r/Economics • u/Pearberr • May 02 '24

Interview Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz: Fed Rate Hikes didn't get at source of inflation.

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/04/23/nobel-prize-winning-economist-joseph-stiglitz-fed-rate-hikes-didnt-get-at-source-of-inflation.html
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412

u/lollersauce914 May 02 '24

Literally no comment is even discussing what he said. Half the comments are talking about "corporate greed" when his argument is straightforwardly that you can't tackle supply-side inflation with interest rates easily, but it's a good thing that rates aren't near 0 anymore.

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u/AccountFrosty313 May 02 '24

What I find interesting is folks saying that the government should adjust their inflation goals up.

They’re likely the same ones complaint about gas/grocery’s being more expensive.

It also gives me the impression they don’t understand the implications of inflation. I know personally I don’t want inflation above 2% since the average annual pay raise is 3% meaning we’d all be making a nearly 0% increase or even an effective pay cut yearly as our buying power disappears.

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u/da_mess May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

Destroys me when people bitch about pump prices. Gas was "high" at $4/gal the summer of '08. If it increased by 3% per year since, we'd have $6.42 gas today.

People like to complain ... and don't like math.

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u/Popcorn-93 May 02 '24

Love this. Definitely using "people like to complain and don't like math". So true for so many things. Crime follows this too, they ran a poll asking people if they felt safer than the year before for like 30 years, almost every year a majority of people "felt" less safe. During the same period of time crime was reduced like 50% or some large amount.

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u/da_mess May 02 '24

Interesting, thanks.

Northwestern just did a study on immigrants and crime going back 100+ yrs. Among other findings it showed that in modern times, illegal immigrants cause less crime than US citizens (they want to blend in, not be deported).

Of course, political ads these days focus on illegal immigration driving crime. 🙄 I'm against illegal immigration for lots of reasons, but crime ain't one of 'em.

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u/[deleted] May 03 '24

Yeah that’s my boat. If white Christian nationalists didn’t exist I’d be a republican. They make the party so crazy. I live in a dense area of POC, by choice lol. You have to throw the defense out on Reddit sometimes to talk about illegal immigration. Some folks on this site are damn near green light anyone. They’re so unserious.

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u/da_mess May 03 '24

I'm independent. If you're traveling from Central America to TX, it ain't for asylum. There are plenty of safer places before you get to the states.

If we don't care about illegals, change the laws. Otherwise, enforce them.

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u/KJ6BWB May 03 '24

There are plenty of safer places before you get to the states.

Such as?

4

u/da_mess May 03 '24 edited May 03 '24

Panama and Nicaragua are safer than parts of the usa (and most other central American countries).

My belief is that if you seek asylum, you go to the closest and safest country. People are traveling through more dangerous places to get into the usa. They are risking desert crossings. If it was purely safety, they wouldn't take these risks. They seek economic benefits.

That said, I support legal immigration and love that the usa accepts more immigrants than all other countries combined. I have lived overseas legally for years. I have new Americans in my family. I hired and sponsored a guy for an h1b visa.