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PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   25228 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of October 30, 2023

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One reason for the discrepancy is there was some gaslighting on the inflation. First they said it wasn’t happening, then that it was transitory. They were dragged kicking and screaming into raising rates, which they swore would strangle growth and reduce employment. Now they bring these low-ball inflation numbers , which mathematically result in higher real growth, and people have trouble believing it. Understandable, as no one understands what’s happening, but some are still pretending. Mainstream economists are using this baffling economic situation to argue they were right the whole time, as if being wrong twice makes you right.

Then there's also that thing where 'inflation' -CPI typically reported doesn't include food, energy, housing because they're "volatile".

So when people are told - hey, what are you panicking about, inflation is low, and then they remember what food cost last year...

I suspect their memory is exaggerated. As a share of disposable personal income, food spending went from about 10% of income to 11% income from 2018 to 2022. Less if you don't eat out a lot.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=76967

How did 'disposable personal income' change when adjusted for inflation, and for some measure that's less 'cooked' than inflation?

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