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Author: intercst   😊 😞
Number: of 1022 
Subject: Economic Theory That Explains Middle-Class Angst
Date: 06/09/2024 5:10 PM
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No. of Recommendations: 10
free link:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/podcasts/transc...

{{ In February of 2020, there’s this big piece on what they call “the great affordability crisis.” And the point the piece makes is that a lot is looking good in the economy — unemployment is down, wages are rising, people are feeling good. But if you look at the things people really need, housing, health care, education, child care, costs have just exploded. Quote, “The spiraling cost of living has become a central facet of American economic life.” }}

And those costs have exploded due to "rent seeking" behavior by Private Equity, Corporate Executives, Real Estate Brokers, Health Insurers, etc. Excess gains accruing to the Top 5% by strip mining the middle class with price gouging, and other anti-competitive behaviors.

Tax policy that punishes wage & salary earners while favoring investment income and inherited wealth, plus a lack of antitrust enforcement to address the price gouging, is the source of the problem

intercst
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Author: weatherman   😊 😞
Number: of 1022 
Subject: Re: Economic Theory That Explains Middle-Class Angst
Date: 06/10/2024 4:14 PM
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No. of Recommendations: 6
not infrequently, the right blog can offer simpler explanations with better insights than the NYT\WAPO\etc...

there is some irony here, as 'noble' hidden oligopolies are lauded as virtuous and quite in favor for continuous capital from shrewd'm (and many other investors)

"Where did these economic termites come from? We decided four and a half decades ago that monopolies were good. After 1998, the Antitrust Division stopped bringing monopolization cases, and in 2005, the Supreme Court unanimously endorsed monopolization as foundational to the health of American economy. After twenty years of not bringing cases, business executives realized the best way to run a business was to create a tollbooth in some mostly unnoticed part of society. So now, each supply chain is made up of a bunch of different bottlenecks, too small to notice."

https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/economic-termit...
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Author: intercst   😊 😞
Number: of 1022 
Subject: Re: Economic Theory That Explains Middle-Class Angst
Date: 06/11/2024 12:05 AM
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No. of Recommendations: 2
That's a great source, but I'm pretty sure the NY Times has a larger audience than an obscure blog on antitrust law. We have to get the information to the people somehow.

intercst
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Author: Timer321   😊 😞
Number: of 1022 
Subject: Re: Economic Theory That Explains Middle-Class Angst
Date: 06/14/2024 6:21 AM
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It is not just affordability.

Expectations have shifted. Bosses can not talk people out of getting paid. LOL
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