tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post8376800662763260555..comments2024-03-28T03:38:53.734-07:00Comments on MacroMania: There's No Free Lunch or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Not Hate InflationDavid Andolfattohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-3211577499584294182023-03-20T22:49:14.660-07:002023-03-20T22:49:14.660-07:00Sounds reasonable to me! Sounds reasonable to me! David Andolfattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-33245531738849185142023-03-20T17:37:19.685-07:002023-03-20T17:37:19.685-07:00Ideal solution would be a supply-side revolution i...Ideal solution would be a supply-side revolution in the areas we need it most: housing, healthcare, education. Unclear how politically feasible that is. Also unclear if DC is capable of anything even remotely sophisticated. <br /><br />I don’t see high inflation as “politically feasible.” The political barriers simply manifest later in the process when/if the electorate revolts. Regressive taxes tend to be unpopular. <br /><br />Best solution is probably a mix of difficult policies such that none dominates: benefit cuts, higher taxes, price controls, inflation. <br /><br />Most fair (but least realistic) is a one-time wealth tax. Those who most benefited from an unsustainable system should probably pay to fix it. We will of course make those who least benefited pay. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-4914174891719785932023-03-19T14:06:08.112-07:002023-03-19T14:06:08.112-07:00Thanks - makes sense Thanks - makes sense Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01709995807329945280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-7604913453785018792023-03-19T11:52:59.109-07:002023-03-19T11:52:59.109-07:00Well, I'm all ears when it comes to politicall...Well, I'm all ears when it comes to politically-feasible alternatives. What would you recommend instead?David Andolfattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-2926404802133655022023-03-19T11:24:15.814-07:002023-03-19T11:24:15.814-07:00Agree, but I think you have to admit that the infl...Agree, but I think you have to admit that the inflation tax is most likely to be utilized at times when DC cannot proactively find a better solution due to political (or other) constraints. Sure, if we assume a coherent and robust set of policies, above target inflation might be a helpful component. That’s a massive assumption and history is littered with examples of the inflation tax being over-utilized (to the detriment of the weakest among us). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-22709311939273071842023-03-19T11:17:36.551-07:002023-03-19T11:17:36.551-07:00A tax system cannot be evaluated on the basis of h...A tax system cannot be evaluated on the basis of how one of its instruments is used. Transfers to those in need should be considered part of the tax system.David Andolfattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-73198029352293138062023-03-19T11:14:00.902-07:002023-03-19T11:14:00.902-07:00Thanks. Point taken, though I'm OK with the wa...Thanks. Point taken, though I'm OK with the way I used the phrase (I also mentioned "social insurance"). David Andolfattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-67535922566723331842023-03-19T11:11:12.734-07:002023-03-19T11:11:12.734-07:00Thanks! Correct, I'm less concerned about the ...Thanks! Correct, I'm less concerned about the difficulties the banking sector is presently experiencing. Fed might make a mistake, but I hope not. I'm much more worried about what China as an emerging global power may portend. I should like to hope for peaceful coexistence. But best case is probably a long proxy war. I don't even want to think about worse case scenario!David Andolfattohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12138572028306561024noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-51421471466408665402023-03-19T04:26:07.104-07:002023-03-19T04:26:07.104-07:00The inflation tax strikes me as quite regressive a...The inflation tax strikes me as quite regressive and I’m surprised you’re so comfortable resorting to it. <br /><br />Most hurt are those: who don’t own a home, who are on fixed incomes, who consume 100%+ of their earnings, who are on fixed incomes, who not sophisticated enough to seek out inflation hedges, etc. <br /><br />There must be a better way to extract foreign seignorage than to bundle it with a regressive tax. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-2209402650233574762023-03-18T12:44:41.861-07:002023-03-18T12:44:41.861-07:00Very interesting, informative, and thought-provoki...Very interesting, informative, and thought-provoking post, marred only by your repeated use of the meaningless term 'redistribution' to describe policy choices. <br /><br />While there are many 'distributions' that an economy can have, there is no baseline from which a so-called 'redistribution' can occur. (Unless of course the baseline is 'individuals take what their capacity and willingness for violence will allow.')Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8702840202604739302.post-14829914845129268062023-03-18T12:02:38.663-07:002023-03-18T12:02:38.663-07:00Great post. I don't fully understand the new (...Great post. I don't fully understand the new (from you) sense of pessimism in the last section. It seems more driven by proxy war than what's happening in the regional banking sector? If we put the war aside, would you say the regional banking issues while they may raise recession risks they probably won't on their own tip economy into recession because fed will offset the impact with less restrictive monetary policy?Joehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01709995807329945280noreply@blogger.com