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[Hanslanda]

I don't remember any Chinamen, but we did have several Belarusians.

I thought RedKing lived in China for awhile. Kamin also.

[McTraveller]

There was a comment a while ago about use of demographics statistics.  The statistics error is assuming the average applies consistently across a heterogeneous population.  For example, consider "75% of the surface of the earth is water."  This is true, but it's missing the information of how "clumped" the 25% non-water is.  If you are "on land", far more than 25% of the surface immediately around you is land, not water.

Using demographic statistics on crime or "targeted attributes" or whatever suffers the same problem.  The total population used as the divisor is selected by report authors and can change the perception of the numbers significantly.

[Teneb]

I don't remember any Chinamen, but we did have several Belarusians.

I thought RedKing lived in China for awhile. Kamin also.

I know Arx is from South Africa. We do have a sizable group of people from Oceania though.

[EnigmaticHat]

And Trump eliminated next year's federal pay raise. Because there's no evil too petty.

Merry Christmas! You have no work and you are not getting that pay raise you were promised!

Bonus points: it was basically just to adjust for inflation.

Ah yes the inflation that outpaced wages for the last three decades.  That inflation.

I don't even care about inflation TBH.  Rich people in the US don't want inflation to happen because it devalues their money.  Such a tiny portion of my income is disposable/savings that nothing I have is really being devalued.  Basically the entire US economy exists right now so that rich people's money can grow at a pace slightly faster than inflation.

Obviously inflation for no benefit is still bad, but if we were to say print a little money and use it to pay entry level public sector way more than entry level private sector, I wouldn't complain.  Shatter the illusion that rich people can stay rich without doing anything impressive.  And add some inheritance tax too, if we wanted dynasties in the US we'd have been goddamn loyalists, what are you?  British?

[McTraveller]

Obviously inflation for no benefit is still bad, but if we were to say print a little money and use it to pay entry level public sector way more than entry level private sector, I wouldn't complain.  Shatter the illusion that rich people can stay rich without doing anything impressive.  And add some inheritance tax too, if we wanted dynasties in the US we'd have been goddamn loyalists, what are you?  British?

Printing money doesn't produce wealth though. Printing money only works in the long run if it encourages new production that otherwise would not have occurred.

Also, "new production" only helps the masses if they are somehow part owners in the enterprises that are making that new production, so it's not even as simple as that.

If you want to break "the rich can stay rich without doing anything" you need to advocate capital gains taxes higher than income taxes and/or other means that make it easier for labor to buy capital than for capital to buy more capital.  Basically we need a way to make more people owners of capital so they can reap its rewards, rather than making it more and more difficult for people who don't currently own capital to gain some.

This is the heart of UBI discussions - how to spread the benefit of society's improvements in productivity back to the masses rather than to just the owners.  I think the word 'socialism' is a bogeyman here; there are likely ways you can do this without having state ownership of all companies.  For instance, all pay packages could be required to include equity, not just salary.  You could have zero income tax and only tax capital gain (yes you may dampen the amount of risk-taking because of this, but you won't eliminate it completely).  There are probably other ways to do this that I'm too limited to devise.

[Dunamisdeos]

You'd have to have a minimum equity awarded per-size-of-company or something to prevent Jeff Bozos from awarded everyone .000001% per year.

[Loud Whispers]

I don't even care about inflation TBH.  Rich people in the US don't want inflation to happen because it devalues their money.  Such a tiny portion of my income is disposable/savings that nothing I have is really being devalued.  Basically the entire US economy exists right now so that rich people's money can grow at a pace slightly faster than inflation.

But rich people are those most capable of purchasing assets & capital to preserve their wealth from the erosion of inflation, it is everyone else who feels the pressure on their real wealth as more of their income is spent on necessities with higher prices

[Lord Shonus]

If wages rise with inflation (which usually happens eventually), people who live paycheck to paycheck will never notice inflation. Inflation only hurts people who have savings, and it hits you harder the more you have saved.

The idea that inflation is bad for the poor is one of the most pernicious lies the rich have told us.

[PTTG??]

I dunno, the assumption that wages will rise with inflation is not a safe one.

[Dunamisdeos]

I dunno, the assumption that wages will rise with inflation is not a safe one.

This is why it costs your entire paycheck and 20 years of loans to live in an APT and go to university in the US.

[bloop_bleep]

Inflation-adjusted wages for the bottom 90% have stagnated (read: did not increase AT ALL) in the US since 1970. Had a handy little chart somewhere...

[Frumple]

I dunno, the assumption that wages will rise with inflation is not a safe one.

It might be over a longer term, I'unno. The stagnation thing is a thing, and stagnation at least sorta' means you're probably staying mostly afloat.

But. Relative to the current discussion. Which is pretty literally started about the fuckwits that are the GOP/their shitgibbon overlord preventing wages from rising with inflation, well. Just... yeah. Yeah. Not the safest at the mo'.

[Reelya]

I don't even care about inflation TBH.  Rich people in the US don't want inflation to happen because it devalues their money.  Such a tiny portion of my income is disposable/savings that nothing I have is really being devalued.  Basically the entire US economy exists right now so that rich people's money can grow at a pace slightly faster than inflation.

But rich people are those most capable of purchasing assets & capital to preserve their wealth from the erosion of inflation, it is everyone else who feels the pressure on their real wealth as more of their income is spent on necessities with higher prices

Yeah, rich people have assets not large reserves of cash. If inflation is high, then real estate prices are rising in line with inflation, so if your wealth is tied up in real estate, you barely notice the problem.

However, there is one area people don't usually think about but it strongly tied to inflation: the value of debt. If inflation exceeds interest rates, then both bank savings accounts and debts decrease in real terms. So, if you had an expensive mortgage, and inflation skyrocketed then you'd see your house value rising much faster than the amount you owe. Obviously, the guys on the other side of that equation wouldn't be happy.

[bloop_bleep]

I dunno, the assumption that wages will rise with inflation is not a safe one.

It might be over a longer term, I'unno. The stagnation thing is a thing, and stagnation at least sorta' means you're probably staying mostly afloat.

But. Relative to the current discussion. Which is pretty literally started about the fuckwits that are the GOP/their shitgibbon overlord preventing wages from rising with inflation, well. Just... yeah. Yeah. Not the safest at the mo'.

Problem is, usually things like cost of university, housing prices, etc. are not used in calculating price inflation. Thus “not increasing” in reality means “fucking plummeting.”

[Frumple]

Yes, that would be why the words sorta' probably mostly and afloat (as opposed to doing anything approaching well) were there. There was reason I was heavily caveating that