• suburban_hillbilly@lemmy.ml
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    19 days ago

    Really glad the president of the USA finally decided to pull the lower inflation lever in the oval office.

    • Moops@fedia.io
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      19 days ago

      I look forward to all the Biden “I did this!” stickers lauding his administration for lowering inflation.

      • doingthestuff@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Lower inflation doesn’t mean lower prices - which we need, and/or higher wages - it means prices are going up a little more slowly. Pointing at a $9 jar of mayonnaise with an “I did this” isn’t going to win many people over.

        • caffinatedone@lemmy.world
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          17 days ago

          It shouldn’t mean lower prices; deflation is bad, we just want a low rate of inflation. What we do want is for wages to outpace that, and for the past couple of years, they have for people at the lower end of the scale (which is also good)

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      Why are you asking Lemmy? Wage growth has been outpacing inflation. You should be getting on that train yourself if you want it.

        • mean_bean279@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          Then your union is negotiating it if they’re of any value. All the teachers unions around me negotiated 14-25% raises over 3 years over the last few years. If you’re a younger teacher you should look to job hop though. If you’re tenured you’re sorta stuck. In my area there’s three districts of the like 40~ I always push people that are new to end up in as once tenured in them you’ll earn well over 6 figures, even at the elementary level.

          Source: former education and still friends with my teacher colleagues.

          • NineMileTower@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            The union is currently negotiating. It’s a strong union. I’m in year 5. I’ve been looking around, but my position is highly sought after (PE Teacher) and the good positions go to people with much more experience. Also, I like where I’m at. It’s a low income area. The parents and admin let me do my thing.

            • mean_bean279@lemmy.world
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              19 days ago

              Low income is also better in uncertain budget times as Title 1 funds make sure they have both fed and state funds. Here in Cali our property taxes mean that the schools in poor areas are the most well funded and the schools in rich older areas are the least well funded. Just with variations on what “rich” means here too.

              If you have a state pension system too don’t forget to look into how that works for your district. There are some in my area that actually don’t pay the full percentage so teachers have a worse retirement than if they went to a different district with slightly less pay. So it’s all about the long game.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      Sure. But inflation is down, we didn’t go into a recession, and wage growth has been outpacing inflation for over a year now.

      This is good, we’re going in the right direction. Deflation would be way worse.

      • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        We should raise the minimum wage until it is commensurate with the price gouging. All at once, since none of the corporations eased us into higher prices.

        But we have zero parties in this country that are willing to raise the minimum wage at the national level.

      • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        Going in the right direction is fantastic except that it takes too long to really feel the impact, so all the low information voters will put in a republican, they’ll just happen to be in office when the good times hit, but then they’ll ruin it completely, which won’t be felt until a Democrat takes over, who then will have to clean up the mess, repeat ad infinitum

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          18 days ago

          You don’t have to go any further than these comments to find plenty of people who have no idea how any of this works. lol

          I’m hoping this time you’re wrong because there is a whole lot more on the line right now than just the economy.

    • Asafum@feddit.nl
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      19 days ago

      Yeah but unfortunately that’s never going to change. Inflation is the rate of increase and they always want a rate of increase, just at 2%.

      It’s never going to go negative because growth for the growth gods!! :(

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Actually, it will never go negative (I hope) because if it goes negative we’re probably in for a massive global recession that will introduce untold suffering.

        You think they aim for 2% because that’s what’s good for rich people? 2% is the magic number for the whole economy.

        • orcrist@lemm.ee
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          19 days ago

          Who taught you that? Remember, economists funded by rich people have obvious biases… And what happens if our salaries and pensions are indexed to the cost of living? Is the reasoning still good?

          • drphungky@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            Just learned I was funded by rich people. Did I miss a paycheck somewhere?

            -an actual economist, telling you deflation is bad

          • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            Populist candidates used to actually argue for higher inflation. See the free silver movement of the late 19th century. With some inflation present, the real value of all debts goes down over time, as long as you make the interest payments.

            • orcrist@lemm.ee
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              17 days ago

              There are many ways that a government could handle excessive debt. Inflation is one method that is to some degree successful, and also to some degree a complete failure in contemporary America. How many people have student loan payments when they graduated college a couple of decades ago? That’s just shocking. Which is to say, interest rates are one tool, but at the moment they are not sufficient to handle the problems society is facing.

      • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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        19 days ago

        If “deflationary environment” is neoliberal for “restrictions on and immediate reduction of the current ongoing price gouging” then call me Moleman cuz yes, i want that, right now.

          • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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            19 days ago

            I need you to eat my entire sittin muscle. Dont say you don’t want to, i can see you enjoy doing it by how you talk. Its a chore speaking with you often i bet.

            get to chewing

            Dagum smug ass no thinking neoliberals… Always sound like the same 20 something middle manager haha

    • WoodScientist@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      That’s just how inflation works though. Wages tend to rise slower than prices do. In economic terms, wages are “sticky.” They rise and fall slower than prices do in response to market conditions. Long periods of slow gradual inflation are fine, as people simply demand that their wages rise at a steady 2-3% to keep up with inflation, and employers expect it. But if there is a sudden spike in prices, it’s a lot harder for employees to suddenly negotiate wage increases. Instead, the slower process of labor market competition, employees leaving underpaying jobs for better paying jobs, has to take over. It’s going to take a few years for wages to catch up with the spike in prices, but it does happen with time, primarily from people switching jobs.

      • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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        18 days ago

        I’ve never had a 2% pay raise since I started my career in 2008.

        Not by staying in one company anyway. I had to change companies every time and even then it was hard negotiating anything above what I was making before.

    • Soulg@sh.itjust.works
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      18 days ago

      The economy would tank really hard if wet somehow deflated it to go back in time. It doesn’t work like that.

      Plus the last 5 years was almost entirely from covid anyway

      • Cyborganism@lemmy.ca
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        18 days ago

        I’m not saying it should. I’m just saying the rest of us still can’t keep up even with 2% because of the cumulative two digits inflation we’ve had over the past few years on top of it.

      • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        2% is actually pretty good and about what you want. Maintaining flat spending power sounds great on paper, but also puts an economy at increased risk of recession and citizens at increased risk of ballooning debt.

        • basmati@lemmus.org
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          19 days ago

          That’s nice and all, but wages do not increase year over year for most people, so most people would prefer those risks and be able to continue living, instead of helping to balloon the suicide statistic.

          • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            Most people are not economists. Most people would like everyone to be given $100,000 and a pony (or just white people, if you’re a republican).

            2% inflation is good. But an inflation number doesn’t tell us where the gains are accruing. Ensuring gains go to workers and not capital is an entirely separate goal of the government.

          • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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            19 days ago

            We’re over a year straight of wage growth outpacing inflation. In jan if this year, 57% of workers had seen wage growth outpacing inflation (I can’t find more current numbers, but I assume it’s pretty similar). So you’re wrong, most people are seeing increases that beat out inflation.

            We have a long way to go due to how much was lost because of the pandemic and price gouging, but please stop spreading misinformation, you’re just helping get trump elected.

            • basmati@lemmus.org
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              19 days ago

              It’s not misinformation, it’s actual lived experience. It’s nice some people in some rich states somewhere are getting raises. That’s not the case for many Americans, and when you people repeat government lines that go against what people are actually experiencing, you help get Trump elected as no one trusts anything you say anymore.

              The economy is in full recession for most Americans. It’s not doing great, people are struggling. Without acknowledging this basic fact, there is no path for Dems to win the Whitehouse.

              • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                19 days ago

                It’s nice some people in some rich states somewhere are getting raises.

                Low wage workers have actually seen the largest increase. You’re confusing your personal experience with the economy as a whole.

                The economy is in full recession for most Americans.

                I’m not saying people aren’t struggling, I completely understand that there are lots of people who are. But this is just absolutely detached from reality.

                • basmati@lemmus.org
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                  18 days ago

                  Again, I’m sure cherry picked government released stats back up your very specific claim. It will and has fallen on deaf ears to the majority of Americans who have massively increased credit card spending while massively decreasing all recreational spending.

                  Your claim is in the same category as claiming increased GDP means a better economy. Yeah, kinda right, if you ignore actual conditions for real people.

        • the post of tom joad@sh.itjust.works
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          19 days ago

          We’re taking about the consumer price index here. Inflation regarding the cost of living only. This is, as i hinted previously, heavily caused not by “inflation” (as youd consider it in econ 101) but corporate price-gouging.

          Corporate price-gouging is i feel i must add capital N Not inflation in the traditional sense… But in the scope of this article and our conversation, it is.

          So again, fucking-A yes I want price gouging to stop, right now… So like, if you wish to continue wit me we need to agree on terms. Let me know you agree this cpi definition and inflation in this case is “price gouging” otherwise we may as well just part ways

          • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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            19 days ago

            Agreed. I’m talking about deflation though. The debts you acquire balloon in size, even without interest, during deflation.

            • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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              19 days ago

              I don’t think we do agree. As you can see in the chart, our debts have been ballooning under inflation.

              • drphungky@lemmy.world
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                19 days ago

                That’s total debt, he’s talking about individual debt. Deflation is bad. This is not really up for debate. 2% inflation is a fine target and worked well for decades.

                • explodicle@sh.itjust.works
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                  19 days ago

                  As you can see in the chart, I’m talking about per person too.

                  I don’t think 2008 did work well.

                  If you don’t want to debate about this, then don’t.

  • Tylerdurdon@lemmy.world
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    19 days ago

    That’s great the prices aren’t going up more. Now go get all of these companies that are price gouging. It’s good to protect people from it during natural disasters but unfortunate the government didn’t consider COVID a natural disaster.

  • xlash123@sh.itjust.works
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    19 days ago

    While this is good news, remember that this means that prices are still increasing due to inflation, just at a slower rate now. It does NOT mean that inflation has been reversed.

    • Phil_in_here@lemmy.ca
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      19 days ago

      Not sure why there are down votes here. It’s an important fact to remember that inflation “falling” doesn’t mean the cost of living is going down.

      Whether reversing inflation is good or not isn’t their point. The point is, living is still more expensive than last year and your wage hasn’t been keeping up since the 70s.

      • Liz@midwest.social
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        18 days ago

        Probably because most people are too lazy to explain that deflation is a bad thing and incredibly hard to get unstuck. The “ideal” scenario is one where inflation stays low and wages outpace it. A small amount of inflation is a way to stop billionaires from sitting on piles of cash. At least with inflation they’re incentivized to spend it on investments, some of which are good for the economy.

  • djsoren19@yiffit.net
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    19 days ago

    Oh that’s wonderful, because as we all know inflation is the only reason for the increasing prices…right? There couldn’t be any other contributing factors?

    • Telodzrum@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      This is why I come to Lemmy — for people with even a passing understanding of the topics on which they speak confidently.

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    18 days ago

    I started eating salads in August. I eat the packaged ones from King Soopers.

    They’ve gone from $2.99 to $3.69 in that time. Since August.

    I don’t believe anyone who says inflation is 2.4%. I just don’t believe it.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      The trick with inflation calculations is that they’re tied to a specific basket of wholesale goods. So each individual ingredient in that bagged salad may not have gone up more than 2.4%. But the grocery store’s corporate accountants have decided they can increase their margins with a 23% price hike.

      That’s not inflation, it’s greedflation. And while we see wholesale prices remain low, we’re watching profits soar.

    • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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      18 days ago

      Inflation tracks the value of currency. Grocery store prices track how much corporations can charge you, imagine how bad it would be if the Krogers Albertson Merger wasn’t stopped by the Biden Administration.

      • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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        18 days ago

        The value of currency is always relative to goods and services.

        Prices track the value of currency.

        • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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          18 days ago

          But the prices YOU PAID don’t track the value of currency when the prices the STORE PAID are much much lower. The dollar still bought those goods cheaply, and it’s also still buying expensive homes, boats, and planes for some lucky shareholders and board members. It’s just not buying much for YOU because you have limited options to buy from.

    • Kekzkrieger@feddit.org
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      18 days ago

      Packaged salads have an insane markup on them, if you do them yoursef you can save more than inflation ;)