Have we been thinking about inflation all wrong?

Re:Have we been thinking about inflation all wrong? by tombert on Thursday February 10, 2022 @02:35PM (#30291329)

Wouldn't most billionaires have most of their money in real estate and the stock market (e.g. with index funds or hedge funds or something of that ilk)? It probably was especially true in 2020, when it was so cheap to get into the stock market and the bailouts made it seem like inflation was inevitable [1].

I would think that most poorer people don't have stock portfolios filled with DIA or QQQ shares; the poorer people are much more likely to have a savings account, and inflation will probably hurt them.

[1] My parents made almost $100k by buying VOO shares at almost exactly the right time in 2020.

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Re:Have we been thinking about inflation all wrong? by whakim on Thursday February 10, 2022 @04:08PM (#30292569)

It depends, because different types of assets respond differently to inflation. The wealthier you are, the more likely you are to have more esoteric investments. The bottom 50% of the wealth distribution in most countries (including the United States) own almost no assets (including cash in savings accounts) and are often debtors, so they may find that inflation reduces their debts to a greater degree than their savings.

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Re:Have we been thinking about inflation all wrong? by tombert on Friday February 11, 2022 @08:10AM (#30300991)

I think this assumes that wages keep up with inflation, which has not traditionally been the case for low-wage workers (or even high-wage workers for that matter).

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