vivafrance

> we're built differently both mentally and physically

You're incredibly sexist. You undoubtedly are part of the reason women are paid 60% what men are. I hope you are fired from wherever you work as you're part of the problem.

That's only because of cultural biases. If women were treated the same as men throughout childhood you'd see equal representation.

Yes, it was.

> When house prices go up, this measure goes up by a similar measure.

That’s only true if you assume interest rates aren’t falling. Artificially low interest rates have inflated the actual price of housing while keeping monthly payments fairly steady.

The Fed is then able to say “look, no inflation!” despite actual prices rising very rapidly.

You’re wrong. House prices aren’t included anymore in CPI. Imputed rents are. These are very different things.

Anyways, I’m sure all this falls on deaf ears. If you used the same calculation the Fed used in the 80s to measure inflation we’d currently be at 10%. You can pick and choose and weight whats in the cpi basket to get any number you want and the government is incentivized to make it appear lower.

> Monetary policy may have prevented a worst case depression

I vehemently disagree with this claim. The central banks of the world have merely masked a massive default on debt by inflating it away in a coordinated manner. The owners of that debt made out like bandits while the rest of us paid for it through the devaluation of our savings and wages.

Inflation is rampant in many areas right now. It’s dishonest to claim inflation is low because TVs are still cheap when house prices, healthcare, and education are exploding. Furthermore, if the unemployment rate was as low as is advertised we would be seeing wage growth. The fact that wages are not rising is evidence that the unemployment numbers are fudged. The fact that Trump was elected is evidence that the majority of people are unhappy with the “recovery”.

The ECB should just do more QE. Monetary policy solved all the US’s problems following 2008 - should work for Europe too. Printing money to buy bonds definitey doesn’t cause inflation in asset prices or real estate. Furthermore, buying bonds is totally different than simply buying stocks. Additionally, I think people really like when the interest they’re paid on their savings is below the rate of inflation. In fact, they should follow Japan’s lead and start printing money to buy ETFs! This will definitely incentivize the creation of high quality jobs.

The Fed and the government in general are incentivized to make inflation appear much lower than it actually is. If you use the same calculation the Fed used in the 80s to measure inflation then we’d be at 10% today.