I believe you captured the essence of it on both sides.
INFLATION--FED's cutting rates again...
- Thread starter Chop
- Start date
Horn2RunAgain
2,500+ Posts
1970s inflation had to hurt HHD and that age group severely. He would have been just entering his prime earning period of life . With inflation out of control it's hard for a married couple with kids to save or risk capital to invest into a future. You pay for it in the end through no fault of your own
Imo that's how today's middle class is getting bent over right now. Their ability to invest is inhibited. ..25 to 30 yrs from now they're going to ***** louder than my generation, understandably so
I was born in '76, and my parents were born in '47 and '49 and married in '69. They really got hosed. My dad says it was financially the most difficult time of his life. They wanted to buy a house. He regularly got raises, and he'd save up money. But invariably his rent and costs just kept going up, and interest rates kept going up. So while he kept saving and trying to be responsible with his money, he only spun his wheels - not just for weeks or months but for years. Eventually he got a house, but it took a lot longer than it should have. In the '80s, things changed, and he was much better off.
I think that experience is why he's a conservative today. Keynesian economics specifically and personally failed him. All the central planners he heard in the '70s who were pushing for price controls and government spending ended up being full of ****. The supply siders who preached deregulation and keeping inflation in check ended up basically being right.
Wait...did somebody say "Price Controls"...
What could go wrong...?
Rent control trigger law voted down in heated Seattle council session
The greedy landlords strike back in Seattle.
The greedy landlords strike back in Seattle.
Economists, academics back federal rent control, four months after Florida bans it
Looks like some really smart guys, with lots of degrees and diplomas on the wall, are in favor of rent control.
Looks like some really smart guys, with lots of degrees and diplomas on the wall, are in favor of rent control.
National policy makers do not listen to Chop.
Here's my proposal to make housing more affordable:
No taxes on profits for building homes priced at < 50% of the median home price in the metro area. Basically, starter home builders would build tax free.
No taxes on profits for the 1st 10 years on rents from new multi-family housing/apartments. 1/2 taxes on rents for the next 10 years.
No taxes on makers of building products (wood, fasteners, plumbing, electric wiring, bricks, etc).
1/2 income taxes on home construction companies and their workers.
No taxes on installers of pipes/sewers/water infrastructure to new developments.
All building permits for housing start off defaulting to a "shall issue" basis, with the municipality bearing the burden of showing why it should not be built. Zoning laws and HOAs would still apply though.
Ag exemptions within metro areas would be scrutinized. Real working agriculture would still be protected.
That all would be a good start.
Here's my proposal to make housing more affordable:
No taxes on profits for building homes priced at < 50% of the median home price in the metro area. Basically, starter home builders would build tax free.
No taxes on profits for the 1st 10 years on rents from new multi-family housing/apartments. 1/2 taxes on rents for the next 10 years.
No taxes on makers of building products (wood, fasteners, plumbing, electric wiring, bricks, etc).
1/2 income taxes on home construction companies and their workers.
No taxes on installers of pipes/sewers/water infrastructure to new developments.
All building permits for housing start off defaulting to a "shall issue" basis, with the municipality bearing the burden of showing why it should not be built. Zoning laws and HOAs would still apply though.
Ag exemptions within metro areas would be scrutinized. Real working agriculture would still be protected.
That all would be a good start.
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I can't believe we're talking ourselves into such a discredited policy. I'll never forget what my Econ professor (who was pretty liberal) said about. 1. Rent control doesn't work, because landlords find ways to make up for the artificially cheap rent with fees and under-the-table payments. 2. You wouldn't want it to work, because if it did, you'd destroy the supply of housing, and most people wanting to live in the city wouldn't be able to find anything.
Well, that settles it. Do the opposite of what those idiots say and everything will get better. The issue is this is what the Biden Administration wants so they can exert control of more of the US population.
Good point, Horn2RunAgain - and you nailed it. Karen and I were just starting our family - first son born in 1971, second in 1974. I was on active duty until 1975 - and military pay didn't come close to keeping up with inflation then. I resigned my Regular commission and became a Reserve officer when I started at General Dynamics in Fort Worth. GD had an excellent savings plan with a nice company match (I later rolled that into the Lockheed plan when Lockheed bought Fort Worth). I did pretty well in the 401(k).
I also worked as a Reservist for another 19 years while I was working at GD/Lockheed. Once a month I had a 12-day workweek - 5 days M-F at GD, 2 days AF Reserve, then M-F at GD. I had a Reserve job which required me to split my 15-day annual tour into three 5-day segments - frequently I had to take company vacation time to pull Reserve duty.
I took Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) coverage on my USAF retirement - so Karen will get 55% of my pension plus full military benefits if I predecease her. I didn't take survivor coverage on my Lockheed pension (extremely expensive). I get COLA on my USAF retirement and our Social Security checks.
Because I have both a company retirement and my USAF retirement and benefits, I did better than many of my peers in that age group. But you're right - all of my peers felt the brutal impact of the 1970s inflation at the time we were establishing careers and starting families - and it was rough.
I'm grateful for the benefits I earned - and it's sad to see the purchasing power eroded by the current inflation.
The loss of purchasing power is nearly offset by the free money congress sent to folks to compensate for the lockdowns. Families who made less than $140k got big checks. I made too much money to get paid the big bucks in rounds 2 and 3 even though I had 4 kids under 18 at the time.
That money went out the door as soon as it was received and it wasn't "big checks".
Some families got $8-10k - go find the online calculators and do it yourself.
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Then how did folks were able to survive without working?
Government was paying $2k per kid.
There were 3 rounds of stimulus - different values and the payouts were tapered differently with income (so you can’t go to one source to get all the info). Those who kept working got a nice bonus.
Folks with no children at home or people who made too much money got screwed out of big bucks. The checks for them were small.
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
I'm sorry but that statement is insane. The stimulus checks weren't more or less based on salary. I made more than the number you show above and I got the full amount. It didn't cover for the increase in one car insurance payment a year or two later. Or the increase in used car prices. Or... Or... Or...
Monahorns
10,000+ Posts
I actually refused receiving the last round of stimulus checks in 2021 because it was paying you up front for the child tax credit. Also, the child tax credit overall went down in 2022. The IRS has been giving child tax credits to parents my whole life. This wasn't stimulus. Like what happened in 2020.
Horn2RunAgain
2,500+ Posts
Americans' credit card debt hits a record $1 trillion | CNN Business
Again, the damage has been done. Recovery for people less fortunate than us is doubtful at best. They're screwed. Period. If someone is in debt because of spending habits, it's on them. No pity from me. But my guess is inflation hit the middle and lower middle hard enough to cause this.
For round 3, you made too much money to get a net benefit.
Once again, the lower and lower middle classes have seen the highest wage gains and lower class is actually making more money in real dollars.
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