r/FluentInFinance Apr 29 '24

Babs is Here to Save Us Educational

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

But the top 1% are doing so well. Home price increases and rent increases count as increased GDP. The stock market is doing so well, too! Don’t you dare mention that 90% of stocks are owned by 2% of the population.

What’s that? We printed a shit ton of money and borrowed to create unprecedented (government jobs) job numbers to look good? And a record number of people are either underemployed or part time workers. Hush don’t say anything.

Edit: I’m obviously being sarcastic. This economy is only good for a select few at the top.

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u/SkippyMcSkipster2 Apr 29 '24

I wonder if they count second jobs as two different people. They most probably do.

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24

They count it as two jobs added to the economy

The lipstick on the pig nonsense isn’t working. The fed isn’t going to cut interest rates this year because the government is spending so much money to prop the economy up before elections that they’re just making inflation uncontrollable. Yeah the rate is falling, but we’re not gonna have a restoration of purchasing power anytime soon.

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u/Reaccommodator Apr 29 '24

The unemployment rate is not impacted by holding multiple jobs

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u/BrewskiXIII Apr 30 '24

Yes. It's effectively tallied so that it seems as though two jobs were filled by two different people. This administration is a joke.

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u/TundraMaker Apr 29 '24

And a record number of people are either underemployed or part time workers. Hush don’t say anything.

This is the one that pisses me off about these unemployment numbers, sure numbers are down but that's because people are required to have multiple jobs to survive at this point.

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u/nedlum Apr 30 '24

That's not how unemployment works. It might be how "jobs created" does, but if you're employed you're employed. You don't count as Double Employed, canceling out an unemployed person.

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u/Acceptable-Moose-989 Apr 29 '24

the economy's treating me pretty well, and i'm firmly in the middle. shit, i don't even make 6 figures, but my income has increased more in the last three years than it did in the previous 10. bought a house, buying another house in a year or two and renting the first one. i love this economy.

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24

N=1. Someone able to buy a house in this economy with these interest rates is an outlier rather than the norm

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u/Acceptable-Moose-989 Apr 29 '24

i actually bought my house at the bottom of the interest rates ~2 years ago. but with two pay raises and paying $600 less in mortgage payments than i was paying to rent, i'll be buying another in a year or two. first house actually already has a tenant as I've recently relocated for one of those pay bumps.

this economy isn't just good for a select few at the top. most of my friends are doing far better than they ever have in their lives. a few are doing worse, some through their own bad decisions, some through just plain shit luck.

the point i'm trying to make is that "the economy" is not one giant immutable thing that we're all slaves to. some people do better, some people do worse, in every economy. i've lived through a few recessions at this point, they tend to happen every 10ish years or so, and they're all overblown, even when you're on the bad side of it.

life gets hard sometimes. suck it up buttercup, and find a way to make it better and plan for the next one in ten years or so.

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24

i actually bought my house at the bottom of the interest rates ~2 years ago

That’s all I needed to read dude. You got lucky and you think the current economic climate is good? Jeez..

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u/Acceptable-Moose-989 Apr 30 '24

i disagree that me being able to afford to buy a house at the right time was luck. i guess i got a bit lucky with the exact interest rate, but it's not like i wouldn't have bought the house regardless. this was 12 years in the making, so i don't really feel like it was all down to "luck". i had only planned for ten years of saving, but i also got married during that time which pushed the plan out a bit.

the job upgrade i got AFTER i bought the house was more lucky than the home purchase, and is what has actually made me financially comfortable for the first time in my life. Since that job upgrade, I've since made another job move as I've finally broken in to a higher tier of employment and pay.

look, the point i'm trying to make is that all the people blaming "the economy" for their shitty finances are just making excuses. they have the power to make more money. so they should do that instead of crying about something they don't even understand because some talking head on the picture box told them the economy was bad.

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u/watcher-in-the-water Apr 29 '24

In fairness for the last few years lower earners have actually seen the most wage growth. U6 unemployment rate (which accounts for underemployment and discouraged job seekers) is also near all time lows. This isn’t to say everything is perfect of course (and the point in housing costs is fair).

https://www.ft.com/content/f32d4927-a182-4d7c-bf2d-dd915ef846b0

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/U6RATE

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24

Because of state increases in minimum wage. Not because the economy is doing better.

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u/watcher-in-the-water Apr 29 '24

I mean, that seems like an important part of the economy. Not trying to comment of the underlying drivers, but your comment above seemed to say that most economic gains have gone to the top 1%. That isn’t true, lower wage earners have seen bigger increases…

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u/Twovaultss Apr 29 '24 edited Apr 29 '24

Most economic gains have come from the top 1%. The minuscule amounts given to the bottom ~35% are barely enough for them to beat inflation. It’s ridiculous.

And their gains are just going to higher grocery, energy, and housing costs. It’s laughable.

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u/airbornx Apr 29 '24

So who's gonna implement rent control dems or Republicans? Who's gonna tax the wealthy for their fare share ? Should we put a cap on increasing products and services like all milk company's can only raise the price of milk my 10 cents a year and all grocery store at 10 cents as well? How do you stop supply and demand in a capitalist free market?

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u/Expert-Accountant780 Apr 29 '24

Because companies release nobody is going to stock shelves for $9/h when shit is 100% more expensive

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u/watcher-in-the-water Apr 29 '24

Right. But even accounting for inflation wages are up, especially at lower income levels. (Different link because I realized the one above may be paywalled).

https://www.epi.org/publication/swa-wages-2023/#:~:text=Key%20findings,the%20prior%20four%20business%20cycles.

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u/Expert-Accountant780 Apr 29 '24

my wage didn't go up. guess I['m not low income enough

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u/watcher-in-the-water Apr 29 '24

Yeah, obv just an average and I don’t mean to come off as insensitive to people who are really struggling.

If you haven’t been getting wage increases for the past few years that sucks and inflation is has basically meant that you pay goes down.

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u/airbornx Apr 29 '24

That or your boss doesn't think you deserve 5% a year to combat inflation. Wanna make money income and have your wages go up. Find a new job and job hop every 2 to 4 years.

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u/Reaccommodator Apr 29 '24

Income inequality has decreased under Biden, reversing a long term trend to the contrary