Forget inflation data. Companies are not doing raises and a lot are not doing bonuses. Is anyone honestly saying they spend less now than a few years ago? Would love to hear the back story.
Do you have data to indicate that companies are not doing raises or bonuses? or is this your opinion based on anecdotes?
We don't spend a lot more than a few years ago. Mortgage is fixed and we work from home so we don't drive much, so gas prices don't affect us much. Groceries and eating out is certainly more but wasn't a high percentage expenditure before. We get a lot of our groceries from Costco, who seem to pin the prices of certain staples, so we really aren't paying much more for milk, eggs, and of course rotisserie chicken.
overall inflation is entirely dependent on your personal "basket of goods" so some are affected less than others.
Most hacker news people aren’t experiencing any positive effects from inflation, since the tech industry is fundamentally about future growth rather than present income. Higher interest rates means less funding for ventures.
According to the economic stats, the average US worker is receiving raises that are slightly above cpi. Most workers aren’t professionals whether in tech or not.
The current situation is monetary deflation but price inflation. The same amount of money will buy more of the long term hard assets, but less consumer goods. That weirdness is due to government policy; large deficits on the one side drive up demand for consumer goods, and industrial policy constricts supply of consumer goods on the other side. Then in order to reduce the impact of these policies, the federal reserve constricts the money supply causing monetary deflation. So there’s less money, but prices are higher anyway.
Of course since there’s less money available for long term investments, at some point in the future the price inflation will worsen due to a reduced supply of consumer goods unless there’s countervailing effects.
I am spending less, but only because I am cutting back like crazy on certain items (storage unit emptied and put into spare room etc.).
Prices on food have certainly increased - 10lbs of Quaker Oats oatmeal at Costco went up about 15% , and the organic 5lb bag went from about $8 to $10.99 at the same time. Meat also, the Angus ground beef patties are $5/lb from Costco, up from I think $4/lb a year ago.
Rationing? You do rationing when there's not enough of something to go to everyone. What product needs rationing? Do you think there's a shortage of bread, or milk, or gasoline, or anything else?
Of course, being on HN, I'm aware of the GPU shortage. I'm all in for rationing the GPUs.
Exactly what is not available to everyone? Did you go to a grocery store and could not find bread? It never happened to me.
How would this rationing that you talk about work? Everyone is allowed to buy just 1 loaf of bread per day? One stick of butter?
Who would vote for such a measure? Not sure if you remember, but we still live in a democracy. How would you argue the need for rationing to voters? Without some extraordinarily strong arguments, voters will not give you their vote. Rationing is not something the US ever did in peacetime.
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 32.5 ms ] threadWe don't spend a lot more than a few years ago. Mortgage is fixed and we work from home so we don't drive much, so gas prices don't affect us much. Groceries and eating out is certainly more but wasn't a high percentage expenditure before. We get a lot of our groceries from Costco, who seem to pin the prices of certain staples, so we really aren't paying much more for milk, eggs, and of course rotisserie chicken.
overall inflation is entirely dependent on your personal "basket of goods" so some are affected less than others.
According to the economic stats, the average US worker is receiving raises that are slightly above cpi. Most workers aren’t professionals whether in tech or not.
The current situation is monetary deflation but price inflation. The same amount of money will buy more of the long term hard assets, but less consumer goods. That weirdness is due to government policy; large deficits on the one side drive up demand for consumer goods, and industrial policy constricts supply of consumer goods on the other side. Then in order to reduce the impact of these policies, the federal reserve constricts the money supply causing monetary deflation. So there’s less money, but prices are higher anyway.
Of course since there’s less money available for long term investments, at some point in the future the price inflation will worsen due to a reduced supply of consumer goods unless there’s countervailing effects.
Prices on food have certainly increased - 10lbs of Quaker Oats oatmeal at Costco went up about 15% , and the organic 5lb bag went from about $8 to $10.99 at the same time. Meat also, the Angus ground beef patties are $5/lb from Costco, up from I think $4/lb a year ago.
https://www.atlantafed.org/chcs/wage-growth-tracker
It prevent over consumption, brings down prices and helps the poor.
Of course, being on HN, I'm aware of the GPU shortage. I'm all in for rationing the GPUs.
it's not just about the shortage, it's also to prevent abuse and so it can be available for everyone
price increase is a good signal that a resource is getting stressed
Exactly what is not available to everyone? Did you go to a grocery store and could not find bread? It never happened to me.
How would this rationing that you talk about work? Everyone is allowed to buy just 1 loaf of bread per day? One stick of butter?
Who would vote for such a measure? Not sure if you remember, but we still live in a democracy. How would you argue the need for rationing to voters? Without some extraordinarily strong arguments, voters will not give you their vote. Rationing is not something the US ever did in peacetime.