How could we possibly have an economy that’s not based on constant growth? It’s absolutely inconceivable! I mean, what would we even do if we weren’t endlessly chasing that sweet, sweet GDP growth? Imagine a world where we actually meet everyone’s needs, live sustainably, and focus on well-being instead of mindless expansion—utter madness! Clearly, the only way to be “healthy” is to keep growing forever on a finite planet.
But that level of stability would mean no one could make themselves richer!
The thing is: nature will bring the stability anyway. It just won't include us. Sucks that we all have to die because the greediest among us cannot pull head from ass.
I don't think it's given humans will go extinct in the foreseeable future, rather the capitalist system will collapse and create room for a more sane one.
I don't think you necessarily need GDP growth to have a healthy small amount of inflation. Inflation has more to do with monetary supply than GDP growth.
I'd argue that inflation is best viewed as a result of decisions made by business owners rather than a passive outcome of market forces. Businesses increase prices to boost profit margins, often beyond what is necessary to cover costs. While external conditions like monetary policy or wage increases may create an environment conducive to price hikes, the decision to raise prices ultimately lies with businesses.
Socialists of all types have been saying this for ages and explaining all the ways you could do it without succumbing to a deflationary spiral, but I'm sure libs will take this as evidence that Xi doesn't understand econ 101 and that he's ruining China.
Won't deflation increase the value of money, and so enrich those with accumulated money more than those barely scraping by?
Deflation is not a problem in the Chinese case because of their unique circumstances. Chinese households have very high savings so they are actually better off from deflation. They also have an ultra high investment rate which is set by the government. So they don't need to worry about a deflationary spiral.
For other countries deflation will have different effects which may largely be negative (although that still depends on why deflation is happening). However, the fears of deflationary spirals are ... completely overblown. Not only does deflation require abnormal circumstances, but fixing it is extremely easy even for capitalist governments.
That is an effect, it also increases the relative value of debts which isn't great, but the negative impacts of those is less than the potential positive impact of reducing the relative cost of living. Really what you've got to focus on if you're a government trying to manage deflation is a) capital flight and b) wage reduction, because the biggest negatives are seen if investment gets pulled out of the economy and the positives aren't realized if people's wages don't stay the same.
While consumers can benefit from falling prices, persistent deflation can also lead to a downward spiral for spending and investment.
This is not a worry for China because they have maintained an absolutely insane rate of investment and growth for decades now.
According to this data, while investment as a percentage of GDP has fallen off during Xi's term, it still remains well above historical standards and near the top by world standards. Of all the major economies on earth, China is the only one with investment as a percentage of GDP above 40%. Even economies many times smaller and less developed like India still have a lower investment rate than the Chinese.
Furthermore, if you look at the household expenditure per capita, the post covid times still have a much higher level of household consumption than 2019. Not only that, but investment spending is mutually exclusive with consumer spending. Complaining both that China has insufficient investment and consumption is interesting to say the least ...
The State Council Information Office, which is charged with fielding questions about China’s leaders, didn’t respond to a request for comment and referred the Journal‘s questions to other agencies that didn’t reply to its queries.
Lol
While U.S. consumers have been frustrated with years of elevated inflation, the economy has also been robust, unemployment remains low, and the rate of price growth has slowed substantially since hitting a high in 2022.
If the American economy is doing so good, how did Trump manage a clean sweep?
the rate of price growth has slowed substantially since hitting a high in 2022.
If the American economy is doing so good, how did Trump manage a clean sweep?
Right in that quote, the best thing they can say about our economy is not that it's getting better, but that it's not getting worse as quickly as it was two years ago.
To be sure, consumers would benefit from lower-priced goods. But persistent economy-wide deflation can also trigger a vicious cycle of lower spending and investment, leading to even weaker growth and higher unemployment.
Unless countered by increased Government spending, they have implemented some stimulus measures but I hope they go for more.
Central Government can always unconditionally invest and spend without caring about turning money into more money.
Its why real wages and unemployment are better measures than solely looking at prices.
Capitalist magazines can't imagine Government doing stuff other than weapons for genocide or bank bailouts.
The main reason global markets aren't absorbing the demand is sanction on chinese produced goods. But anyhow it will be interesting to see how the renewable energy boom picks up steam. Jupiter 1 hydrogen gas generator engine is a pretty huge milestone.
