Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying?

Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by pjc50 on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:14AM (#35021341)

Inflation + Inequality => consumerism must sell fewer, more expensive products to a shrinking number of increasingly wealthy people.

(for the time being, if you want cheap products, buy them directly from China or through one of a gazillion middlmen; the rest of the world cannot yet afford this kind of gentrification)

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by nine_zeros on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:18AM (#35021384)

There are two ways to increase GDP.

1. Increase production and sell goods to the masses at low prices. Leads to a higher quality of life for the society.

2. Decrease production and sell goods only the wealthy at high prices. Leads to class warfare.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by parineum on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:23AM (#35021428)

> 2. Decrease production and sell goods only the wealthy at high prices. Leads to class warfare.

There aren't enough rich people to sustain this. It'll work until another company comes in and out-prices them.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by hotpotamus on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:35AM (#35021531)

I assume it ends with the entire economy working to support the one capitalist who wins the game. Sort of like Highlander.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by toomuchtodo on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:43AM (#35021603)

Hopefully KingGPT is benevolent.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by ralusek on Saturday March 04, 2023 @11:15AM (#35021890)

As a language model, I'm not capable of benevolence

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by toomuchtodo on Saturday March 04, 2023 @11:31AM (#35022064)

Finally, the interesting times I was promised.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by hgsgm on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:59AM (#35021755)

Not when the vendors are all monopolies and workers have no discretionary money to spend.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by nine_zeros on Saturday March 04, 2023 @11:21AM (#35021943)

> There aren't enough rich people to sustain this. It'll work until another company comes in and out-prices them.

It will never get to that point because the wealthy have learned to spend on lobbying to protect their wealth.

The ROI of spending $15 million on lobbying > the ROI of spending $15 million on innovation/efficiency/new products.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by hkt on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:18AM (#35021379)

It is worth noting that while that's true, inflation as officially measured tends not to include things like housing costs - in the UK over the last 30 years or so we've seen wages flatline while house prices and rents rose. In "real" inflation, people have been losing purchasing power for almost the entire period from the last financial crisis to now. CPIH addresses this in a limited way, but in general inflation is also different for each wage bracket - and highest for those who have least in the first place, even while official figures are "on target".

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by jefftk on Saturday March 04, 2023 @10:42AM (#35021596)

> inflation as officially measured tends not to include things like housing costs

Really? In the US the standard CPI-U basket is 1/3 housing: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t01.htm It's the single largest component.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by hkt on Saturday March 04, 2023 @11:39AM (#35022145)

TIL, that's an intriguing difference. Like I say, CPIH adjusts for this somewhat. It is a problem here because our 2% inflation target doesn't include housing. It also doesn't include the stock market etc, so we push inflation into these areas.

Maybe I'm being too British in saying this, but it is a rare occasion when I see the US being more sensible than the UK. This is definitely one of those moments.

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Re:Is the Entire Economy Gentrifying? by jvnnmfjvfjvflkj on Saturday March 04, 2023 @11:37AM (#35022118)

Almost every assembly worker at our factory own the latest iPhones. They are paid over $20/hr.

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