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Comment by bettercallsalad | Hacker News Reader

I find it senseless how bankers get billions of tax payers money and no one raises an eyebrow. But the moment your average worker starts to get a wage increase everyone screams inflation. Fed had flooded the market with money and brought along asset inflation for years but the moment nominal wages started to rise every Economists suddenly started to worry about inflation, as if the time to increase the rates were not 11 years ago in 2012.

Here is a Fed governor explaining how she can’t feel inflation anymore. It’s painful to watch the mental gymnastics. [1]

[1] https://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-mary-daly-says-i-dont...

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Similarly the logic flips on the pay increase depending on what end it is.

When the CEO gets a $5 million raise some will say "well now he will work more" (aka it's good)

When the laborer gets a $5 raise these people say "well now he will work less!" (aka it's bad)

This is consistent in their head because their fundamental belief is in a hierarchy as if it's by divine providence.

It also ties wages to morality. They imagine the rich are virtuous while the poor are immoral so the money goes to different ends.

It sounds so old timey and I agree, so call people out on it when you still hear it.

It’s about class and power. I’m still amazed at how brazen Powell is about it all.

Here is a Fed governor explaining how she can’t feel inflation anymore.

Why is that a controversial statement? If you're rich the current rate of inflation simply isn't a problem for you. Rich people have so much money that even doubling the prices of most consumer goods won't affect their quality of life in the slightest. I thought that would be painfully obvious to everyone. Or is the controversy that she said the obvious thing everybody knew out loud?

Because bankers, like it or not, produce that much value. UPS drivers don’t, and are instead holding their company hostage to force them to pay them more, placing unnecessary restrictions on people entering the job market, which ultimately comes at the expense of everybody else in their market.

> value

Horseshit. It is labor who produces value, value that is directed, sold for its surplus, and earmarked for profit to the pockets of the directors.

Can the CEO build the widgets?

If no, then stop bootlicking for a CEO class of which you will never likely (be invited to) join.

The reason we see so few folks complain about subsidies for banks/business is because it is banks/business that control the channels by which we consume that information.

We know China has its firewalls. Russia too.

American “info firewalls” are all purpose built to bolden consumer fetish for consumption and hide or mute dissent against corporate bailout/subsidy.

Produce that much value in what sense? In potential future value for whatever might use credit and other financial services, yes, I agree with you, but that's potential. Value useful right now is being provided by the people doing the work, not the ones playing around with figures to determine where value should be allocated.

Without those UPS drivers you don't have deliveries, with no deliveries there's no online sales, there's no movement of goods, this is actual proper value being produced in the real sense, not in an accounting spreadsheet somewhere.

UPS drivers, like it or not, produce that much value. Bankers don't, and are instead holding the economy hostage through abuse of insider information [0], regulatory arbitrage [1], and capturing short-term value via liquidity mismanagement [2] or creating long-term systemic risk via post-Glass-Steagall gambling on derivatives that eventually leaves shareholders and taxpayers holding the bag [3], which ultimately comes at the expense of everybody else in the economy.

[0] https://www.goldmansachs.com/investor-relations/corporate-go...

[1] https://www.atlantafed.org/-/media/Documents/news/conference...

[2] https://apnews.com/article/silicon-valley-bank-bailout-yelle...

[3] https://money.usnews.com/investing/stock-market-news/article...

I cannot figure out if this is sarcasm or serious. And now I am worried about my mindset and the HN hive mind.

It’s been like this for a while sadly. At this point I’ve read so much nonsense on this site by true believes, I’d wager on the latter.

Marginal cost does not equal marginal "value" in general. It only holds under specific circumstances.

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