chop2chip
Well-known member
I’m sure entirely unrelated to the above graph, the justice system is being turned on Jerome Powell.
Frauds and phonies
Economics Thread
- Thread starter sturg33
- Start date
Frauds and phonies
What to make of Javier Milei's early successes
This is not the first time Argentina's seen a quick boom
www.slowboring.com
Interestingly, Matt Yglesias of all people had a couple good points here. While I think some of his analysis here ranges from iffy to outright incorrect (he conflates political populism with economic populism at times that make me question his use of the term), there are some points that I think are worthwhile when discussing Milei’s performance thus far.
In particular, the point on the slowing of Argentina’s inflation (while impressive!) being misunderstood by an audience used to judging inflation in annual terms and there are victims to be found in the spending cuts implemented. As such, it’s hard to find a good parallel for an economy such as the US beyond the obvious economic benefits of spending and borrowing less money. It’ll also be difficult to consistently maintain fiscal discipline in the face of electoral politics.
All that said, Milei has done well. Poverty has been reduced by greater amounts than I would have anticipated and I think particularly for a nation that was on the *actual* brink of economic collapse, this is a good path forward. I just question how universal some of these results would be in various economic environments.
The ridiculous tariffs on raw material have to be the most baffling to me. If the goal is to increase American manufacturing, why in the actual fuck would we make it more expensive to do so? Even if I squint and see the vision (not that you should) on domestic production to build up our exports and create jobs as a result, I still fundamentally don’t understand the idea of making the production of those goods prohibitively expensive, because we just have to pass on those costs to our trade partners down the line, subsequently counteracting any reduction in tariffs or other charges from those countries. We’re somehow not doing domestic production *or* export production right.
chop2chip
Well-known member
In 2023, approximately 1.1% of hourly workers in the United States earned the federal minimum wage or less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This represents a decrease from 1.3% in 2022. The data is based on the Current Population Survey (CPS).
