Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s mobility is stalling

Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by simpaticoder on Thursday August 14, 2025 @10:33PM (#44908019)

Wouldn't it be nice if individuals decided at the start of their career how much money was "enough" for them, and made a pledge to retire once they hit that number. Then society can give them an "I won!" hat or gold card or something, and the next guy can take the role. In this way all enterprises become an engine pulling new hires off the street, and emitting independently wealthy people to go and enjoy their lives.

But instead we have a tiny minority of people who control more and more capital. This has well-known and terrible consequences for society from almost every angle. What I don't understand is why the .1% don't want to step aside and let someone else have a turn. It's funny that our bodies have stomachs, so we know when we've eaten "enough". But money doesn't get stored in the body.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by sidewndr46 on Thursday August 14, 2025 @10:53PM (#44908135)

You'd have to have some guarantee that the government would never alter the amount of inflation they create for that to be reasonable

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by charlie0 on Thursday August 14, 2025 @11:02PM (#44908171)

No one can guarantee that but if you place your dollars into assets, those assets will inflate.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by Uvix on Thursday August 14, 2025 @11:13PM (#44908236)

Except when they don't, like Japan's stock market from 1989-2024.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by charlie0 on Friday August 15, 2025 @09:14AM (#44912027)

Japan has had relatively low inflation until recently.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by sidewndr46 on Friday August 15, 2025 @09:54PM (#44919399)

Then you have a bunch of assets, not money.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by toomuchtodo on Thursday August 14, 2025 @11:08PM (#44908211)

The drive to become that wealthy and powerful does not turn off. It’s a similar failure mode as a meth addict stripping a substation for copper. Neither persona can help themselves.

> It's funny that our bodies have stomachs, so we know when we've eaten "enough".

Humorously on topic, GLP-1s patch the reward center in your brain and say “enough is enough.” If only there was a similar protocol for wealth and power.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by simpaticoder on Friday August 15, 2025 @12:01AM (#44908480)

> Humorously on topic, GLP-1s patch the reward center in your brain and say “enough is enough.” If only there was a similar protocol for wealth and power.

I bet there exists such a drug! But no-one would fund the research.

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Re:Nobody’s buying homes, nobody’s switching jobs, America’s... by jordanb on Friday August 15, 2025 @09:14AM (#44912022)

I think there's a strong case for having maximum wealth above which you'll just get a 100% tax.

All the billionaires are equal parts clearly miserable people, and also terrifying and psychopathic. I assume they didn't start out that way, but there's also probably a personality that just has a need to run up the score.

I think if capitalism had a kill screen, that you get to and then you have to go do something else for a while, both the billionaires and the rest of us would all be happier and healthier.

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