Drox
TK Veteran
What about teaching them that there are people out there that are intersex?
USA, Lost the plot ?
- Thread starter tommytank
- Start date
What about teaching them that there are people out there that are intersex?
Nah, can't do that, gotta be binary otherwise people lose their sh1t!
formandvoid
TK Veteran
I just don't think we should be teaching anything like that in school. Look, each to his own. My wife is Thai and I spend a lot of time in Thailand so I have seen it all but surely school is for gaining knowledge that will help you get a job, and that subject is irrelevant.
soltia
Member
When does inflation return to normal ? The theoretical £2 rise that we are talking about ( £2 an hour rise is a joke anyway ) , is to counter inflation ( directly caused by these lying theives running the show atm , not by wage rises ). Once inflation is brought under control ( will never happen under tories mind ). That £2 has been eaten up by cost of living and is worthless , so the nurses, binmen etc , those at the frontline on shit money , haven't got the £2 to pay back.
That's a great question. The price level doesn't go back to where it was without huge recessionary pressures and all that entails (mass unemployment etc.). The BoE is tasked to maintain inflation at an annual rate of 2%, the only tool it has is interest rates. It's missed that target at least 110 months out of the last 180. So, any reasonable person might wonder if it's the right tool/institution for the job.
The major problem with inflation seems to be the lack of any real understanding of it as a phenomenon or how to best deal with it.
This classic quote from Daniel Tarullo, former Governor of the Federal Reserve Board pretty much sums it up :
"After eight years at the Fed ... my conclusion was that there is no well-elaborated and empirically grounded theory that explains contemporary inflation dynamics in a way useful to real-time policymaking."
pabloescaban
VIP Member
The vast majority of inflation is people jumping on the bandwagon trying to make a quick buck.
Eg, there's a few bakeries near here where pies have jumped from around 85p two years ago to over £3 now.
They blame the cost of gas/electricity and a few other factors. This is obviously garbage, even if gas had gone up by ten times its original price, those increases would still be extortionate.
What happens now is that they won't sell anything and either go out of business or reduce their prices, other bakeries are selling similar products at £1.50 so they either compete or disappear. Inflation separates the wheat from the chaff, badly run businesses will fall by the wayside while efficiently run businesses will thrive.
I take your point regarding the increase in pies etc but I think we may be talking at cross-purposes.
In a capitalist society, competition (not inflation) is supposed to do that. Of course, that only holds where suppliers of fundamental goods don't have a monopoly or near-monopoly on supply.
The overriding problem with inflation are; there is no "one cause" of inflation, there are potentially multiple causes of individual prices changes. Therefore there is no "one solution".
The idea of using interest rate hikes to combat supply side inflation and price gouging is ridiculous. It's the equivalent of using dynamite to remove the weeds from your lawn.
pabloescaban
VIP Member
If people stop buying, suppliers have to drop prices.
To get people to stop buying, take their money away, sounds ridiculous but that's what they do.
If you don't stop, or at least slow down buying, the suppliers just keep putting prices up, hence my pie analogy above, people don't like it but there's no other way.
Another example of price gouging by one of the big firms, Heinz.
I used to buy their tinned ravioli, it was 75p-80p about 18 months ago, same price everywhere.
It's now £2
Unless you buy it with a different label on it, HP. It's 79p. But it's Heinz. If they can sell it for the same price as it was 2 years ago, why is their own brand over twice the price, and yes, it's exactly the same, none of the other tinned ravioli sold anywhere tastes anything like Heinz.
So rather than stop making it (because no-one is buying it) they've rebadged it and sold it at a normal price.
Why not just leave the Heinz label on and sell it for 79p?
People don't like it when they are the chosen inflation fighters.
People don't have to but Heinz ravioli at £2 or whatever it is, as you said they can buy HP ravioli for 79p. Or Waitrose or Aldi or Tesco or Lidl or whatever else is available at a price they find palatable. If Heinz want to sell ravioli at £2 or whatever a tin and they are still shifting enough units then clearly the market is clearing at that price. However, people have a choice of ravioli.
Of course there's another way.
As I said, there's no single cause of inflation so there should be no single "solution". The single solution you are putting forward is the same one the BoE put forward i.e. redistribute income upwards via interest rates, take money out of mortgage holders and renters pockets and watch people become inflation fighters (unemployed) as demand in the economy drops. Then, hilariously watch the chairman of the BoE say 'growth prospects are the worst' he can remember.
Instead, govt should be looking at the causes of these price rises and formulating specific solutions.
For example, if the issue is supply based then, ideally the market sees the signal as unmet demand and others take up the slack. In short, if possible, do something about supply.
If it's energy based, as most inflation is, then figure out import substitution and ameliorate the effects as best as possible. If it's price gouging by monopolies or cartels then there are laws to deal with these situations. I accept this requires political will and the current incumbents (and the other wing of the Uniparty) show no interest in running the country for the benefit of it's citizens.
pabloescaban
VIP Member
firstly, theres only one ravioli that tastes like Heinz, all the others are vile.
but you have a choice of two Heinz ravioli, HP or Heinz, one is 3 times the price of the other even though they are made and canned in the same factory.
how has inflation caused one to be £2 while the other was unaffected?
answer, it wasnt, they are trying to profiteer.
Now the government could put adverts on TV etc telling people not to buy the expensive versions of the stuff they've been buying for years but people are idiots, so to force them to buy the cheaper versions, and thereby force manufacturers to only sell the cheaper versions, they take money from consumers so they have to look around, then inflation comes down.
As long as people are just paying whatever is asked of them, it can never go down.
It's price gouging by everyone, like I said in my earlier point, if (2yrs ago) it cost 10p for power to bake one pie and now it costs ten times that (which it doesnt) why has that pie trebled in price?
There's a butchers near me that sells sirloin and rump steaks etc for half the price as Aldi or Lidl, he obviously doesn't have the buying power of the big outlets so that tells me that all the big outlets are price gouging. The government can do nothing at all about that apart from put people off going there, they can't close down all Tesco, Asda, Aldi, Lidl otherwise people would be eating each other
formandvoid
TK Veteran
I have to agree with pablo, suppliers are having a field day ripping people off and the government are doing nothing about it.
I don't think I did say inflation caused your ravioli to increase to £2, did I? Different brands, different prices. Some people perceive one better (or more desirable) than another. That's what 'branding' is about, that's why they spend untold millions promoting and protecting brands.
We call that consumer choice. If people don't want to buy expensive brands then they go to the discounters. I'm not sure there are many people that care as much as you do about ravioli.
Again, you should be happy you have the choice. If you think Aldi and/or Lidl are too expensive for a similar quality of meat then you can vote with your feet and buy whatever your local fella has on offer. That's a good thing, isn't it?
I'd agree in terms of the monopolies or near-monopolies.
I'll leave you to it. Thanks for the chat.
A lot of people suffer from brand snobery? they don't want to be seen with own branded stuff, that is why Heinz are able to sell their ravioli at £2. Heinz put their prices up due to energy prices, customers rather than buying the HP or own brand continue to buy the Heinz and then go cap in hand to their boss in the tin can factory demandiing a pay rise, now the tin can price goes up to cover the increased labour costs, Heinz then put their prices up, because their tin cans have got more expensive, customers still buy Heinz and go back again cap in hand for another pay rise. As long as everyone is willing to pay more it won't stop. INFLATION
Put interest rises up, the can factory can't afford to pay their staff more, so their staff can't afford to buy Heinz, even though they still want to, eventually if Heinz want to keep their sales they have to reduce prices to a competative price. Inflation comes down, interest rates come down and people can then go back to buying Heinz again.
Putting interest up is the only way you can reduce the amount of money people can spend
Put interest rises up, the can factory can't afford to pay their staff more, so their staff can't afford to buy Heinz, even though they still want to, eventually if Heinz want to keep their sales they have to reduce prices to a competative price. Inflation comes down, interest rates come down and people can then go back to buying Heinz again.
Putting interest up is the only way you can reduce the amount of money people can spend
Drox
TK Veteran
The bakers' energy costs have gone up. The millers' energy costs have gone up. The butter churner's energy costs have gone up...
Fair enough, whatever floats your boat
Intersex variations are not a result of a choice or lifestyle; they are natural variations of human biology. These variations can occur for a variety of genetic, hormonal, or developmental reasons and are present from birth. Not everyone is lucky to be born as either male or female.
pabloescaban
VIP Member
People can't grasp it.
They blame the government for causing it, but as has already been mentioned, its fuel/power that kick starts inflation then everyone piles on, making everything worse for the public
It reduces the amount some people can spend but it increases the amount others can spend.
Rate rises mean the rich get richer. Great for them, but not for those struggling to meet their mortgage or rent payments. Government Interest payments have increased by over 4% of GDP since 2020. That's more than energy subsidies and benefit increases combined.
No-one ever seems to mention that though. Funny, eh?
Of course, the interest rate increases are unnecessary – just ask the Bank of Japan which has held to its low rates since this supply-side inflationary episode started and also seen the fiscal authorities hand out cash to households and firms to get them through the cost-of-living crisis.
Drox
TK Veteran
Well the government is taking claim for bringing inflation back under “control”…
pabloescaban
VIP Member
Oh yes they'll do that.
And if dogs started sh!tting out diamonds, they'd take credit for that too.