Falling prices.....yay!

[Kirkland Laing]

The Reagan Boom - Greatest Ever - NYTimes.com

Bill Clinton rode on the coattails of Reagan and George H.W. Bush.....Reagan had to rebuild America after Mr. Peanut Jimmy Carter screwed the pooch. But you go ahead and blindly support the liberals because outcomes don't matter to them only intentions. LBJ's War on Poverty....MASSIVE failure! But hey, his intentions were great so it's a moot point eh comrade?

I'm not going to read why a former Reagan administration employee who now has a right wing welfare job at a t right wing think tank believes the Reagan boom was the best thing ever. If you want to put it into an actual written down argument I'll have a laugh at itthough.

[El Kabong]

I'm not going to read why a former Reagan administration employee who now has a right wing welfare job at a t right wing think tank believes the Reagan boom was the best thing ever. If you want to put it into an actual written down argument I'll have a laugh at itthough.

Yeah laugh it up because the economy is just booming and Obama can barely control it right now. I mean the average person has sooooooo much free money on their hands right now they hardly know what to do with it. And the gap between the super wealthy and the poor has shrunk to nothing. Reagan who? Obama is the greatest...maybe you'll quack like a duck for him

[El Kabong]

Current VP on the last 6 years under the current President....thank you and goodnight

[Gandalf]

Kirkland, stop being silly. If inflation was 32% a year then that would be very serious. No, around 4-6% is a more accurate number and one that ordinary people would likely relate to and more so than the absurd government figures. I am not being arrogant in any way. You would need to see your own post again for the definition of arrogant and also being a little distorted. 32%!

[walrus]

Kirkland, stop being silly. If inflation was 32% a year then that would be very serious. No, around 4-6% is a more accurate number and one that ordinary people would likely relate to and more so than the absurd government figures. I am not being arrogant in any way. You would need to see your own post again for the definition of arrogant and also being a little distorted. 32%!

@Gandalf stop disagreeing with Kirk he puts up graphs, he must be right.

[Gandalf]

Kirkland, stop being silly. If inflation was 32% a year then that would be very serious. No, around 4-6% is a more accurate number and one that ordinary people would likely relate to and more so than the absurd government figures. I am not being arrogant in any way. You would need to see your own post again for the definition of arrogant and also being a little distorted. 32%!

@Gandalf stop disagreeing with Kirk he puts up graphs, he must be right.

So does the Federal Reserve!

[Kirkland Laing]

Kirkland, stop being silly. If inflation was 32% a year then that would be very serious. No, around 4-6% is a more accurate number and one that ordinary people would likely relate to and more so than the absurd government figures. I am not being arrogant in any way. You would need to see your own post again for the definition of arrogant and also being a little distorted. 32%!

@Gandalf stop disagreeing with Kirk he puts up graphs, he must be right.

Yes, facts and evidence have no place in a discussion like this, especially when they're up against an animal photograph.

This kind of hostility to facts and evidence doesn't bode well for the longevity of your career as a stock picker. Stock markets are a brutally efficient mechanism for the transfer of wealth from impatient people to patient people and especially from unknowledgeable people to knowledgeable people. You already tick the wrong box on the first of those metrics so you really need to consider whether willfully ignoring facts and evidence about economics and finance because it doesn't fit your beliefs is a surefire path to riches and prosperity.

[Kirkland Laing]

Kirkland, stop being silly. If inflation was 32% a year then that would be very serious. No, around 4-6% is a more accurate number and one that ordinary people would likely relate to and more so than the absurd government figures. I am not being arrogant in any way. You would need to see your own post again for the definition of arrogant and also being a little distorted. 32%!

32% inflation even between 2008-13 is still a ridiculous number.

Let's imagine that number is actually correct. This gives us three options.

Option one is that governments are telling the truth about nominal GDP growth rates. Maybe they're lying about the actual level of GDP but the rates of growth look accurate when compared to other economic indicators. It does seem that in Britain and America that we're seeing slow, below trend growth. Unequal growth based on high debt levels but growth. In countries like Greece the rate of GDP contraction shows a country suffering depression-level economic problems.

However if governments are telling the truth about nominal economic growth, which it appears they are, six percent inflation means that the real economy in Britain and America would have contracted over 25% since 2008. Greece has only contracted by 25 % and Greece currently has 25% unemployment and real incomes have fallen by 40%. We're not seeing those conditions in Britain or America so clearly this option is nonsense.

Option two is that there really has been this level of inflation but governments are hiding it somehow. But for them to successfully hide it would involve a giant conspiracy involving the world's money managers and major investors who would all have to be in on the deal.


What would the conspirators get out of this deal? Governments would be able to hide inflation provided that the population didn't notice a 50% jump in the price of everything. Money managers/investors would get to stand idly by as hidden inflation reduced their long term bonds and investment paper to confetti. Clearly this option is also nonsense.

The third option is that being a Korean English teacher with an unfortunate force field gives you no basis whatsoever to be able to pontificate about stuff you don't understand.

[Gandalf]

Really, 32% is too high for the almighty Kirk? Energy bills, public transport, house prices, rents, food.....none of these have risen at all? I think the only way to settle this is a poll where ordinary people can decide if things have gone up in the past decade.

[Gandalf]

Here are some statistics for you, Kirkland. As you can plainly see, inflation for the past decade has been way above what governments have been saying and has far outstripped any increases in wages. I am also interested in the experiences of others, but so far people are a bit shy to vote in my inflation thread. Overall, with non-government sourced data and the general experience of forum posters, I believe this little debate is over. Deflation happens in places like Greece and as of yet has not happened in the UK and it certainly hasn't happened here either.

http://www.tullettprebon.com/announc...IN20130220.pdf