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Comment by jedberg | Hacker News Reader

Money is ridiculously cheap right now. I just refinanced my house and my mortgage went down 20%, and I just refinanced four years ago. When the appraiser came he told me that he's been working non-stop since April 2020 because there are so many cash-out refinances. There are a ton of remodels near me, many of who got the money with cash out refinances.

It's not a surprise that there is a demand for lumber.

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Inflation really is here

It really isn't

What would convince you that inflation is here?

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffe...

Much of the available data is only pointing to inflation being on the order of 2.5% in the coming years. This is hardly the runaway inflation scenario many are predicting and is close to the target inflation rate of 2%.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/T5YIFR

https://www.clevelandfed.org/our-research/indicators-and-dat...

Yes, some things (housing, lumber, used cars, etc.) are experiencing quick increases in price. Some are saying this is a sign of runaway inflation. Many others are saying these price increases are a result of pandemic related supply/demand issues and temporary shocks to supply chains.

You didn’t answer my question.

I'll be convinced there is a serious inflation problem if broad-based measures show inflation >3% in 12 months time. In the meantime, a lot of the price increases cited by individuals seem to be related to pandemic-caused supply chain issues, which will hopefully be worked out within the next 12 months.

Well that threshold just got beat way before your 12 month timeframe.

Warren Buffett disagrees with you

It has been here for me for over a decade, per the price history of my purchases. Not that it should factor into account for purposes of national statistics, but it has and continues to affect my behavior (and of those around me).

Living is more expensive and labor is more expensive but maybe inflation means something else.

We all know how it went last time...

Unfortunately at the same time money isn't cheap for other things that matter.

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