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Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

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Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#61

Post by ghaff »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #20
dylrich wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You make ~$90,000 a year and are barely getting by with no debt or children? Where do you live?

Silly Valley, probably. I was making 90k in the Boston area within the past few years. On that salary I was able to support two adults, pay back student loans faster than needed, max out my 401k (company match up to $10k or something like that) and build saving at a rate of about $1k/mo, go out to dinner every 3wk or so and have enough to direct meaningful amounts into my hobbies and other discretionary spending. Tha…

One thing that probably distinguishes Silicon Valley from other high-cost areas is that it's almost uniquely difficult to get out of the high cost zone while maintaining anything like a reasonable commute.

Metro Boston/Cambridge is pretty expensive these days as are some especially tony suburbs but you can get out toward reasonable property/rents relatively quickly. And, with the exception of newer outposts of companies from SV and elsewhere, a lot of existing tech is outside the city anyway.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#62

Post by maerF0x0 »

The government has all kinds of built in incentives for inflation to be reported as low, whilst simultaneously being high.

This kinda points at the ideas, though I don't actually agree with all the content: https://dailyreckoning.com/revealing-real-rate-inflation-cra...

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#63

Post by smnrchrds »

thesagan wrote: post #59
smnrchrds wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be clear, I haven't downvoted aphextron, but I disagree with them. Here is my objection: > The basic necessities of life have risen to perfectly match your income No, the basic quality of life has risen to perfectly match your income. Houses are more expensive compared to decades ago, but they have nice things like indoor plumbing, electricity, and fire retardant walls; all of which would have been a luxury if you…

“We are living longer and better lives compared to generations past” I appreciate all your writing, but statistics show lifespans in the U.S. are declining and housing is out of reach for increasing populations. On a mass society level that means something is very wrong and has been for some time. (Lots of folks like to also blame drug use but those have been around for ages.) I think you’re missing the big picture.…

> I appreciate all your writing, but statistics show lifespans in the U.S. are declining

Living in Canada, my perspective is a bit different. We have not observed the drop in life expectancy that the US has. But then again, let's keep things in perspective. Even after the drops, life expectancy in the US is higher than even early 2000s, let alone 60s or 70s:

https://data.oecd.org/chart/5ccg

>> “No, the basic quality of life has risen to perfectly match your income.”

> What? That sounds ideological.

Not ideological. Maybe my phrasing was ambiguous, but that sentence was supposed to be a summary of what I expanded on for the rest of my comment.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#64

Post by araes »

The claim of a difference is 'slightly' exaggerated (~1%) However, the overall inflation data is quite interesting.

- Best tracker of inflation - drinking

- Most inflated - Learning and having a roof over your head

- Least inflated - Changing location and playing dress-up (you or your home)

As always, rent seeking behavior is an issue (or a good investment area).

Getting smarter is getting more difficult (or at least more costly) and unfortunately compounds. If you are already educated and ahead, you don't have to pay those costs, and you have a higher vantage point from which to choose opportunities (like charging other people rent).

Not sure if I believe food - or else probably has a huge amount of spread within it. Some food has dramatically risen, others not (tuna - high, bread - low). Noisiness of food line probably reflects this. An unlikely friend in bulk negotiators like Walmart / Kroger / Amazon. "-> Tyson, Coke, Gen. Mills, keep your prices low."

Transportation is opportunity. Don't like where you are? Leave. Potential foraging range - up. Go live in India, where food is $4 a day, and rent is $100-200. Course, this helps baby boomers too. Retire in Kathmandu, Tangier, Santiago. Lots of money just goes further.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#65

Post by wheaties »

araes wrote: post #64

The claim of a difference is 'slightly' exaggerated (~1%) However, the overall inflation data is quite interesting. - Best tracker of inflation - drinking - Most inflated - Learning and having a roof over your head - Least inflated - Changing location and playing dress-up (you or your home) As always, rent seeking behavior is an issue (or a good investment area). Getting smarter is getting more difficult (or at least…

There's a good article I can't find that shows that the things you need are the things that have risen in cost the most while the things you want have risen the least. Hence, the inflation rating actually tracks only the homes you want a d is becoming disconnected from actual costs of living.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#66

Post by PaulHoule »

Expensive health care is worst for older people (until you hit 65 and qualify for single payer)

Expensive education is worst for younger people, unless you are an older person who wants to pay for your children's education.

Expensive housing is (mostly) good for the old and bad for the young. If an oldster got settled in Palo Alto back in the 8-bit era, they've paid low taxes since they've never sold their house and will take a stupendous capital gain.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#67

Post by j-c-hewitt »

smallnamespace wrote: post #22
j-c-hewitt wrote: post #18

This is a great example of how you can make up anything by aggregating unrelated statistical measures and then mislead people with a new definition on top of another woozy commonly used definition.

We can certainly argue the technical merits of how they created their 'generation-weighted price index', but differential impacts of inflation seems plausible on the face of it. If you are looking for work in a big city, and big city real estate prices are growing much faster than nationwide, that is a real effect.

Well... sort of, but why call it 'inflation'? That certain age groups tended to act in certain ways and were impacted by differences in price trends in different ways -- that's accurate. What's misleading or confusing is to then redefining the already-muddled term of 'inflation' from an absolute index to multiple indices and then trying to say that because Index B went up more than Index A that some group of people were much more impacted by Index B than another people were by Index A.

The Fed has a price index that most entities in the US use to measure what it calls inflation. There are plenty of arguments out there that go into detail about how that index can be misleading and how certain institutional prerogatives encourage the people who maintain that index to keep it misleading (e.g. many entities are obligated to increase salaries and pension payouts tied to the CPI).

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#68

Post by seanmcdirmid »

araes wrote: post #64

The claim of a difference is 'slightly' exaggerated (~1%) However, the overall inflation data is quite interesting. - Best tracker of inflation - drinking - Most inflated - Learning and having a roof over your head - Least inflated - Changing location and playing dress-up (you or your home) As always, rent seeking behavior is an issue (or a good investment area). Getting smarter is getting more difficult (or at least…

Unfortunately Medicare is a big deal that prevents boomers from retiring abroad. If you are rich and can afford private healthcare (even according it at a discounted rate in India or Thailand can be tough), then it’s a great idea, but then you don’t really need to.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#69

Post by user5994461 »

wtvanhest wrote: post #53
3pt14159 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Housing is largely a problem to do with interest rates and mortgages inflating the land. The actual construction materials themselves (at least here in Canada) aren't too bad. I keep wondering why someone doesn't kickstarter a town. It has all the right incentives. Make guidelines that enforce density in the core and do common sense things from day 1, like wire fibre to every domicile.

> Housing is largely a problem to do with interest rates and mortgages inflating the land. Interest rates and debt impact the value of a property, but do not impact the willingness to pay (i.e. the rental market). If rates were 10%, people would still be willing to pay $3k/month for a 1 bed in san francisco. The only difference is that buyers would have to adjust their offering prices due to the additional interest e…

If rates were 10%, the mortgage would be 10 years instead of 25 and that would change everything.

Re: Current Inflation Has Different Effects on Different Age Groups

#70

Post by 3pt14159 »

smnrchrds wrote: post #63
thesagan wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“We are living longer and better lives compared to generations past” I appreciate all your writing, but statistics show lifespans in the U.S. are declining and housing is out of reach for increasing populations. On a mass society level that means something is very wrong and has been for some time. (Lots of folks like to also blame drug use but those have been around for ages.) I think you’re missing the big picture.…

> I appreciate all your writing, but statistics show lifespans in the U.S. are declining Living in Canada, my perspective is a bit different. We have not observed the drop in life expectancy that the US has. But then again, let's keep things in perspective. Even after the drops, life expectancy in the US is higher than even early 2000s, let alone 60s or 70s: https://data.oecd.org/chart/5ccg >> “No, the basic quality…

If it is any consolation I've upvoted all you. I think in many ways things are better (I don't even think when I put stuff in my grocery basket, and I buy "expensive" humane stuff) but in many ways things are harder. Programmers are in a social class where certain goods are really expensive in either time or money or both and because housing is so out of reach for some people it just feels impossible to even get a downpayment.

I also really think that two forces have simultaneously make the west worse. First, we try to educate everyone in the same subjects until they're almost adults. It's dumb. The level of skill you can get working with wood or computers from the age of 5 just pales in comparison with what you can pickup at 18. There should be a baseline, absolutely, but there should also be a measurable amount of tailored specialization from a young age. The second thing that is making the west worse is an absolutism on thinking about rights around property. Car-centric cultures are so stupid and inefficient. Everyone builds their own pool. Everyone builds their own gym. Nobody is happy because we're all separated from each other.

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