American small businessman schools rep on austerity

Quote from jem:

this is the first time in a while his graphs make a real argument, if they are accurate.
Since his charts come from http://www.earth-policy.org/ who states their moto as "Providing a Plan To Save Civilization" I would imagine the charts are suspect even though they say USDA. It looks like just another environmentalist site that can't be trusted to provide truthful data.
 
Quote from jem:

this is the first time in a while his graphs make a real argument, if they are accurate.

grain stocks are lower even though production is up, so we can surmise greater un met demand ergo food prices are higher.
Well done, sir.
 
Quote from PHOENIX TRADING:

We became the greatest nation on earth because of our personal freedoms which augmented our productivity.
Terrible Inflation played no role in aiding us in ANY endeavor YA DIPSHIT.

I would disagree with both you and Ricter on this point. This is opinion, of course, but it seems to me that there are many great nations, of which the U.S.A. is one. We may be, however, the luckiest nation on Earth.
 
Quote from piezoe:

I would disagree with both you and Ricter on this point. This is opinion, of course, but it seems to me that there are many great nations, of which the U.S.A. is one. We may be, however, the luckiest nation on Earth.

+1000
 
Quote from jem:

this is the first time in a while his graphs make a real argument, if they are accurate.

grain stocks are lower even though production is up, so we can surmise greater un met demand ergo food prices are higher.

Ah, so would you and Dr. Krugman's Servant like to explain what happened in 2008 when supply hit it's lowest in 50 years, and prices also hit their lowest? Did everyone around the world suddenly go "you know what, I'm tired of grain!" Only to change their mind a half a year later?
 
Quote from Ricter:

Ahh, ok, so inflation must be high...
It may be that the government data is skewed by what is being incorporated into the calculation, such as hedonics or specific large sectors where there has been either price decline, or no inflation such as in real estate and wages.

However, inflation over the last 5 years that the average consumer is experiencing seems to be far higher than the official government figures. I would say very high indeed in food costs, high in energy, and above average in services, medical costs, insurance, etc.

Though housing virtually collapsed for some months, even at the nadir I did not see hardly any decline in the cost of lumber and building materials at the retail level-- just a leveling off.

There seems to be quite a disconnect between official government headline inflation and real life, as we know it. :D
Would you agree?
 
Quote from piezoe:

It may be that the government data is skewed by what is being incorporated into the calculation, such as hedonics or specific large sectors where there has been either price decline, or no inflation such as in real estate and wages.

However, inflation over the last 5 years that the average consumer is experiencing seems to be far higher than the official government figures. I would say very high indeed in food costs, high in energy, and above average in services, medical costs, insurance, etc.

Though housing virtually collapsed for some months, even at the nadir I did not see hardly any decline in the cost of building lumber and building materials at the retail level-- just a leveling off.

There seems to be quite a disconnect between official government headline inflation and real life, as we know it. :D
Would you agree?
If so, everyone is in on it.
 
Quote from piezoe:

It may be that the government data is skewed by use of hedonics or is specific large sectors where there has been either price decline, or no inflation such as real estate and wages.

It may be? It's a documented fact that it is. A good deal of folks have written studies on it.

Quote from piezoe:


However, inflation over the last 5 years that the average consumer is experiencing seems to be far higher than the official government figures. I would say very high indeed in food costs, high in energy, and above average in services, medical costs, insurance, etc.

Though housing virtually collapsed for some months, even at the nadir I did not see hardly any decline in the cost of building lumber and building materials at the retail level-- just a leveling off.

There seems to be quite a disconnect between official government headline inflation and real life, as we know it. :D
Would you agree?

Probably the first thing I can agree that you've said here in a long time.
 
Quote from Ricter:

If so, everyone is in on it.

When you can't make a solid point, be enigmatic and ambiguous.

I'm guessing that either you mean everyone is in on the ridiculous metric used to calculate the CPI, and if so, it's not like we have a choice in the matter. The government sets for the statistic, and everyone has to use it.

or you mean that everyone has to suffer the inflation together, and in that case I defer back to my original comment about how the poor and those on fixed income are disproportionally burdened by this.
 
Quote from Tsing Tao:

When you can't make a solid point, be enigmatic and ambiguous.

You're impervious to evidence. That's the definition of a crank. The only guys listening you guys are a few who like to argue for the sake of arguing, which reminds one of the old saw about being firmly attached to whatever you're pushing away.
 
Back
Top