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Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by chordalkeyboard on Monday February 22, 2021 @09:37PM (#26233265)
> If what you want to say is that you think the government is run by a shadowy cabal of elites whose main purpose is to impoverish the common man, then just say that.

I’m not sure why I would need to go that far afield when I can just deal with the actual words spoken by actual economists where they literally say this with slighty obscurant language. This isn’t a “shadowy cabal,” its mainstream media and economics here.

If the actual intent of economic policy is so threatening to your worldview that you need to poison the well by invoking shadowy conspiracies, perhaps you should re-evaluate your own perspective on the issue.

> I'm just going to call you a conspiracy theorist because it's probably not worth arguing with you, and "the amount of energy needed to refute bullshit is an order of magnitude larger than to produce it."

Yeah it would probably require an infinite amount of energy to refute my assertions, since they are actually true. And I think we are beyond considering the existence of the central bank to be a “conspiracy theory”, it’s kind of established.

[dead]
Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by chordalkeyboard on Monday February 22, 2021 @09:53PM (#26233357)
> ok let me be more polite: source???

Other than the quotes from the op that started this thing, you can go read the NYT resident economist Paul Krugman on “sticky wages” and inflation. Its paywalled (so I won’t provide a link) but should be the first results on any search engine.

> If you think your assertions are "actually true" then back them up.

This comment thread started because the first thing I quoted was an economist asserting this in obscurant language. I suggest you re-read from the beginning.

Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by AngrySkillzz on Monday February 22, 2021 @09:56PM (#26233381)
Hi yes I know quite a bit about sticky wages and inflation. What's your point.
Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by jkhdigital on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @01:15AM (#26234325)
"Sticky wages" is typical macroeconomics pablum. Imprecisely defined, completely unfalsifiable, used when it supports an argument and ignored when it doesn't. Contributes absolutely nothing to true understanding of the economy.
Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by chordalkeyboard on Monday February 22, 2021 @10:02PM (#26233419)
> What's your point.

Should be obvious from the discussion, especially for someone who “knows quite a bit” about the subject.

> Hi yes I know quite a bit about sticky wages and inflation.

Then why did you ask me for a source for a statement that is well understood among anyone who has studied the subject? Krugman’s statements to this effect are so well-known as to have been written about in other publications.

Back to the original statement: Is it that hard to say “we think wages among the working class are too high so the central bank depreciates the currency”? well is it?

Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by AngrySkillzz on Monday February 22, 2021 @10:29PM (#26233543)
You are purposefully ignoring the normal explanation, which is this: because wages are sticky, firms that need to cut costs in a recession are more likely to lay off people than they are to give pay cuts. Inflation helps to weaken that rigidity so that job losses are not as large. Maybe you know that.

You claim that central banks depreciate the currency because they "think wages among the working class are too high." But rhetorically, you are doing more than just referring to the explanation I gave above. You are implying that central banks "think" working class wages are too high, and want to lower them to hurt working class people.

Which is the opposite of the standard explanation - the purpose of inflation in that instance is to implicitly reduce the downward rigidity of wages so that employment does not contract as much in a downturn.

Presumably you, champion of the working class, would rather more people be unemployed?

Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by dang on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @01:26AM (#26234379)
Would you please stop doing ideological flamewar on HN? This one was just over the top.

You've posted a ton of these and it's not what this site is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by jmeister on Monday February 22, 2021 @11:48PM (#26233917)
I admire your patience here.
Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by chordalkeyboard on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @01:08AM (#26234286)
> because wages are sticky, firms that need to cut costs in a recession are more likely to lay off people than they are to give pay cuts. Inflation helps to weaken that rigidity so that job losses are not as large.

How fortunate for the capitalist that he can retain his entire workforce by paying them less and they are not even likely to notice.

> You claim that central banks depreciate the currency because they "think wages among the working class are too high." But rhetorically, you are doing more than just referring to the explanation I gave above. You are implying that central banks "think" working class wages are too high, and want to lower them to hurt working class people.

Banks wanting to hurt working class people is an unnecessary hypothesis. they merely want to help their friends who own businesses and would like to pay less in real terms for their workforce.

> the purpose of inflation in that instance is to implicitly reduce the downward rigidity of wages so that employment does not contract as much in a downturn.

give workers a stealth way cut so the business can afford to keep all of them, yeah, I get it.

> Presumably you, champion of the working class, would rather more people be unemployed?

I want them to be unemployed the same way you want them to be tricked into making less real money.

Re:Four Basic Truths of Macroeconomics by dang on Tuesday February 23, 2021 @01:25AM (#26234375)
Would you please stop doing ideological flamewar on HN? This one was just over the top.

You've posted a ton of these and it's not what this site is for.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html