Inflation only really affects dollar-denominated accounts that don’t bear (enough) interest. Everyone needs to have some money in such accounts (checking accounts, cash) for short-term spending purposes. For poor people, this is usually the majority of their holdings; for wealthy people, it will only be a tiny fraction. Thus, inflation has a larger impact, percentage-wise, on the poor. Inflation also produces downward pressure on effective wages, since workers have to keep getting raises just to maintain parity.
I think that inflation is dramatically higher than is commonly realized; increased production efficiency should be causing the prices of most things to plummet, but other than electronics, that isn’t happening.
Saying something is retarded does not fall into some inherently different reference class with respect to “being about”. The significant feature here is that it is easier to sneer at than sentences that use politically incorrect language.
Not necessarily (though I’m no doubt being too snarky).
It’s common for goldbugs to compare stashing gold under a mattress with stashing green pieces of paper under a mattress, and note that the former has better investment return. When there’s no economic reason that simply sitting on wealth (without loaning it out to some productive use) should make one wealthier.
The expectation that money should be a long-term store of value is, in fact, misguided.
So inflation benefits the rich and deflation benefits the poor? Krugman has it backwards, then? Thanks for the tip.
You have savings under a mattress, or in some other vehicle that doesn’t pay interest? Sounds retarded.
Inflation only really affects dollar-denominated accounts that don’t bear (enough) interest. Everyone needs to have some money in such accounts (checking accounts, cash) for short-term spending purposes. For poor people, this is usually the majority of their holdings; for wealthy people, it will only be a tiny fraction. Thus, inflation has a larger impact, percentage-wise, on the poor. Inflation also produces downward pressure on effective wages, since workers have to keep getting raises just to maintain parity.
I think that inflation is dramatically higher than is commonly realized; increased production efficiency should be causing the prices of most things to plummet, but other than electronics, that isn’t happening.
Something sounding retarded to you is primarily a statement about you, not about that something.
Saying something is retarded does not fall into some inherently different reference class with respect to “being about”. The significant feature here is that it is easier to sneer at than sentences that use politically incorrect language.
(What he said was still stupid.)
Not necessarily (though I’m no doubt being too snarky).
It’s common for goldbugs to compare stashing gold under a mattress with stashing green pieces of paper under a mattress, and note that the former has better investment return. When there’s no economic reason that simply sitting on wealth (without loaning it out to some productive use) should make one wealthier.
The expectation that money should be a long-term store of value is, in fact, misguided.