Inflation is hurting many!

America is brain-damaged, unable to recall that business cycles exist. That things like interest rates and inflation go up and down, as does the stock market. That we go through booms and busts. The federal government, through the Fed, can help moderate the extremes of these swings. It does so my manipulating overnight interest rates (which drive other interest rates) and the money supply. Every country--even communist ones--have a central bank that does this.

So, we have some inflation. We're also taking some hits in the stock market. But we have practical full employment and wages are inching upward. More important that wages is the empowerment workers feel regarding their relationship with work.

Anyone who remembers the days of the high "misery index", stagflation, or any of the other economic lows of yore will look at today's struggles and just shrug. Ain't no big thang.

(In 1988 I purchased my first house with an 11% APR mortgage. Wake me when we get there.)

 

Depends were one resides and what was their income then and now.
First condo I owned was 147K in 1992.
It's 750 K today. APR was in 92 around 8+%.
Salary 52K.
Today salary double+, APR 4%?
Gas was around 1$ per gallon now 4+.
Almost everything quadrupled in cost since then and 5 to 6 times more since I arrived to US.

 

Totally agree about cyclical side of economy, business etc.

Employment is good but more and more people live paycheck to paycheck and don't get me wrong, it's a blessing to have work and income.
But Inflation is hurting us and many other countries.

 

Well the state needs the money that´s why he decided to get it through an inflation tax.
Speaking for Germany: yearlong Corona lockdowns, unlimited immigration into the social security system, money for the European Union, money for climate protection measures. It all comes at a cost and it all come from political parties the voters voted for so I don´t really see how they can complain now.

 

Here's my interpretation of "quiet quitting". Some 30 years ago I had a conversation with my mother. She said that she had never meet anyone that said that they wished that they had spent more time working during their career. The sentiment along those lines was regret that they hadn't spent more time with the family. At the time I was spending about 60 hours or so a week working. After that conversation I cut way back and only worked 40 or 45 hours a week. I'd call that quiet quitting.

In support of quiet quitting, my understanding is that this idea of working 50 or 60 hours a week is pretty much a USA idea.

 

I've used Capital Theory to explain our relationships with degree-granting universities. It applies to "quiet quitting," too.

Employees are compensated by organizations in two basic ways. First, pay and benefits. Second, opportunities to move up in the organization and get more of those.

Organizations want most or all of their employees to strive for these. Motivated employees tend to be good producers, so if these thing motivate them, great.

Employees offer two forms of capital, too. First, they do their jobs. Second, they (may) strive to go above and beyond.

These forms of capital are connected. But Covid changed the dynamic tremendously, and a lot of people are re-thinking these two exchanges of capital. Many are embracing the notion that doing your job and collecting your pay is enough and are not motivated to do extra and move up. This has caught employers by surprise and it looks like employees are slacking off, when instead they're just doing what's expected of them.

If the minimum wasn't good enough, they wouldn't call it the "minimum." Employers have been accustomed to getting high performances from most, yet only rewarding some. Employees are catching on.

The other dynamic in play is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivators. Extrinsic (like a bonus or a promotion) are short-term. People get used to that new money. (If you doubt that, try canceling bonuses. People will feel like you're taking money away from them.)

Intrinsic motivators come from within, from people feeling engaged in the work and enjoying it. If employers want to overcome quiet quitting, they should focus on engagement. Employers should try to provide as much mastery, autonomy, and purpose to the work as possible. (See Dan Pink's Drive! for more.)

 

Agree, and would add that working 60 to 80 hours a week is Japanese and Korean "Improvement" and then at night they go socialize and drinking.

 

Gas prices are up again,.
Saudi Arabia lowers oil prices for Europe but raises them again for the US as White House says OPEC+ is siding with Russia.
According to BUsiness Insider

Business Insider 2h

Middle Eastern powers are pushing the price of oil higher right before crucial midterm elections - and the White House is not happy about it

The slashed production quota threatens to boost gasoline prices again and deliver more headwinds for Democrats as midterm elections loom.

 

If your election strategy is vulnerable to some tinpot dictator's actions, you're not really in control of your destiny, are you?

And if you make voting decisions based on the price of one commodity, you're foolish and not paying attention.

 

That one commodity affects the cost of most products and services, it's not just gas at the pump, it's produce that needs tobe delivered and it's a chain reaction that caused prices to double and triple.


People make decions on multiple issues, especially the ones that hurt them the most.
Some hide behind some statistics and numbers while it's obvious that cyclical nature of things such as crime is on the rise, inflation is on the rise, US could have been less relient on foreign oil but the policy makers are not willing at this time to make it so.
And 'Misery Index' is not something we should ever get back to. Nor civil war or other hard times. We want things to get better.
I would like to see positive balance between the opposing parties and more by partisanship.
Together we are strong.

My election strategy leans to more conservative base but bipartisan inclusive approach. I wish to unite not divide. I realized and learned from my errors in the past. It's Demicratic and fair.

 

I think that Rich was talking about the general case rather than any particular person. While Rich is of course correct, you too are also correct. While it may not be correct for the electorate to blame the President for the price of oil, it is normal for that to be the case.

IMHO, the best long term solution is to focus and charge ahead on renewable energy use and significantly reduce our dependence on fossil fuel.

 

Here's what I consider a summary of Lerner's last post.

"When the soldiers ran out of the landing craft at Omaha beach on D-Day, they were not looking at the soldier next to them and wondering if they were Republican or Democrat. The best ally an American can have is another American."
Scott Galloway