tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post3974721344610487627..comments2023-12-14T05:29:55.758+02:00Comments on Economist's Journey to Life: Day 241: Will Inflation be a Problem with Providing a Living Income Guaranteed?Leila Zamora Morenohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00428852564054221982noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post-92077511684829569882014-07-01T03:36:09.913+02:002014-07-01T03:36:09.913+02:00They changed the meaning on inflation once Nixon g...They changed the meaning on inflation once Nixon got off the gold standard. It used to be the expansion of the money supply. If you look at old dictionaries it would state that. But now the modern dictionary states that inflation is 'rising prices'. <br /><br />I believe they changed this because governments don't want to be held responsible because they control the money supply, so when prices go up, they would be to blame. But now since its just 'rising prices'..,. they are not on the hook and can blame businesses for being greedy and rising prices. Plus governments can now easily tax without directly taxing the individual but rather by printing money and using inflation as a tax to promise more hand outs for the citizens and thus getting reelected.<br /><br />Currency is just a way to divvy up what is already produced into the economy. Say there are 10 breads in the economy and 10 dollars in the economy. So effectively 1 dollar can buy 1 bread. Now if you add money into the economy like this basic guaranteed income will do.. say you add 20 dollars and there are still 10 breads. Now it will cost 2 dollars for a bread. I would even argue that there would be less bread available because once you give the people an incentive not to work there would be less production and prices will go up even more.<br /><br />In ending I would also like to say one important fact that people tend to dismiss about inflation. Companies naturally get more efficient overtime and produce more goods with less labour.. effectively making goods less expensive and better made. When people see 0% inflation.. It is not really 0%. Because the inflation number doesn't take into account the effectiveness that a free market creates in lowering the cost of labor and and that better our lives. Prices should be coming down overtime. In the late 1800's and early 1900's there was deflation and that was arguably the most economic robust time in history.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post-3507832386276738512013-08-27T17:47:40.535+02:002013-08-27T17:47:40.535+02:00For perspective on your comment - please read: &qu...For perspective on your comment - please read: "Transforming Currency into Money with Living Income Guaranteed": http://economistjourneytolife.blogspot.com/2013/08/day-244-transforming-currency-into.html Maitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08126136722440365082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post-4056855219282185682013-08-05T23:54:17.316+02:002013-08-05T23:54:17.316+02:00Inflation isn't just a weird thing that happen...Inflation isn't just a weird thing that happens over time. <br /><br />Inflation is an increase in the money supply (which you have mentioned but in a different context)<br /><br />Rising prices are a result of this increase, they are not 'inflation' itself per se.<br /><br />Inflation is the value of your money becoming less, as there is more of it, yet there are the same amount of goods and services that it covers.<br /><br />I fear that to get better harmony in an economy you will need to re-introduce a commodity as money (like gold or silver historically) and change laws such as a CEO's fiduciary responsibility. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post-23845745911490195632013-07-22T20:50:12.100+02:002013-07-22T20:50:12.100+02:00There is a lot in economics as how it currently ex...There is a lot in economics as how it currently exists that we can 'set up' the way we want it to, if we make the decision to do so. The problem though is that throughout history all these little 'short-cuts' have been implemented which are basically like 'cheats'. An example for instance was the creation of fractional reserve banking. It happened as a 'cheat' -- but when it was discovered, it was already too late, it had already taken on a life of its own and the whole economy was now dependent on this cheat / lie of creating money out of nothing. So we've been keeping that cheat going since then. This is just one example, but there are many such loopholes/shortcuts within economics where people simply wanted to make a 'quick buck' and 'make the system work for them', and then within doing so disrupted the whole balance of the system where it each time matches less and less of what actually goes on in the world and takes up a life of its own. So because of all these cheats, there are points in the system where things happen that we have "no control" over so to speak, which is only because we've accepted and allowed these cracks in the system where there is zero-accountability which accumulated over time. So the point would be to go back and fix all those points where we made short cuts, thinking it was 'no biggie' and turned into monsters -- and to re-align our system of economics to how physical reality moves and not trying to cheat it.Leila Zamora Morenohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00428852564054221982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7712270306362674031.post-22264742015000421062013-07-20T20:53:19.678+02:002013-07-20T20:53:19.678+02:00Cool, I had wanted to ask about this as it is the ...Cool, I had wanted to ask about this as it is the main argument I see thrown around and I have not understood it, but I was unsure if it had been addressed so thanks for posting and linking to other posts. <br /><br />What is weird to me, and maybe it is a lack of understanding, is: don't we set our prices? I mean that's not just some magical entity that exists into itself. We create our economies, so can't we control and adjust these things to meet the needs of the people the system is in place, supposedly, to support? Like people act like 'inflation' or other things are like laws of physics or something, the tragic consequence of which is poverty and inequality, as if there is no solution, "that's just the way it is, oh well, too bad, at least I'm doing ok." that girlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07784799130961777718noreply@blogger.com