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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

#501

Post by dgfitz »

cyberax wrote: post #456
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.

I dunno, doesn’t feel like we ever saw the ass-end of that “bullwhip effect” does it?

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

#502

Post by lotsofpulp »

tossandthrow wrote: post #470
lotsofpulp wrote: post #451

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

Oh boy, you should pick up a history book.

Care to provide any examples? If the US were to fall into disarray, the demand for USD would fall. People are free to choose GBP, Euro, Yen, Yuan, but apparently a lot of people choose USD.

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

#503

Post by thrance »

mullingitover wrote: post #382
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? It's important to understand that the stock market is a leading indicator . Everyone doesn't immediately get laid off when the stock market tanks. Everyone doesn't immediately get a raise when the stock market is roaring. A lot of people are just now experiencing the stock market mini-crash of 2022, when the pandemic helicopter money dried up. In two years a lot of pe…

The good health of the market is ultimately meaningless if there are no mechanisms in place for redistribution.

Historically it's been done through wages, but those have been de facto frozen since the 1970s.

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

#504

Post by Buttons840 »

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.

There's a lot of debate over the true state of the economy, but it seems that, one way or another, pessimism abounds.

Consider, the top voted comment on an article about how good the economy is a disagreement.

I wonder how many of the negative effects of an actual bad economy can also be caused by widespread pessimism? Is it better to have a bad economy filled with happy optimists, or a good economy filled with unhappy pessimists?

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

#505

Post by hibikir »

nielsbot wrote: post #458
jandrewrogers wrote: post #386

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Oh, it's pretty tough to be in your 20s in the US compared to other times. But we are comparing with other countries, and most have the very same pressures as the US, but with lower salaries.

I look at my home country, Spain, where salaries are far lower than in the US for most jobs, and housing costs are ballooning. People might not have huge student loans and very high healthcare bills, but taxes climb really fast when you go past minimum wage. You have people demonstrating because, in their 30s, they still cannot live independently. Pensioners helping their kids, because they get checks a bit over 2000 a month, which are much better than what the recent college graduates are making. If you compare median salary to median rent, or median condo price, the US is still more affordable.

For all the stresses we have in the US, there are few countries that aren't facing very similar situation.

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

#506

Post by sokoloff »

jakefromstatecs wrote: post #427
sokoloff wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know plenty of people making $250K/yr or more who are living paycheck to paycheck. At that point, it's not really the company that's the problem...

> I know plenty of people making $250K/yr or more who are living paycheck to paycheck. How?..

Stupid spending. (Or at least "unrestrained spending".)

These are not people I know, but some of what's in this article "rhymes with" things I see high-income, high-spending associates doing: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/06/budget-breakdown-of-a-couple...

From that article: "As Dogen puts it, they’re effectively “scraping by,” in part because they’re still living “paycheck-to-paycheck,” despite their generous salaries."

That's right: they're each making $250K/yr, and living paycheck-to-paycheck as they describe it.

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

#507

Post by abe94 »

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.

the living "paycheck to paycheck" claim isn't quite true, this article does a good job breaking it down: https://www.noahpinion.blog/p/paycheck-to-paycheck-and-five-...

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

#508

Post by known »

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.

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