281–290 of 461 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you feel we're living in deflationary times?
Don’t mean to butt in, but personally, the fact that I’m typing this on a piece of $300 hardware (phone) that would have cost millions in the 80’s, hundreds of thousands in the 90’s, and definitely over a thousand in the 00’s is a good indicator.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you feel we're living in deflationary times?
Don’t mean to butt in, but personally, the fact that I’m typing this on a piece of $300 hardware (phone) that would have cost millions in the 80’s, hundreds of thousands in the 90’s, and definitely over a thousand in the 00’s is a good indicator.
I wonder if there's a good way to model the cost of children over the last 100 years? My guess is fewer people are having children due to the financial costs rising considerably.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you feel we're living in deflationary times?
Don’t mean to butt in, but personally, the fact that I’m typing this on a piece of $300 hardware (phone) that would have cost millions in the 80’s, hundreds of thousands in the 90’s, and definitely over a thousand in the 00’s is a good indicator.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not existing is better than existing? Suicide rates should be 99% then right, because if you’re not a 1%er it’s not worth living. That said, I do fear my kid will live to see something we’ve made apocalyptic movies about. Hell, we all might.
I think you're making a leap in OP's reasoning: they didn't say that for _currently existing_ people it's better to not be existing. I suspect the point is more that it will be better for future generations to limit the _size of_ future generations, lest we increase the amount of strain on the climate/energy production/water scarcity/etc. I also think OPs reasoning has more to do with the considerations of inflicting…
He said the guys kids would be better off if he didn’t have them. And basically said he had them for selfish reasons (kids make your life better)
Seems like you’re the one making leaps, I read what was written
This is probably mostly covid related. But I personally don’t even consider kids. Kids are a life long commitment. I’d only make that commitment if I felt long term stability or at least optimism. Austerity and cynicism dominate the US right now though. It’s a recipe for strife, struggle, and things that rip families and countries apart. It doesn’t have to be this way in the US.
> Austerity and cynicism dominate the US right now though. This is greatly exaggerated by news media and social media, especially with everyone stuck at home. The contrast between what I read online and what I see in the real world has never felt larger. Austerity refers to reduced government spending, which is the opposite of what we’re experiencing right now. We’re spending so much that my CPA friends are working o…
All I see is "we can't afford to do this" while the military wastes trillions of dollars on pet projects.
When I look at how other countries treat their citizens, I can't help but think of the guy who calls us, "human capital stock."
That, IMHO, is how the U.S. views its citizens.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why do you feel we're living in deflationary times?
Because we are. Without taking action to curb it, the US will start to see deflation take hold. This is due to an overall aging demographic who are beginning to leave the workforce, an overall increase in savings/investment across the population, lowered rates of consumption, the younger demographic having less children, higher rates of education and on and on. This has already begun to in both Germany and Japan. In…
30-40y ago it was not uncommon for a single pension to cover all expenses of:
- food
- car or two
- paying a mortage
- having 4 kids going to school
- other household expenses
- saving up money
/
Currently it is not possible. How in such a case do you still think we live in deflation times?
I would rather say that “some things” became cheaper due to technology advancements, but common things inflated so drastically, its literally impossible for young people to start families with sustainable life.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you accounted for development induced appreciation? Perhaps a similar home further from the city center would be a more suiting comparison? Anecdotally, in central New York housing prices have gained only modestly. The 2008 financial crisis didn't have a large effect on prices here either. But... development in central New York is near zero.
The Amish are fleeing high land prices in Pennsylvania. There is development of a sort.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A different environmentalist worldview that I was raised with (as one of four kids of environmentalist parents): Kids raised with an environmental mindset will have a larger positive impact than having fewer or no children. Their impact will outweigh their environmental footprint.
I’m curious how the logic works for that. I’ve always assumed that there’s effectively no way for an individual human to net-negative their own emissions/energy consumption/whatnot, just because of the sheer amount of material they need/use/consume (at least, in a Western society). A few outliers (Greta Thornberg?) may be able to effect sufficient policy to counteract their own environmental impact, but in the genera…
0. Your own environmental impact is significantly reduced, so the baseline to "counteract" is lower than "Western society".
1. Change happens incrementally. Moving the needle in small ways slowly changes the big picture. Greta is moving the needle in big ways within her lifetime, but like you say, that's not the norm.
2. Raising awareness and leading by example can have an outsized impact in your community.
3. Voting and other political involvement (won't turn this political, but every vote matters, especially for local issues that might be decided by 50-100 votes).
4. Supporting companies that align with your values. Consider the total dollar spend of an individual over the course of their life.
5. Charitable giving. Tons of great work is being done around the world by non-profits. Even if you don't pursue a career in non-profit work, donating is tax deductible and goes a long way.
6. Raising your own children with a similar mindset.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you mean? Inflation can be easily created - just create more dollars and credit them to people's bank accounts; you will soon see all kinds of prices going up.
If this was true, then the monetary policies of the 2008 financial crash and the 2020 pandemic would both have created consumer price inflation. They haven't. We've seen some asset price inflation instead. In effect we did create a bunch of dollars and credited them to people's home equity and mutual funds... where it just sat there doing a whole bunch of nothing to consumer prices and wages.
Right now much of that printed money is sitting in stocks and bonds, what happens when that is no longer a great place to be? What if those dollars decide they want to be used to buy say houses, instead of bonds?