My grand-parents lived through the Great Depression and were the most frugal people I've ever met.
Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
331–340 of 478 posts
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#332Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dealing with cash is complicated actually. You need to protect it from theft. You need to count it daily. You need a bank to deposit it. You need to have change because people don't bring exact amounts. Having change requires a bank or some other facility to exchange currency with. Cards require a machine, some kind of network connectivity, and an account. It's actually a lot easier to deal with as a small business.…
Yes, but I was talking about a scenario where there is no network connectivity and hence no ability to take card payments. In the case of getting paid something versus getting paid nothing, I am guessing most merchants will opt to put in the work to accept cash rather than shut down.
I saw a supermarket operate with calculators ~10 years ago when power grid was off for days. I don't believe I will see it again at least not in any big store as financial conciliation is a PITA and the old ways are lost. But small vendors that are often marginalized by the market will.
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#333I grew up and watched Enron implode with stories of life savings going poof. That influenced me to sell every vesting round which is averaging. This strategy always haunted, but thankfully my performance made up for it.
With the recent crash, the stock went down over 50% and it turns out that my strategy yielded me an average loss of 22% from peak.
I feel like it is more optimal to have those scars to be cautious earlier than later. That being said, there is also a truth in taking more risks earlier in life.
There is a balance to be achieved.
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#334Earlier quoted context omitted.
How many years earlier does that let you retire?
Is that the only goal people are supposed to have in life?
if you're a worker, then mostly yes. Ideally, self-fulfilling goals that require those extra 40-60 hours you're giving to a company then can be diverted. Not everyone can work at ChangeTheWorld corp for their day job.
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#335Earlier quoted context omitted.
Even if they supply of doctors was infinite, there is still the problem of demand being basically inelastic. What would the incentive of healthcare providers to lower prices? Inelastic demand means there is no incentive to lower prices, because there is no where else for someone to go and comparison/price shop. If you are hit by a bus, there is no ability for price negotiation to get healthcare. Also blaming "corpora…
> What would the incentive of healthcare providers to lower prices? In case of life or death emergencies, your insurance or ambulance driver would send you to a reasonably priced doctor, and doctors that charge unreasonable prices would go out of business. But my guess is that life or death emergencies do not account for most doctor visits. > Also blaming "corporatism" is basically just a meme at this point, because…
Their analogy is bad, and it’s valuable to call out the nuance.
The statement is a reaction to blaming free market economics when the reality is a scenario of the opaque third party payer system in a highly regulated environment. Consumer gets no price transparency, state regulatory boards made up of current market suppliers control market entry - say what you want about it’s appropriateness but the US medical industry hardly resembles a free market.
“Corporatism” may be a ham-handed way to call this out, but it’s not helping society to lay the medical industry’s problems at the feet of capitalism. This problem of cronyism in markets (especially) exists in communist economies as well. It’s throwing out the baby with the bath water.
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#336Earlier 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.
Yep, my parents are baby boomers and definitely have this ingrained in them. I also have some habits around eating where I (usually) waste nothing, which was instilled in me by my grandfather.
Not wasting food is just normal though, or is it just so ingrained in me that it only seems so?
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#337Earlier quoted context omitted.
That 1-2% is what they pay you for all your data. Credit cards are a key component of data brokers.
It's a refund on the interchange fee from not doing chargebacks and paying your bills on time. Your data is not interesting or valuable, that's your ego talking.
Data brokering is a 200 billion dollar industry. Some individual data brokers say they have data on half of all transactions in the US, so it's safe to say that your transactions are more likely to be sold than not.
Nobody cares about your data (unless you're high profile), but -- for example -- hedge funds and the like will spend big bucks to get aggregate sales data before this quarter's financial reports are written.
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#338Earlier quoted context omitted.
what if i told you a lot of fossil fuels go into producing electric cars, which then drives up the price of them making them out of reach for the avg person
I'm sorry, but are you saying that the high price of EVs is due to fossil fuel prices? EVs were far out of reach of the average person well before fuel prices ticked up. They're priced high because they're based on relatively new technology and processes.
no i’m saying high energy prices make them even more expensive
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#339I was a kid during both oil shocks of the 1970s. That has absolutely nothing to do with my driving. What does, and not just for driving, is the family taught cultural value of 'don't be wasteful'. So unlike so many people today, I don't make 12 trips a day to stores/friends/whatever when I can just make one or two if I actually think 5 minutes ahead. That applies whether gas is $1 or $5 per gallon. I also try to make…
> I don't make 12 trips a day to stores/friends/whatever when I can just make one or two Forget gas: This type behavior is a waste of time! The most precious resource of all.
"Waste" is subjective. Some people may enjoy driving/running a bunch of errands (I find it fun sometimes when I have nothing else to do).
Re: Price shocks in formative years scar consumption for life
#340Earlier quoted context omitted.
Looking at this it’s mind boggling how much the US is being overcharged vs all other countries. How are Americans putting up with paying 400%-900% more than any other country?
It's not "putting up with". What are they going to do otherwise, not take insulin?
Demand action from their representatives. Works in a lot of other areas but not in health care. I guess the lobbies are too strong.