I see prices going down, here and there. It’s good but it’s also bullshit. They raised the prices to make record profits and when people can no longer afford anything, they drop them. “See how nice we are, we lowered our prices for you”, when in reality they’re scared because people gave up buying their shit altogether.
The secret ingredient is corporate greed.
Nah, the economy is fine, just like the planet. The people are fucked! Just like George Carlin used to say.
It’s almost like the word has a different meaning on Wall Street than it does for the average person!
The economy IS getting worse.
VIX yesterday let me know that economists think we’re about to enter a recession.Economic growth doesn’t necessarily translate to an economy that serves the needs of a wider majority, often it means just the opposite.
I have a feeling that they announced the rate cut because of early access to the data showing that everything was finally cracking under the pressure and Powell was hoping to spike up the stock market with wild abandonment partying before the jobs data and recession flags would become public knowledge.
It’s definitely just a game for getting rich people to be playing with their money and it’s so tiring to be ignored for only their sake.
Maybe if the average citizen would benefit from economic growth.
The other 30% are rich
“Economic growth” = rich people’s yacht money
GDP has to be the worst way to financially review a country.
Yep. Just reading the title, the “economy” is up, and people are worse for it.
The fact is, despite record breaking profit, nearly none of that “growth” is being provided to the people creating the value for companies to sell, and is instead being handed upwards to people with more money than brains, who have “invested” in the business.
The lines on the stock market graphs go up, and the people working for that company who create all the things that are generating the profit, are robbed, and their would-be wages are handed to the shareholders.
Is anyone shocked by this? Is anyone surprised by this?
Did anyone not know this already?
What a stupid article.
I work with people that really struggle to grasp this concept. I work rotations and every hitch I find myself spending the first few days explaining that what they call “the economy” I would call the CPI, whereas what capitalists refer to is corporate profits - and never the twain shall meet. But this is yet another complexity that the right benefits from obscuring, and complexity requires thoughtful consideration for understanding. I realize I’m asking a lot from a bunch of blue collar rubes.
Part of it is that when people say the “economy” is up, they’re usually only referring to valuations of public companies which is only part of the picture. The price-to-earnings ratio is so wack right now that many companies are trading at 18x their earnings per share, so while profits may be up, the companies are still wildly overvalued compared to their expected output.
Real wage growth has lagged significantly compared to the historical trend. If the labor market continues to take a beating, consumer spending will tank and bring equities down with it.
oh boy, gini is up
Well yeah. Who gives a fuck about a 2% increase in the GDP? Prices are high and wages are low.
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In 2/3 of the US states it’s still legal to pay someone $7 an hour.
5.1% of $7 an hour is 35 cents.
Don’t spend it all in one place, I guess.
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Easy? Probably not enough! So many people have 2nd jobs just to make ends meet!
not easyimpossibleFTFY
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Less than 2% of the population is making minimum wage. Median income is more than double minimum wage. Even in rural areas
I agree it’s not enough, should be raised and all that, but it’s not the reality (because that number is so ridiculous)
I agree it’s not enough
shrugs
5.1% of $14 is 70 cents an hour. $28 bucks a week.
Don’t spend it all in one place.
This economy is objectively atrocious for working people. I’m glad we can connect on the fact that it is most definitely not enough.
This seems like an unnecessary debate, because it’s the wrong metric for “fair” pay.
I think the better metric is something like average employee pay ratio to C-suite pay, or something calculated compared to the stock market value, like market capitalization.
Because the biggest problem is that absolute and year-to-year value created by increased productivity is going to the bosses and owners at an unfairly disproportionate rate.
Agreed.
The only upside in this economy is that it’s so bad, and there’s so little leadership for workers at the federal level, that it’s forced unions to become stronger by necessity.
Shrugs? Well fuck data I guess
On wages, exactly.
A small percent of a poverty wage is objectively worth criticism, if we’re putting it nicely. If we want to talk in percentages, you’d need a 400% increase on the minimum wage in Mississippi to get to a living wage.
That’s why I’m criticizing this reply.
Sorry but I’m criticizing your initial reply to the fact that wage increases are statistically high. Yes, 70 cents raise is a lot for a grocery worker. And it’s especially important, as OP said, when compared to the rest of the world US is rising faster.
The “2/3 of states” reply, while factual, was misleading as well as tangential to the original point you were replying to.
Idealism has an important place, but not when it results in pure cynicism
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And you will keep being a pedant about it and just ignore that those extra pennies, just like the 5.1% referenced earlier in the thread, don’t add up to anything when you’re not being paid a living wage to begin with.
What I don’t understand is why you’re angrier with me than you are at Democrats and Republicans.
You get that a lot on Lemmy in regards to these topics.
They really don’t like it when you compare them to conservatives denying covid.
Anecdotal evidence is trash except when it’s their anecdotes. Then it’s second to none.
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More than double is still woefully inadequate. A study from over a decade ago showed that people need to make an average of $75,000 a year to get by in America, it’s more now.
Housing (homes and apartments) is either in yet another bubble, or I guess just going to permanently remain absurdly high, slowly filtering more and more people into homelessness and death.
Personal debt levels are astoundingly bad. The average US renter credit score is 638, and most places won’t even consider you if it is below 620.
The medical system remains ruinously expensive and corrupt.
The proportion of those who are not counted as unemployed, but who are not working, despite being working age, climbs higher and higher. (Labor Force Participation Rate).
College costs climb further and further, offering less and less likelihood of an actual decent paying job.
Wealth inequality is the worst in the known economic history of the world.
It doesn’t matter that the economy is growing if it isn’t lifting up your life as well. Hundreds of millions of people still live in US states where it’s legal to pay $7 an hour. (2/3 of them) All of us are dealing with rampant inflation, crippling costs for utilities, housing, and food.
The government’s position on this is that the Biden Administratoin has created 16,000,000 jobs, and while that may be true, I’d wager my savings that most of those are second and third jobs, because it’s become impossible to live with just one in the United States of America.
I’d wager my savings that most of those are second and third jobs, because it’s become impossible to live with just one in the United States of America.
I’ve wondered this as well - and wondered if Biden ever really grokked what’s happening. Hopefully others do and they follow through once they win (if they do).
Biden ever really grokked what’s happening
I don’t think anyone at the federal does. If they do, they simply don’t care, judging by their actions.
We’re about to hit 20 years of the minimum wage being $7 at the federal level, across three administrations, two of which were Democratic with control of Congress. I expect more of the same no matter who we elect in the fall.
I’d wager my savings
Well if you’re like most sub 35yr olds, that’s not a big wager at all.
I’m always really disturbed when I see how much value and assets and savings I am supposed to have…
Like depressed too but really fucking disturbed that neither I nor basically anyone I know except once rich kid who his parents paid for everything while he got a $200,000 a year coding job have any legitimate savings or plans to be able to grow it.
And it’s not like I haven’t been working for the last 2 decades since I was 14.
That’s a really depressing statistic. I wish we could get everyone under 40 to vote differently, but I don’t think we can.
