The money supply grows at 7% a year, and somehow real estate prices keep going up, goods keep getting made cheaper and cheaper, food keeps degrading in quantity and quality, and we keep losing things we used to consider basic services.

I wonder if they are at all correlated.

[–] CanIFishHere@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 days ago

Money supply growing at 7% is another way of saying inflation. You have to grow the economy, ie increase GDP.

[–] HubertManne@piefed.social 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

yeah I can't believe how much things are now. Outside of computers and internet related things and more international food stuff everything from the way things ran in the 70's was perfectly modern and convenient but without so much plastic. I mean friggin lately we have been getting paper towel roles that consistantly have bad perforations. I have lived decades and while maybe once in a great while one would tear badly it was never such a matter of course. It was so unoften you would not remember the last time it happened. Now like ten sheets in every roll won't tear properly.

[–] Teppa@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It could have something to do with this, which controls how fast the money supply increases, and how much your paychecks purchasing power needs to be debased via monetary inflation. If things get shittier and living standards fall it doesnt really take that into account and is considered out of scope.

https://www.statcan.gc.ca/en/subjects-start/prices_and_price_indexes/consumer_price_indexes/faq

Is the CPI a cost of living index?

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is not equivalent to a cost-of-living index (COLI). The CPI has often been used to approximate cost-of-living but it is important to note that the CPI and COLI are not directly comparable.

The CPI is based on a fixed basket of goods and services, which represents the average Canadian household's spending habits. The CPI measures the average change in retail prices encountered by all consumers in Canada. By contrast, the objective of a COLI is to measure price changes experienced by consumers in maintaining a constant standard of living. A COLI can be linked to the notion of the minimum amount of money that would be necessary in different periods of time to ensure a given level of "well-being".

In short, the CPI measures the change in the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services, whereas a COLI measures the change in the cost of a fixed level of "well-being".

[–] ArmchairAce1944@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

Keep people poor and desperate. I honestly just can't believe how bad it has been getting.