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Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

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Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#451

Post by lotsofpulp »

tjahsg wrote: post #252

These opinion pieces are so tiring. Talking points: - The sanctions induced energy crisis exists, but is not the reason. - The lazy Europeans are the problem. - We need more tech. - Trump will ruin everything. All of this is false. There is no mention of the dollar status as the reserve currency, which enables the reckless U.S. deficit spending while shielding it from the consequences. There is no mention of German i…

>There is no mention of the dollar status as the reserve currency, which enables the reckless U.S. deficit spending while shielding it from the consequences.

This isn’t a given. People around the world like to use USD because they trust USD to buy the things they want in the future.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#452

Post by dyauspitr »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #201

Tech is the problem. The internet is global (or perhaps two or three regions), and winner takes all - so global value creation is being experienced everywhere, but being monetised in the US stock market. Take tech out of the equation and the US is pretty much on par with EU, and China and India are just burning the coal for everyone else.

>China and India are just burning the coal for everyone else.

India has 19 nuclear reactors it is planning to complete by 2030. 7 under construction now to be completed by 2026.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#453

Post by tptacek »

DonnyV wrote: post #315
ajross wrote: post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> a good chunk of the population live paycheck to paycheck. Is that not true in other economies? Was that not true at some (mythical?) point in the past? What number, specifically, would you like to see before you're willing to declare "The Economy is Good"? Basically the point you made is an example of the Economics of Vibes. It's non-falsifiable and allows you to justify any position you want. We're about to start…

Family needs to make $107,700 a year to own a home. Apartment in a moderate-cost area is about $70,000-$100,000/year. Median salary in the US is $59,300 What considered poverty level in the US for: 1 person: $15,060 2 people: $20,440 3 people: $25,820 4 people: $31,200 According to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau, around 50% of Americans make $70,000 or more annually. That means about 50% of the US can not af…

A house in a nice part of Chicagoland walking distance from a train stop will run you 300-350k.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#454

Post by dyauspitr »

epolanski wrote: post #403
thuanao wrote: post #394

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you remove non-industrial and financial activity from US GDP, the economic picture is bleak. US and G7 have been steadily deindustrializing while BRICS have been doing the opposite. US GDP is misleading in the sense that it increasingly includes a large portion of economic activity that isn't actually producing tangible wealth.

But as an average European I realistically have all I need and most of my needs are either food/commodities or non-industrial services.

But is it sustainable?

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#455

Post by dyauspitr »

rich_sasha wrote: post #48

One thing this article doesn't touch on is the soaring government debt, which is now really quite big: 120%, and IIRC if you add municipal debt, it's more like 140%. That is high. It also seems like much of the recent growth has been fueled by this debt. It's unclear how this is going to unwind. America can afford, apparently, to run their deficit hot, but not forever and without limit. So at some point they have to…

As long has the US has military supremacy it won’t unwind because the military backs the dollar. As soon as that is gone then it’s all one big free fall.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#456

Post by cyberax »

luizfzs wrote: post #255

But is the majority of the population thriving? It is very misleading (at best) to say the economy is strong when a good chunk of the population live paycheck to paycheck. A handful of companies are thriving, but barely any of its employees.

> But is the majority of the population thriving?

Objectively? Yes. People are living better than before the pandemic.

However, incessant propaganda works. Fox News and AM talk radio convinced people that the prices went up by like 10x and the country is on the brink of collapse.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#457

Post by dyauspitr »

HellDunkel wrote: post #263

When younger, i often thought about moving to the US because it offered so many amazing and creative places to work. Most of these places seem to have gone completely or are in a somewhat unhealthy state (hollywood, video games). Boring tech companies took over and often times they stared with just a website - for gods sake- this is so lame! I‘m so happy i didnt go back then- I think it would have depressed me to exp…

The US is still definitely one of the top places for creative work. China might be coming up fast on that due to the sheer vertical manufacturing capability they possess.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#458

Post by nielsbot »

jandrewrogers wrote: post #386
luizfzs wrote: post #255

But is the majority of the population thriving? It is very misleading (at best) to say the economy is strong when a good chunk of the population live paycheck to paycheck. A handful of companies are thriving, but barely any of its employees.

US Federal Reserve studies indicate that the percentage of US households with no excess income after necessary expenses (as distinct from "ordinary expenses" as a term of art) is on the order of 10-15%. This definition roughly matches most people's intuition of what "living paycheck-to-paycheck" means. That isn't nothing but it implies 85-90% of Americans are not actually living paycheck-to-paycheck. There is another…

So is your argument that there's no "affordability crisis" in the US?

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#459

Post by jacobr1 »

luizfzs wrote: post #255

But is the majority of the population thriving? It is very misleading (at best) to say the economy is strong when a good chunk of the population live paycheck to paycheck. A handful of companies are thriving, but barely any of its employees.

Noah Smith recently wrote a good blog post on some of the nuances here:

https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/paycheck-to-paycheck-and-five-...

There are too many people living in poverty in the US, or 1-step removed from it, but much less than are commonly believed.

Re: Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

#460

Post by fuzztester »

Leary wrote: post #181
bloppe wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PPP matters on an individual level, but not at all on a national level. GDP at market exchange rates is what actually matters in terms of what a country can accomplish on the world stage. And even on an individual level, PPP struggles with accuracy, because things are only ever roughly equivalent. There's a reason why so many individual people are trying to move from China and India to the US and EU, despite all the…

Wrong. People move from China to India despite the higher prices in America precisely because the increase in wages is more than enough to offset the higher prices.

>People move from China to India despite the higher prices in America

?

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