Why America's economy is soaring ahead of its rivals

Post by jjtheblunt » Thu, Dec 05, 2024, 4:50 PM UTC

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…

Post by s1artibartfast » Thu, Dec 05, 2024, 4:51 PM UTC

konschubert wrote: post #828

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…

Are you saying that the US has gotten poorer even though GDP has risen? Are you saying that you visiting your grandma one weekend is the same as someone washing, feeding and walking her every day?

Post by feoren » Thu, Dec 05, 2024, 4:58 PM UTC

trts wrote: post #867

agp2572 wrote: post #815

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would argue the opposite. If you compare US dollar to every other currency the value of their currency has decreased a lot compares to US dollar. This would be a plus to hold US dollar as their own currency has depreciated and holding more dollars has helped them reduce their losses. But it has one down side is that if you hold too much US dollar the country exposes itself to US monetary policy.

not sure there is a country on earth that you could save your money in the national currency and not watch inflation rip away the value of your earnings. The purchasing power of USD has declined 95% over the past century. Prettiest horse in the glue factory

Post by dr-detroit » Thu, Dec 05, 2024, 5:02 PM UTC

PittleyDunkin wrote: post #859

psychlops wrote: post #826

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 (…

Post by harimau777 » Thu, Dec 05, 2024, 5:04 PM UTC

ithkuil wrote: post #606

_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…

Perception can be manipulated in many ways. People get used to things and give for granted things that used to be luxuries a few generations back (see "hedonic treadmill") Combine that with active participants who control the media landscape and have a vested interest in painting a bleak picture so they can be the ones fixing it. And then of course there is the fact that things are of course objectively hard for many…