How much food rotted at the Texas border after Governor Abbott's PR stunt held it up? Estimated to be over $4Billion.

"food rotted" today != future "food scarcity"

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#87
post #35

GDP: -1.4% DOW: -8.36% YTD S&P500: -12.22% YTD NASDAQ: -20.17% YTD Inflation: 8.5% Interest rate: 0.5%(increasing once by 0.25%) Balance of trade: $-89.2B >they still think the Fed will be able to rein in inflation without triggering a recession. It was raised once and everything is collapsing underneath. Don't know how you look at all this and think 'it'll be fine'. There's a general rule that this kind of behaviour…

From a non-US perspective, it seems that a lot of Americans are quick to conclude that a civil war is around the corner, even on HN where one would hope for a more nuanced analysis. There can't be that many boogaloo boys on this forum, so I wonder how common this narrative is in the US at the moment to make it a go-to conclusion. Is it really common to hear talk of this in the US? From what I see of human nature, mos…

No it’s utter nonsense.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#88
post #49

Always wondering exactly what people mean when they talk of "civil unrest", and who and how will it start. Do the various riots in 2020 America or the Jan 6 storming of the capitol count? On the other hand, Elon Musk Twitter purchase: $44bn. There's plenty of money out there still. I think it's unlikely that merely raising rates will do anything, for two reasons: firstly there's a real need to do some fiscal policy a…

>Always wondering exactly what people mean when they talk of "civil unrest", and who and how will it start. Do the various riots in 2020 America or the Jan 6 storming of the capitol count? A whole lotta people, mostly outside the HN demographics, are real pissed off about a decade of public policy that has amounted to making their lives worse and worse at every juncture and now it's finally getting to the point where…

It's been a lot longer than a decade. Reagan kicked off the looting of the middle-class in the 80s, and both parties officially adopted that policy by the mid-90s, almost 30 years ago. It takes a long time to drive an airplane as big as the US into the ground, but we're finally starting to see the tires hitting the ground now.

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#89
post #55

The fact the Fed is even contemplating a rate hike tells me they're misreading what's going on. The inflation we're seeing isn't a result of a hot economy needing to be kept in check, it's the fact that 40% of China's production is on lockdown and just about every product made, regardless of where it's made, is relying on part(s) coming from China. Supply is constrained and therefore prices are rising. Likewise, supp…

In my neck of the woods, by far the largest and most impactful inflation has been in the housing sector - 50% price inflation over the past two years. This is entirely attributable to the Fed's pumping of soft assets like stocks, leading to a bunch of paper millionaires cashing out.

It's unfortunate the propaganda du jour is "Inflation is caused by $15 minimum wage and other table scraps for the poor."

Re: U.S. economy shrank at a 1.4% annual rate in the first quarter

#90
post #55

The fact the Fed is even contemplating a rate hike tells me they're misreading what's going on. The inflation we're seeing isn't a result of a hot economy needing to be kept in check, it's the fact that 40% of China's production is on lockdown and just about every product made, regardless of where it's made, is relying on part(s) coming from China. Supply is constrained and therefore prices are rising. Likewise, supp…

In my neck of the woods, by far the largest and most impactful inflation has been in the housing sector - 50% price inflation over the past two years. This is entirely attributable to the Fed's pumping of soft assets like stocks, leading to a bunch of paper millionaires cashing out.

> is entirely attributable to the Fed's pumping of soft assets like stocks

The fed only stopped buying MBS a month ago.

(Also, they hold like $2T+ of them on their balance sheet. Im sure the 'experts' over at the fed will say this has no effect on the current market)

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