tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post44919329237569380..comments2024-03-28T08:06:43.198-04:00Comments on The Silicon Graybeard: Economics Thoughts and MisgivingsSiGraybeardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-82425290090046229372016-09-09T10:32:45.920-04:002016-09-09T10:32:45.920-04:00Related, the price of gold has tripled vs the doll...Related, the price of gold has tripled vs the dollar over the last 15 years.<br /><br />http://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-gold-us-dollar-inverse-170016117.htmlBorepatchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05029434172945099693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-10590163183878389222016-09-08T18:05:40.418-04:002016-09-08T18:05:40.418-04:00Don't forget the quality-collapse of McD "...Don't forget the quality-collapse of McD "meal" in 50 years. There was once 0% wood pulp, canola oil, or GMO's in your meal. Those ersatz ingredients are what populations who lose wars eat. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-46901772700331088382016-09-08T11:55:32.163-04:002016-09-08T11:55:32.163-04:00A little number-swagging.
Note that if you had ...A little number-swagging. <br /><br />Note that if you had the exact same lunch (two double cheeseburgers) it would have come out closer to $10 (guessing - I have no idea what it really cost). So with the buying power of the dollar at 1/6 of that time frame, a $2 lunch in 1970 would be closer to $12 today. Except that one of the most well known observations of information-based theory of money is that when the quantity of anything produced is doubled, the price comes down by 20 to 30%. So if McDonald's sold twice as many of those lunches as they have since 1970, the cost would be closer to $10. <br /><br />Interesting how that works out. <br />SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-14335723342144280512016-09-08T11:49:02.223-04:002016-09-08T11:49:02.223-04:00I'm convinced that after I put up a post some ...I'm convinced that after I put up a post some mischievous being comes around and changes something. I proofread it. My wife proofreads it. We both think it's fine. The next day we find a typo or missing words. SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-34334961003932597852016-09-08T11:38:04.196-04:002016-09-08T11:38:04.196-04:00Of course, that's exactly what the Fed is tryi...Of course, that's exactly what the Fed is trying to do. By driving the interest rates they control to zero, they're hoping to drive the cost of the loans down to where it becomes cheaper to go buy today than to save money. The credit card companies respond by getting the money to lend at essentially no cost and charge 10, 15, or 25% to loan it, depending on the card. <br /><br />The extreme of that is the negative interest rates now popping up all over the globe (though Europe and Japan seem to be the only ones so far). Under negative rates, they charge you for putting money in the bank. They want us to spend NOW. That's why they're literally killing people living off savings. <br /><br />The law of unintended consequences leads to people who live off savings thinking that instead of spending now, with money becoming less valuable they should save more and save harder, spending even less. <br /><br />There is simply no experimental evidence that what the central banks are doing will work. Just economics theories. <br /><br /> SiGraybeardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00280583031339062059noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-70630614475175206312016-09-08T09:43:30.118-04:002016-09-08T09:43:30.118-04:00While I know things are worse then they used to be...While I know things are worse then they used to be, I'm curious where you quoted commenter lives - I suspect he lives in a Democrat controlled urban area (probably southern California, due to the wetsuit and surf board mention); they have restricted housing supply in those areas and jacked up other costs above what they are in the rest of the country substantially, effectively further reducing the value of money in those areas.Jonathan Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10476185257203343474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-72512794109022837112016-09-08T08:25:19.323-04:002016-09-08T08:25:19.323-04:00*by financing.
Ugh.Good thing I proof-read that.*by financing.<br /><br />Ugh.Good thing I proof-read that.chiefjaybobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-61471524894192582142016-09-08T08:24:31.782-04:002016-09-08T08:24:31.782-04:00It's crazy.
Our fire district bought a new am...It's crazy.<br /><br />Our fire district bought a new ambulance three years ago. We financed it at 3%. The Board did not want to incur any debt, instead wanting to milk the old rig along and save.<br /><br />The salesman pointed out that over the last five years, the cost of the same model had gone up 6% every year. There was no indication that was going to change. So we actually saved money buy financing at 3% and buying right away.<br /><br />This makes no sense.chiefjaybobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-65074641775742489472016-09-08T06:56:44.313-04:002016-09-08T06:56:44.313-04:00In a discussion a while back I mentioned to an aqu...In a discussion a while back I mentioned to an aquaintance who was squirreling away funds for a particular use that, despite the negative aspects of the idea, incurring debt to obtain that particular item was the smarter move. <br /><br />Debt today, in a number of forms if one uses their head, can be very cheap. Inflation will not be; looking at his particular case it was easy to determine price rise will easily overpower any means he has to accumulate the necessary funds. <br /><br />I think quite a few people have figured that out - spending money today, even in some cases money that one doesn't have (debt) makes sense because if it's for an asset, as opposed to an expense, the usefulness of the asset remains constant whereas the cost increases of the asset will exceed rate of accumulation of money for it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1592992209402300549.post-55488545121203066582016-09-07T23:53:18.964-04:002016-09-07T23:53:18.964-04:00And those of us who have retired feel it more and ...And those of us who have retired feel it more and more every day.<br /><br />When I was going to the local Junior College in the 1969-1971 time frame, a buddy of mine who was paying his own way through school, used to eat lunch at MacDonald's every day. He got two double cheeseburgers, a small order of fries, and a medium Coke because it was exactly TWO dollars. That way he budgeted $10 a week for his lunch, and that was that.<br /><br />The other day I stooped at a MacDonald's, and got ONE double cheeseburger, a small order of fries, and a medium diet Coke.<br /><br />It was FIVE dollars and thirty-one cents.<br /><br />And I used to shake my head when Mom and Dad told me that they remembered 5-cent loaves of bread.....drjimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05647484115197408897noreply@blogger.com