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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

#851

Post by shermantanktop »

renewiltord wrote: post #609
_1tem wrote: post #588

If you go to the doctor with a problem and get a blood test and they say that everything looks fine, but you don’t feel fine, then you don’t say: “well the numbers are right, I should feel fine”. Rather you try to find what the numbers aren’t capturing, because you know something is wrong. Same with the economy. The perception of the economy being bad is really pervasive as demonstrated by the last election, and perc…

This is exactly what I tell software engineers. They’re always like “but the software is complex and it’s not straightforward to do what you’re saying” and they gave some nonsense metrics for what complex is. It’s as easy as adding a button to a webpage to create an XML that integrates with this other tool we use but they can never explain why it’s hard. They come up with some “cyclomatic complexity” but it’s obvious…

I really hope you forgot the /s?

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

#852

Post by grecy »

valval wrote: post #744
hunglee2 wrote: post #590

GDP is a measure of the marketisation of society. If I go visit my grandma over the weekend, my activities do not register on GDP. If I hire a care assistant for $800 per day to do so, that's $800 to national GDP. The encroachment of the market into society correlates with record levels of mental and physical health crisis. US life expectancy has declined over the past three years, even as 'the economy' has surged ah…

I also like the example where if you break someone’s window and they fix it for $300, that’s at least an extra $300 in GDP.

The best example is:

I give you $10,000 to eat a pile of shit.

You give me $10,000 to eat a pile of shit.

What's the result?

Two shit-eating grins and $20,000 added to the GDP.

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

#853

Post by Sloowms »

adammarples wrote: post #777
valval wrote: post #744

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also like the example where if you break someone’s window and they fix it for $300, that’s at least an extra $300 in GDP.

But they would have spent the 300 on something else

The point is that someone who spent 300$ to be in the exact same situation as they were before but the gdp seemingly is doing well. So they could have had a window and a sofa but only have a window in the example. So the gdp is increased but the people are not better of.

This example also cuts into personal efficiency going up. Not needing a car or burning gas because of a badly insulated house is negative for the gdp but good for the wealth of individuals.

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

#854

Post by Timber-6539 »

ffitch wrote: post #841
slifin wrote: post #803

The US dollar is the world's reserve currency So countries keep huge stores of dollars in their reserves because they need it for trade Then what happens is the US starts the money printer to pay for US government services This inflates the dollar and means that everyone who holds the dollar has lost value Including Americans who are paid for their labour with dollars and do not own assets So wealthy Americans/compan…

modern version of printing money is Quantitative Easing, but the US is in the opposite, Quantitative Tightening mode since 2022. Federal Reserve is essentially taking money out of circulation for the last two years.

To the contrary the M2 supply [0] indicates that the Fed's QT policy has barely taken any money out of circulation.

[0]https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/M2SL

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

#856

Post by Cumpiler69 »

vladgur wrote: post #667
nnechm wrote: post #617

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feels more and more like it's the best of times and the worst of times... Things feel off,but you have (mostly well-off) people talking about how great things are going to be and are. I suspect a lot of this correlates to the stock market. For the median millenial atleast, whatever you were taught growing up is just the wrong guide to understanding the world today. I think social media by its very nature, has to be u…

As I complete my travels through Argentina and a layover in Lima I realize that differences between poor and rich are much less stark in my opinion in the US and these LatAm countries where the percentage of population living below the local poverty line is 3 to 5 times higher than that of the USA So whatever you feel - it’s all relative

People don't realize that being broke poor in the US is a luxury life in most developing countries.

I'm not from the US but I saw some video of of how some homeless people live in the US, and it's a lifestyle most of the developing world would kill for: dumpster dive for freshly made pizza or quality supermarket produce that's still good just not legal to be sold anymore, all free of charge. If you have a medical issue, go to the ER and get top quality healthcare. Dumpster dive for perfectly usable clothes, computers, etc. That's a luxury life for 80% of the planet.

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

#857

Post by throwaway2037 »

_1tem wrote: post #588

If you go to the doctor with a problem and get a blood test and they say that everything looks fine, but you don’t feel fine, then you don’t say: “well the numbers are right, I should feel fine”. Rather you try to find what the numbers aren’t capturing, because you know something is wrong. Same with the economy. The perception of the economy being bad is really pervasive as demonstrated by the last election, and perc…

When you see a headline GDP growth figure, remember that this number does apply equally to all people. The US and its economy is vast, like all 50 countries of Europe put together. Recently, we are seeing that middle class and below really suffered in the last few years from high inflation, but the economic groups above fared much better. Also, new immigrants (usually unskilled) are doing better than natives. To be clear, I don't any of this post with spite for those doing well.

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

#859

Post by PittleyDunkin »

psychlops wrote: post #826
slifin wrote: post #803

The US dollar is the world's reserve currency So countries keep huge stores of dollars in their reserves because they need it for trade Then what happens is the US starts the money printer to pay for US government services This inflates the dollar and means that everyone who holds the dollar has lost value Including Americans who are paid for their labour with dollars and do not own assets So wealthy Americans/compan…

Close, but inflation also makes Americans poorer. Global asset holders (US included) are just fine as the dollar cost simply rises against the asset. Holders of dollars will lose value. Holders of dollar denominated debt (mortgages) are winners. The US Government does gain a lot of wealth doing this, but it doesn't necessarily trickle down to Americans or American companies.

> but it doesn't necessarily trickle down to Americans or American companies.

It absolutely does go to american companies—that's the entire point of the privatization movement america's been experiencing the last forty years. It's much more difficult to articulate how this reaches americans and builds actual wealth, though, and certain industries benefit more highly from being basically a private form of government (the defense industry, finance, airlines, critical tech companies, etc) than others.

If americans want to reap any windfalls from their "economy" (whatever americans even think that is—as best I can tell it functions in political discourse essentially the same way the Pontifex Maximus performing an augury functioned in ancient Rome) they're going to have to start demanding more concrete things than "jobs" and "stock performance" and "real estate markets".

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

#860

Post by Havoc »

_1tem wrote: post #588

If you go to the doctor with a problem and get a blood test and they say that everything looks fine, but you don’t feel fine, then you don’t say: “well the numbers are right, I should feel fine”. Rather you try to find what the numbers aren’t capturing, because you know something is wrong. Same with the economy. The perception of the economy being bad is really pervasive as demonstrated by the last election, and perc…

That’s also not a US phenomenon.

Hearing the exact same in UK too. The stats say things are ok but people standing at grocery checkout disagree

Strong divergence of 1% and rest

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