[pilarphosol]

The downturn is hitting all companies and all jobs. It’s bad out there.

What’s perverse, and not being discussed enough, is that this is an engineered recession. Rather than admit our economy no longer works, the Fed can alternate between low and high interest rates (inflation or unemployment, take your pick) and so, even though bad things are happening, the fact that it’s different bad stuff each year makes it look like the Fed is doing something.

[jjoonathan]

Yeah, well, if they were to heat up the economy some other way than paying rich people to invest, or cool it down some other way than paying rich people to not invest, it would upset the only people who matter.

[marcosdumay]

This.

Somehow those policies became the only acceptable ones a government can issue. Worldwide and through all the societies.

It is also an obvious cause of instability, because once you pay rich people to change their investments, it takes a huge amount of time until anything on the real economy changes. I really doubt policy makers run PDI algorithms over their data to attenuate that delay.

[andsoitis]

> Rather than admit our economy no longer works

What do you mean our economy no longer works?

[jjoonathan]

Supply side got everything they wanted but the evidence is in: what trickles down is piss, not money.

[antibasilisk]

everyone is exorbitantly indebted to everyone. At some point, someone has to put some reality back into the simulacrum because simulacrum does not feed your family

[richk449]

> everyone is exorbitantly indebted to everyone

Nobody goes there any more, it’s too crowded?

> At some point, someone has to put some reality back into the simulacrum because simulacrum does not feed your family

Aren’t poverty, famine, and food scarcity at record lows?

[antibasilisk]

>Aren’t poverty, famine, and food scarcity at record lows?

They were temporarily alleviated thanks to technological advances.

[richk449]

Can you suggest reading to learn more about this viewpoint?

To me, the technological advances seem to be a product of the economic system. As long as the economic system can be sustained, then it is likely that human welfare will continue to improve.

[antibasilisk]

It's no question that certain people having exorbitant amounts of wealth allows them to perform technological feats that would not be otherwise possible, but this does not mean it is otherwise sustainable as a system. Increasing debt can provide a short-term boost to industry, but long term there is no way to stop the financial sector from 'eating' the whole economy.

I would recommend picking up First Principles of Islamic Economics by Al-Mawdudi.

[Patrol8394]

If people keep spending $40k for a car a millions $$ for a house … well it is definitely not gonna end up well…

[gabereiser]

Hockey stick deficit growth YoY.

[dragonwriter]

FY 2020 (Oct 1, 2019-Sept 30, 2020) was a sharp increase in the deficit, 2021 and 2022 were decreases, 2023 YTD is an increase over the same period in FY 2022.

Its nothing like hockeystick growth.

EDIT: I suppose if you overenthusiastically extrapolate from, like, just the last three data points the trade rather than budget deficit might distantly resemble that, but...