Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life • Hacker News Board

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#81

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:13 PM UTC

daniel-cussen wrote: post #28

cs137 wrote: post #12

I worked in a grocery store in the late '90s, and the older customers (who grew up in the Great Depression) always carried penny pouches, because they remembered a time when one had to keep track of cents to survive. This is how I know that, even if we miraculously fixed our medical system tomorrow and outlawed private health insurance by a constitutional amendment, we'll still have, thirty years from now, 60-year-ol…

Doctors say they are the only profession that saves lives. Well they're the only profession allowed to save lives. And the only profession making money saving lives. Charging for saving lives. Price discriminating to save lives. What happens when they make a mistake in what someone is able to pay? EDIT (I tried replying but can't yet): The basic solution to make medicine cheaper is supply more medics. In Chile anybod…

[deleted]

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#82

Post by Broken_Hippo » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:13 PM UTC

daniel-cussen wrote: post #30

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Could you explain what you mean? Sure. I realize I waste a lot of time in supermarkets, shops or online stores, browsing/walking around and comparing prices just to penny pinch on low value things, when the savings I would make would have no meaningful impact on my yearly net worth, but the time and mental energy wasted browsing/walking around comparing prices could have better return on investment if used on other…

It's an adaptation to an environment where nothing you could do or say would earn you a raise, ever. Never get more money to take home, exploitation in the workplace. In comparison comparing for pennies on flour is fun, it's entertainment.

* In comparison comparing for pennies on flour is fun, it's entertainment.*

This just isn't true for me. Comparing pennies on flour is extremely stressful. At one time - a time when I couldn't pay for natural gas for proper heat nor hot water - I cried because I spent 25 cents more on a product I liked a whole heck of a lot better. That quarter might have been the difference between going to the laundry or washing clothing in the sink (with water heated on a hotplate). Or at least, this was what was in my head.

I generally don't count pennies for flour as much anymore, but it took years, divce, remarriage, and a move to another country to even get to that position. I still get pretty panicked about spending money. Usually it happens on things more than approximately $50-$100 (after exchange rate). Occasionally I just go without a haircut or don't buy new clothes despite a few holes/being a bit threadbare, though.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#83

Post by jnovek » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:13 PM UTC

usrn wrote: post #54

diob wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What... I don't know if you realize this but plenty of young folks need healthcare. Ultimately, we can do both (fixing healthcare and housing). But honestly more countries have solved healthcare than housing.

Maybe "plenty" need healthcare but all of them need housing. This sounds like some boomer whining about their issues and pretending to care about millennials.

I believe your perspective is limited by your experience.

As someone who is (a) a millennial and (b) has a chronic medical condition, I need medical care WAY MORE than I need to own a house. Or even rent a house. A crappy apartment will do. Right now I live in a relative’s basement.

I’ve learned to settle on living situations that I don’t love because medical care takes priority.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#84

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:14 PM UTC

medeshago wrote: post #78

daniel-cussen wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctors say they are the only profession that saves lives. Well they're the only profession allowed to save lives. And the only profession making money saving lives. Charging for saving lives. Price discriminating to save lives. What happens when they make a mistake in what someone is able to pay? EDIT (I tried replying but can't yet): The basic solution to make medicine cheaper is supply more medics. In Chile anybod…

I'm from Chile (and still live here). I don't know where you got the idea that anybody whot wants to be a doctor can go to a medical school without much effort. Medicine is by far the most exclusive career that you can apply to, they're always the highest scores in our version of the SAT (you can check the scores that are needed for one of our universities here https://www.uchile.cl/admision-y-matriculas/admision-reg…

[deleted]

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#85

Post by onemoresoop » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:14 PM UTC

medeshago wrote: post #78

daniel-cussen wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doctors say they are the only profession that saves lives. Well they're the only profession allowed to save lives. And the only profession making money saving lives. Charging for saving lives. Price discriminating to save lives. What happens when they make a mistake in what someone is able to pay? EDIT (I tried replying but can't yet): The basic solution to make medicine cheaper is supply more medics. In Chile anybod…

I'm from Chile (and still live here). I don't know where you got the idea that anybody whot wants to be a doctor can go to a medical school without much effort. Medicine is by far the most exclusive career that you can apply to, they're always the highest scores in our version of the SAT (you can check the scores that are needed for one of our universities here https://www.uchile.cl/admision-y-matriculas/admision-reg…

Yes, there are plenty of people who would work in the medical field not necessarily for the big pay but because of their calling, to care for the others. A lot of these people can't make it through the med school gauntlet and don't want to risk their mental health while in med school. Plus the crazy and insanely school loans... It's a system that disincentives the people with a calling and instead is replaced by people who can put up and have a stomach for a very complicated and inefficient system. While hospitals are run by MBAs this problem will not go away.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#86

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:15 PM UTC

Markoff wrote: post #69

tootie wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My grandma did this. Never left a penny on the sidewalk, always took the bread from a breadbasket home. Even my parents absorbed some of that behavior despite being born in the next generation.

> always took the bread from a breadbasket home Care to explain it to non native speaker from Europe? Is it some bakery chain and she took home some cheap/free leftover bread?

[deleted]

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#87

Post by jodrellblank » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:16 PM UTC

daniel-cussen wrote: post #28

cs137 wrote: post #12

I worked in a grocery store in the late '90s, and the older customers (who grew up in the Great Depression) always carried penny pouches, because they remembered a time when one had to keep track of cents to survive. This is how I know that, even if we miraculously fixed our medical system tomorrow and outlawed private health insurance by a constitutional amendment, we'll still have, thirty years from now, 60-year-ol…

Doctors say they are the only profession that saves lives. Well they're the only profession allowed to save lives. And the only profession making money saving lives. Charging for saving lives. Price discriminating to save lives. What happens when they make a mistake in what someone is able to pay? EDIT (I tried replying but can't yet): The basic solution to make medicine cheaper is supply more medics. In Chile anybod…

> "Lowest medicine costs in the OECD, blows every other developed country out of the water. America is the most expensive and Chile is the cheapest."

I just happened to have this RAND corporation ranking of "most expensive insulin in the world" from 2018 handy; America is first, Chile is second.

https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/cost-of-i...

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#88

Post by superhuzza » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:16 PM UTC

refurb wrote: post #29

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it looks like they used 2000 US Census data on driving, so yes, they only looked at that year The first major sentence under data: “The decennial census asks questions about commuting mode and time. ‘Journey to Work’ questions appear in the 1980, 1990, and 2000 censuses, and in the American Community Survey (ACS) (Ruggles et al. 2020). We use data from these three censuses, as well as the 2006/10, 2011/15, 2016, an…

It must be my years of reading shoddy economics studies that created that bias.

Given the exchange that just happened, are you sure they were all so shoddy? ;)

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#89

Post by Markoff » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:19 PM UTC

varispeed wrote: post #51

I know someone who immigrated from a former communist country. She talked how they lived in extreme poverty and now despite having great job and substantial savings, she pretty much lives the way she learned. For instance cooking the same food her parents used to cook from whatever they managed to find, only wearing used clothing. When her phone was stolen and she had to buy a new one, she literaly cried for a week t…

I perfectly understand her, I am in similar position despite being in top 3% earners in Czechia I will refuse to buy overpriced goods I know they are cheaper in other shop. I have 4 years old phone, wanted to upgrade for really long time, but I don't see the value in new one worth spending that much money for flagship just because I want compact phone with good camera and battery (Pixel 4A was closest price wise, but battery and punch hole killed it) despite I could buy easily 4-5 flagships from my monthly income.

Is there something wrong though with keeping your spending habits low instead splurging on stupid things and risking potentially you will have to adjust them, if you lose job? I find it better to just keep them pretty much stable no matter how high is the income. Though I would not touch second hand clothes, but would not have problem to buy second hand phone and I consider people buying brand new cars crazy, you will lose lot of value just after leaving the dealership.

It probably helps my wife is (stereo)typical Chinese who will reuse everything and has problem to throw away anything, that's even more extreme than me not buying overpriced goods when I know they are cheaper elsewhere (I'm actually supporting price competition this way, sadly most of the people are lazy and don't give a F about few cents causing inflation for everyone). I love especially expiring food with 60-70% discounts, finding best possible deal makes me probably more happy than products itself.

Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life

#90

Post by photochemsyn » Wed, Jun 15, 2022, 2:20 PM UTC

Mindless consumption is nothing but a disease, of the mental illness variety. People who get a dopamine burst or some similar neurotransmitter release when they go shopping have been indoctrinated into patterns of behavior that do them no good in the long run. They'll end up with a house crammed with possessions they never use, bought on a whim in order to make themselves feel better.

A better mentality is to always think: "Do I really need this product/service, or can I make do with things on hand that I can rebuild/repair/reuse in some manner, and am I sure this purchase isn't just for the dopamine reward?"

Sometimes the answer will be yes, and a simple purchase can have a lot of positive knock on effects - good tools, for example, allow you to repair things that would otherwise cost much more to replace, and last much longer than cheap tools.

The claim that economic growth relies on consumer confidence (high levels of consumption) is also pretty suspect and relies a lot on how you define 'growth' - what's wrong with a steady-state economy with a stable human population and fixed levels of demand for goods and services, anyway?