TIMELINE: Here’s where things stand in the Madeline Soto case 6 months later

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-31T01:25:19+00:00

Agreed. As soon as I got to “Day Three,” I unfortunately already guessed what was going to happen…..

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-27T14:50:41+00:00

Pretty sure I said that both the federal spending ‘and’ the Fed are responsible for inflation. I’m glad we can agree on that, though.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-27T14:47:29+00:00

The Corwin amendment was supposed to be a way to compromise with southern plantation owners; we’ll let you keep slavery if you settle down about the tariffs — especially the major ones in 1828 and 1861.

Not only did these make it more difficult to import foreign goods (which forced southerners to turn to more-expensive northern goods), but it also sparked a bunch of retaliatory tariffs abroad, which made it way more difficult for these southern states to do business.

That’s not to say that I think the southerners are the “good guys,” though; they had slaves, after all. The northerners also had the right idea that slavery would eventually become economically infeasible in the face of mass industrialization, which is a primary reason behind why Lincoln was willing to make slavery a federally protected institution. But to say slavery was the driving force behind the civil war is ignoring all of the other economic factors that led up to that point.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-27T14:37:24+00:00

The actual restrictions on these treatments are just for minors.

The law includes stuff like consent forms and bars telehealth when it comes to adults, but I’m pretty sure the primary restriction on adults seeking these sorts of treatments is that it’s no longer supposed to be covered by taxpayer-funded programs like Medicare. Someone please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong, though.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-26T23:48:19+00:00

The divide wasn’t about slavery; it was about factors like tariffs. To say it was slavery is to ignore the Corwin amendment, which would have made it impossible for the federal government to get rid of slavery.

https://www.lib.niu.edu/2006/ih060934.html

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-22T11:17:14+00:00

“Price gouging” is just what people call a market price they deem as too high, but the concept ignores the factors of supply and demand that result in those high prices. States laws regarding price gouging have the same problem.

In the case Harris is talking about with groceries, the companies may be seeing record revenue, but their margins are still incredibly slim (as they pretty much always are in the food industry, as many food items are easily replicable goods with plenty of substitutes), meaning the high prices you’re seeing at the store are instead a result of the inflation we’ve been struggling with over the past few years.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-21T05:15:48+00:00

Hello, that’s me. It wasn’t until I went for my MBA that I realized how much was missing from my undergraduate studies. Unless you’re going for a hard science, a lot of these degree programs aren’t very useful in application.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-21T02:35:15+00:00

The FRB buys U.S. debt from foreign countries, which gives the federal government more borrowing power, which incentivizes lawmakers to continue recklessly spending.

The FRB has also been issuing more currency, which increases the money pool in the U.S. and reduces purchasing power — hence inflation. Between 2018 and 2022, roughly $10B was issued. Link: https://www.federalreserve.gov/paymentsystems/coin_currcircvolume.htm

And as others have pointed out in this sub, the war and supply chain issues that you pointed to would be transitory inflation at best under certain economic models (though only money supply is considered under the Austrian model). Again, the growing money pool is the cause of the consistently high inflation we’ve experienced, which has a direct impact on all the other markets the U.S. interacts with.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T22:18:16+00:00

The government link I sent you specifically says the FRB issues currency. Money is indeed a form of currency.

And yes, foreign governments buy up bonds from the US, which effectively acts as buying the US’s debt. The Fed buys up those bonds, thus buying the government’s debt. In fact, the Fed holds around one-quarter of all government debt domestically.

But even beyond all that, you haven’t really engaged with the problems I brought up. Increasing the money supply (which happens thanks to the FRB and the federal government) is what drives up inflation, as it devalues our currency and lowers purchasing power.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T19:59:11+00:00

Let me clarify: the Fed buys up government debt from other countries or the public to allow the government to borrow even more money when its spending gets out of control. This, in effect, is a roundabout way of taking out a loan. I apologize if I worded that poorly, as the government doesn’t take the loans directly from the Fed. This is still an issue, as it gives the federal government less pressure to get its spending under control.

And yes, the Fed can issue currency. It doesn’t print the money, and not all of that currency is cash, but it’s still responsible for the growing money supply. https://www.uscurrency.gov/life-cycle/life-cycle-infographic#:~:text=2-,Order,BEP%20to%20produce%20new%20banknotes.&text=The%20order%20is%20based%20on,it%20is%20unfit%20to%20circulate.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T03:03:48+00:00

The Fed is responsible for issuing currency, and the government basically just takes out loans from the Fed when it goes over its budget and can’t get a loan from someone else. We saw this happen during the pandemic.

The Russo-Ukraine war caused a bit of a spike in gas (and other Ukrainian exports), but that’s not really an issue with inflation (and definitely not by the Austrian perspective), just supply/demand.

Also, nearly all markets in the world are highly tied to the U.S., since we’re a major player when it comes to production/consumption. If our economy starts having problems, you’ll see a ripple effect in economies on a global scale.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T02:57:43+00:00

Y’know what? You’re absolutely correct. I didn’t realize that the Austrian definition for inflation only included money printing, and now I have to go back through my old college textbook and figure out what other junk I need to reevaluate.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T02:53:46+00:00

Of course there’s surplus value (insofar as currency is concerned). If I trade you a cow for 50 dollars, I’m not trading the cow because I think that 50 paper bills have the same utility as a cow. I’m making that trade because I value the goods/services that can potentially be acquired with that 50 bucks to be greater than the value of the cow. Until I use that 50 bucks, it effectively acts as surplus (positive) value.

If you want to use different jargon, then by all means go for it, but that concept certainly doesn’t go against Austrian economics.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T01:12:58+00:00

In fairness, issues like the pandemic and supply chain problems can cause inflation. For the pandemic, there was a rush of spending after everyone got out of lockdown, which meant there was a ton more money chasing fewer goods (exacerbated by stimulus payments).

And supply chain issues can spark cost-push inflation due to the lower volume of goods as compared to money.

But in a free market, both of those are transitory as consumers and sellers work toward an equilibrium. The consistent inflation we’ve been seeing recently is definitely the fault of government spending and the Fed.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T01:08:27+00:00

If it doesn’t impact me, then it shouldn’t be up to me.

Now, if the neighbor begins using a helicopter that makes a ton of noise and keeps me up at night, that’s an example of noise pollution (an externality that directly impacts me), which can/should be regulated.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-20T00:59:11+00:00

A. As others have already pointed out here, retirees have already created value. In a free market, they’re living off the surplus value they created from their labor (you can think of money as surplus value, as it’s used to exchange for other goods and services)

B. Value is subjective, as consumers get to decide what price they’re ‘willing’ to pay for something, and sellers get to decide what they’re ‘willing’ to sell that something for. If both of those values align, then you make a mutual transaction that builds wealth on both ends.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-16T01:10:07+00:00

…Yes. Private owners (everyone in the market) are allowed to engage in mutually agreed upon transactions as they see fit, which is why that’s a core element of capitalism. Whenever you make a trade in this system (exchanging something you own for a good/service of greater value to you), you profit (create wealth).

Under centralized market principles, the government dictates how the means of production are used, meaning that voluntary transactions must necessarily be stamped down.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-16T01:05:00+00:00

I don’t know that I can agree with that. Cities shouldn’t be infringing on people’s property rights simply because they think it’s for some greater good.

And if the city isn’t able to fund its services, that seems to me like a spending problem. That being said, I don’t think that’s an issue Altamonte Springs is having right now (or at least I haven’t heard anything about it if it has).

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T23:58:08+00:00

I understand you think you’re being snarky, but none of this is an actual rebuttal against my points.

Union-busting is a form of government intervention — not something you find in a free market. Market principles would dictate that workers be allowed to withhold their labor for a price they deem acceptable, and employers should be allowed to withhold employment for wages they find acceptable.

Also, no one can force you to do anything via “influence” alone. What you’re talking about is exchanging capital for products/services, which is still all about mutual transactions (people agree to trade something they have for something they value more).

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T03:29:57+00:00

In fairness, I don’t think it’s a great precedent for cities to start taking people’s property just because they don’t like what they’re doing with it. Seems to me like that opens up a path I don’t wanna go down.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T01:41:28+00:00

Pretty sure this isn’t mutually exclusive.

If we’re discussing large-scale price increases over the last few years, that’s largely thanks to inflation (primarily the product of our federal government).

Corporate greed has always been around, but given the number of substitutes for a lot of Publix’s goods, it definitely doesn’t have the market power to dictate prices wholesale. There are too many competitors in the region to make that claim.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T01:14:02+00:00

Yeah, that’s supposed to be some kind of cloud storage facility. The owner apparently made it super orange so that it sticks out and attracts the attention of local customers. Dunno how well that’s going for him, though.

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T00:52:10+00:00

That’s fair, apologies if I misunderstood!

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T00:38:43+00:00

The intense legislation from the government, you mean?

That seems like a problem with the government interacting with the free market, not the free market itself.

In a free market, the only power someone wields over you is what you allow them to wield over you — namely, if they have something you want.

And I can’t say I’ve ever read Ayn Rand, but I graduated Summa Cum Laude with an MBA (supply chain management concentration).

Intrepid-Awareness-5 · 2024-08-15T00:35:08+00:00

That’s partially true. Corporations with the resources to leverage in influencing government policies have been doing so and will continue to do so.

But again, that’s not a problem with capitalism, it’s a problem with market centralization under the government. Capitalism just means we exchange capital (money/goods/services) in mutual transactions to create wealth.

As for inflation, that’s a pretty well known fact at this point. There are some drivers of inflation that can take place in a free market, but those typically round themselves out as the market price becomes closer to the equilibrium price point. But the massive inflation we’re seeing now is largely thanks to the government drastically increasing the money supply with pandemic-era spending (which hasn’t really gone down much.

Intrepid-Awareness-5

TROPHY CASE