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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

#521

Post by kortilla »

amluto wrote: post #515
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…

IMO a major deficiency in this calculation is children. Raising children costs money, and families without enough income may not feel that they can afford to raise children, and they may therefore not have children. This means that their income looks better than it really ought to, and it also reduces the birth rate. And, while the US’s birth rate is not catastrophically low, it is below replacement. This may have so…

But the birth rate is on par with the rivals it’s being compared to in this article/thread.

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

#522

Post by chasd00 »

Buttons840 wrote: post #504
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 unhap…

It’s tied to politics. If your team isn’t in power was just voted out then the economy sucks or is teetering on the brink of disaster. However, if your team is in power or just voted in then things are looking great or will turn around soon.

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

#523

Post by majormajor »

keybored wrote: post #339
majormajor wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing about the US is that it's very unevenly distributed. So it depends on what you'd be doing and how much money you'd be making / already have. If you have a professional-class job the US is often the best place in the world to be for illness. You'll have a fairly high salary (especially comparing globally) and an insurance plan with an out of pocket max that is probably 10-15k per year (or much less, for most…

> The thing about the US is that it's very unevenly distributed. So it depends on what you'd be doing and how much money you'd be making / already have. The Veil of Ignorance, anyone? Even invented by an American. People here need to consider the state of a society without spending 80% of the bytes on the what-if of being a 135+ IQ individual with a passion that coincides with the work tasks of amazingly successful m…

The tipping point is much closer to the median than that.

A lot of US cities and burbs like Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, are full of people who aren't super-genius-tech-bro-200k+ but aren't one illness away from catastrophe. Working boring-ass office jobs with decent - not spectacular, but with solid pros-and-cons even compared to Canada next door - benefits.

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

#524

Post by harimau777 »

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…

The problem that I see is that a million in net worth isn't enough to have a good retirement anymore now that rent is $2-3k a month in most major cities.

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

#525

Post by tills13 »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #466
spaceguillotine wrote: post #350

I've never known more homeless people before in my life in America, seems like its only the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer and less healthy.

That really depends where you go. Many places you will see zero homeless. Other places you can't throw a dirty syringe without hitting a homeless person.

Unnecessary demonization of the unhoused as only drug addicts. Have some empathy.

Many places simply ship their unhoused elsewhere (I'm Canadian and I remember reading about Calgary paying for one-way bus tickets to Vancouver). In other places, the winters are literally unsurvivable outside.

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

#526

Post by xenospn »

harimau777 wrote: post #524
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…

The problem that I see is that a million in net worth isn't enough to have a good retirement anymore now that rent is $2-3k a month in most major cities.

Save in America, retire elsewhere

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

#527

Post by blackeyeblitzar »

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.

A handful of companies (Microsoft Google Amazon Meta) will end up taking all the gains from the AI revolution as well. Capital wins because they don’t have to work as hard or worry about risks or access to talent. The playing field is tilted deeply against all entrepreneurs and really anyone lacking capital. I say this as a pro capitalism person. Something will need to change to give everyone enough influence and power.

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

#528

Post by jandrewrogers »

dgoldstein0 wrote: post #513
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…

... And is $1 million enough to retire on? Practically what probably matters is "how many years do you have to work to take care of your basic needs after you retire, and how does this change if you (a) have medical problems (b) want kids (c) [add your other variants of ordinary life choices people should be able to make]"

Almost certainly, yes. Many people live on far less than that and retirees have their income augmented by a government pension (i.e. Social Security) which is quite generous by global standards. This is all eminently achievable by the average American living an average life with kids and whatnot, many do. Making better than average life choices provides a lot of insurance against bad luck over the long run.

An under-appreciated point that extends far beyond the financial is that Americans have an anomalously high amount of optionality in life.

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

#529

Post by DonnyV »

DonnyV wrote: post #321
sangnoir wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But is the majority of the population thriving? Looking at the numbers: low unemployment, strong consumer spending, average income increasing at a rate higher than inflation, I'd say the majority is doing better than most years. They might not feel that way though, and we've been in a continuous vibes-cession since COVID.

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…

f.y.i. All stats come from the Fed and were dug up by chatgpt. Also all prices are median, not averages.

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

#530

Post by mempko »

newhotelowner wrote: post #447
nightski wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to differentiate living paycheck to paycheck out of necessity vs. choice. It might be surprising but there are a lot of people who choose to do so because why save when you could die tomorrow.

my employees have no problem doordashing Chipotle or tim Horton or Starbucks. It's 5 mins of driving. It's also not having any financial sense.

Is that why you hired them? What other disdain do you have for them?
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