A Conspiracy of Counterfeiters

[Captain Oates 911]

The national debt won't decrease That's part of the problem. Our government has a spending problem. a BIG spending problem. While the idea is nice of possibly having more money to pay off the debt, the fact remains that we aren't doing anything to decrease spending to have a chance of paying off that debt.

You're also asking for the poor to suffer. Part of our problem today is inflation is out of control. We're printing money left and right and keeping interest rates low at the same time? This is economic suicide. The FED knows this and it's why it's doing what it's doing. At the end of the day it wins no matter what and makes money as well as they cronies who invest into it.

Part of the mess we are in today is that the economy shrank, yet we didn't let prices deflate with it. We infused so much damn money into the economy that prices actually went up during these harder times. That's insanity on its face. You have more people who need government assistance because of it. You have people who can barely afford to make ends meet because the price of bread, milk, and meat is going up along with other every day needs.

One of the worst things we could possibly do right now is print more money. I can't stand slick Rick one bit, but he is 200% right when he says it's treasonous for big Ben to print more money at a time like this.

Treasonous is a ridiculous word to use and only a Texan ignoramus would use it. Bernake is a fine patriot. You might say unwise, foolish, financially suicidal, misguided, just plain stupid, wrong etc - but TREASONOUS means he is deliberately trying to wreck the country and should suffer capital punishment.

That is clearly ridiculous. Do you think Iran is paying him to do it ? Ridiculous.

Poor people are borrowers. Inflation helps borrowers. Cash/bonds investors lose - and borrowers gain

I have lived through 15% inflation and it wipes out mortgages FAST and the rich squeal that their huge savings are eroding

Its great for the borrowers - the poor

Edited August 30, 2011 by Alan the Red

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Treasonous is a ridiculous word to use and only a Texan ignoramus would use it. Bernake is a fine patriot. You might say unwise, foolish, financially suicidal, misguided, just plain stupid, wrong etc - but TREASONOUS means he is deliberately trying to wreck the country and should suffer capital punishment.

That is clearly ridiculous. Do you think Iran is paying him to do it ? Ridiculous.

Poor people are borrowers. Inflation helps borrowers. Cash/bonds investors lose - and borrowers gain

I have lived through 15% inflation and it wipes out mortgages FAST and the rich squeal that their huge savings are eroding

Its great for the borrowers - the poor

Not really. Most poor people have shite credit.

How in the hell do you expect someone to pay something off when they can't afford to put dinner on the table because prices have gone through the roof?

[Dan J 277]

Not really. Most poor people have shite credit.

How in the hell do you expect someone to pay something off when they can't afford to put dinner on the table because prices have gone through the roof?

Inflation should mean increases in wages along with prices, but at least with low to middle end jobs, competition, automation and globalization have kept wages low.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Inflation should mean increases in wages along with prices, but at least with low to middle end jobs, competition, automation and globalization have kept wages low.

wages stay low because 'costs' are through the roof.

How can you expect to have higher wages when all your business expenses are going up?

[Captain Oates 911]

Not really. Most poor people have shite credit.

How in the hell do you expect someone to pay something off when they can't afford to put dinner on the table because prices have gone through the roof?

I should have defined terms. By poor, I mean not rich. The middle class. They will benefit hugely as their wages go up with inflation while their mortgages shrink fast in real terms. Typically, wages go up 2% more than inflation so paying the increased mortgage cost for a while is possible. Then when inflation stops, their mortgage payments drop while their actual mortgage remains hugly diminished in real terms.

The really poor get food stamps as usual and life is as bad as it always is. They won't starve.

Inflation gets rid of the national debt in real terms - rich people want to cut the debt - until it means their investments lose value and the middle class borrowers gain - then they dont want the debt cut in real terms

When I stared studying to be a chartered accountant for my second career, it was 1974 and inflation was sky high and we studied its effects in great depth - it was the subject of the time. Later I bought a house at the limits of what I could afford. A really nice house - it cost $50k and the mortgage was 100% because I was broke. I paid the mortgage off from my beer money later on and after much inflation - the house is worth more than $50k now - a LOT more. An awful lot more. The mortgage went away decades ago

Inflation good. Deflation bad

Let me put it another way - if we inflate, the dollar drops and all the money the chinese have leant us is devalued. We cheat the chinese out of their lendings to us - now are you for it ?

Thought so

wages stay low because 'costs' are through the roof.

How can you expect to have higher wages when all your business expenses are going up?

coz the unit sales value goes up at the same rate. Thats what people complain about after all.

[SMR 368]

There are inflation targets that the Fed bases monetary policy on. There isn't a lack of transparency or predictability.

It's not just a matter of transparency. As I said, it's also a matter of responsible policy. While inflation does encourage people to invest, it also encourages people to borrow. Further, in periods of particularly high actual or anticipated inflation, as we have today, the investments that people choose are not typically new businesses. Look at the price of gold. That's where all of the 'investments' are going. (I'm not saying that there's anything particularly wrong with buying gold if that's what the economy dictates, but I don't think you can say that it's a sign of a healthy economy).

Inflation should mean increases in wages along with prices, but at least with low to middle end jobs, competition, automation and globalization have kept wages low.

Exactly. Actual wages are not going up because raises barely manage to (or in many cases don't) keep up with inflation.

[Captain Oates 911]

Not really. Most poor people have shite credit.

How in the hell do you expect someone to pay something off when they can't afford to put dinner on the table because prices have gone through the roof?

I see em coming out of Wallymart and putting food on the table does not appear to be the problem !

Keeping their fat fingers from cramming as much as possible into their cake holes is the problem

No wonder they cant get a job when they cant fit in the interview room

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I should have defined terms. By poor, I mean not rich. The middle class. They will benefit hugely as their wages go up with inflation while their mortgages shrink fast in real terms. Typically, wages go up 2% more than inflation so paying the increased mortgage cost for a while is possible. Then when inflation stops, their mortgage payments drop while their actual mortgage remains hugly diminished in real terms.

The really poor get food stamps as usual and life is as bad as it always is. They won't starve.

Inflation gets rid of the national debt in real terms - rich people want to cut the debt - until it means their investments lose value and the middle class borrowers gain - then they dont want the debt cut in real terms

When I stared studying to be a chartered accountant for my second career, it was 1974 and inflation was sky high and we studied its effects in great depth - it was the subject of the time. Later I bought a house at the limits of what I could afford. A really nice house - it cost $50k and the mortgage was 100% because I was broke. I paid the mortgage off from my beer money later on and after much inflation - the house is worth more than $50k now - a LOT more. An awful lot more. The mortgage went away decades ago

Inflation good. Deflation bad

Let me put it another way - if we inflate, the dollar drops and all the money the chinese have leant us is devalued. We cheat the chinese out of their lendings to us - now are you for it ?

Thought so

You're missing a key point. There are more people on welfare than ever before. Most people on fixed incomes than ever before. Who does inflation hurt the most? These people.

This isn't your standard recession. Your normal economic situation. It's much bigger than that.

Inflation this case benefits the wealthy more than it does anyone else. The wealthy actually bet on this sort of thing.

I know the whole 'grand idea' of cheating the Chinese out of their dollars is fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, what good is it to cheat the chinese when the rest of the world decides the US Dollar has no more value to them and drops it as the world's reserve currency? You want to talk about inflation? We're talking about hyper-inflation when that happens to the extreme. To the point where $4/gallon and $3 for a loaf of bread seems dirt cheap.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

Exactly. Actual wages are not going up because raises barely manage to (or in many cases don't) keep up with inflation.

Actual wages aren't keeping up with inflation because more of the earnings are going towards profits which have well outpaced inflation. It's not that businesses aren't making money commensurate with inflation rates it's that the pie is sliced differently. You can't blame stagnating real wages on inflation. That's dishonest. Real median wages haven't risen over the last three decades. They haven't risen even when we had negative inflation rates just a couple of years ago.

[luckytxn 2,265]

Well at least with run away inflation Obama the Socialist will secure his presidency as the worst ever in history. Carter has to be smiling big time as no one has come close to his inflation yet. Carters misery index was legendary. We need to return it.

[Captain Oates 911]

You're missing a key point. There are more people on welfare than ever before. Most people on fixed incomes than ever before. Who does inflation hurt the most? These people.

This isn't your standard recession. Your normal economic situation. It's much bigger than that.

Inflation this case benefits the wealthy more than it does anyone else. The wealthy actually bet on this sort of thing.

I know the whole 'grand idea' of cheating the Chinese out of their dollars is fine and dandy, but at the end of the day, what good is it to cheat the chinese when the rest of the world decides the US Dollar has no more value to them and drops it as the world's reserve currency? You want to talk about inflation? We're talking about hyper-inflation when that happens to the extreme. To the point where $4/gallon and $3 for a loaf of bread seems dirt cheap.

I was no fan of margaret thatcher but when unemployment reached 10% - she said that meant that 90% of people had jobs.

It's better than that in the US right now

Hyper inflation is fine as long as you make sure you are a net borrower at the start - or you own real assets like gold/houses/canned food etc

The Weimar republic's tactic of hyper inflation was to cheat the french out their war reparations denominated in marks

The poor will be as badly off as ever , no worse. After all even the panhandlers dont get pennies any more.

Even their income gets inflation adjusted

Unemployment pay, social security, food stamps - all get adjusted up

In 1974 I got 30% raises every few months ! I bought dry goods like toilet rolls and rice and canned food - great investments in inflationary times.

Of course the banks wont lend 100% now - so you have you get into these waves early

The UK currency is no longer the world's reserve currency but 3 years ago it was 1 GBP = 2.14 USD - and the swiss franc is very valuable. Just surrender and it wont hurt at all and think of the export industries if the USD crashes !

Lots of jobs making rubber dog muck for the chinese

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

I was no fan of margaret thatcher but when unemployment reached 10% - she said that meant that 90% of people had jobs.

It's better than that in the US right now

Hyper inflation is fine as long as you make sure you are a net borrower at the start - or you own real assets like gold/houses/canned food etc

The Weimar republic's tactic of hyper inflation was to cheat the french out their war reparations denominated in marks

The poor will be as badly off as ever , no worse. After all even the panhandlers dont get pennies any more.

Even their income gets inflation adjusted

Unemployment pay, social security, food stamps - all get adjusted up

In 1974 I got 30% raises every few months ! I bought dry goods like toilet rolls and rice and canned food - great investments in inflationary times.

Of course the banks wont lend 100% now - so you have you get into these waves early

The UK currency is no longer the world's reserve currency but 3 years ago it was 1 GBP = 2.14 USD - and the swiss franc is very valuable. Just surrender and it wont hurt at all and think of the export industries if the USD crashes !

Lots of jobs making rubber dog muck for the chinese

FYI - Reparations were in gold marks so they could not inflate their way out of it.

[^_^ 5,021]

South African diamonds. Yup that's what I said.

[Captain Oates 911]

FYI - Reparations were in gold marks so they could not inflate their way out of it.

I stand corrected on that point - but the chinese have made no such stipulation and therefore an opportunity to cheat them is now available

It would triply hurt them as it would reduce their foreign earnings and increase the USD earnings of US companies in China (their competitors) and reduce their monetary assets in the form of US treasuries

Edited August 30, 2011 by Alan the Red

[mawilson 2,133]

There are inflation targets that the Fed bases monetary policy on. There isn't a lack of transparency or predictability.

Why do we need "inflation targets"? Other than "the Fed thinks it's a good idea".