Pandemic supply chain in your area

[Hooked on Fenix]

The problem now is a wage price spiral. Prices go up because of inflation and people want higher wages. People get higher wages and the products they make have to increase in price. Then the people want higher wages again because their money can't buy them enough anymore. The cycle keeps repeating. With hiring, people are looking for the highest paid job and jump ship as soon as they find something that pays better. Worker retention in this environment is a major problem for employers.

 

[turbodog]

It's a bit more complex than that... otherwise the first time this happened years ago things would have spiraled out of control.

There are buffers in that cycle. Jumping jobs costs money. You lose vacation time. Travel time is different. There's a finite number of jobs that one is qualified for. Some are close to retirement age. Some are unqualified for anyplace other than where they're current working. Etc.

Prices are up because there's more money chasing fewer items, the numbers of which are constrained by mfg & supply chain issues among other things. Let the supply side rebound further and things will settle down... now if the fed doesn't crash the economy in the meantime.

 

[jtr1962]

Exactly. In the 1950s and 1960s average wages were much higher in adjusted dollars than they are now, yet prices didn't spiral out of control.

One way to potentially help is to give incentives for people to save. The savings rate in the US is abysmal anyway, so you'll kill two birds with one stone. If people save instead of spend, that's less money chasing a limited supply.

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

Interest rates have been kept extremely low by the Fed for years which has caused a lot of people to borrow and buy out of their means instead of investing. The problem now is that raising interest rates is kind of like making a drug junkie quit cold turkey. It would be good to get interest rates back to a decent level over time so people could actually make a bit of money from their savings accounts, but so many are in debt right now that raising rates will just crash the economy. What we need to do is stop all wasteful government spending and find ways to reduce it's size before interest on our debt exceeds GDP. Once that happens, there's no way to recover other than selling off assets (land, oil, resources, etc.). Basically it's like declaring bankruptcy and having your stuff repossessed. Normally, the Fed would buy up more debt or another country would since the U.S. dollar is the world's reserve currency, but since Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia, China, and some other countries are breaking away from the SWIFT banking system and doing their own thing. The U.S. dollar no longer has the investment from other nations it used to so instead of people buying more of our debt, the Fed has been dumping assets making inflation worse. Saving at a time of hyperinflation is a bad move anyway. Best to make sure you have a good supply of food. Prices on food are skyrocketing. Buying extra today will save you next month when the price goes up. Make sure your vehicle has a full tank of gas. Gas still keeps going up. Do inventory on everything to see if you need to order something soon or you need critical parts to fix something, then order what you need. Supply chain issues are terrible now. Look to reduce expenses. Grow a garden. Raise animals for food. Get off the grid solar system. In the 50s and 60s people grew their own food. High prices didn't effect what they ate as much as now.

 

[bykfixer]

So normally I don't formally communicate with many people outside my bubble but recently life has placed me on a path crowded with people I used knew in a previous chapter of life. Each and every one all used the word recession with one minute, which was quite surprising.

Maybe I'm just in ostrich mode with my head stuck in the sand, but I gotta tell ya when see an old chumb from chapter 2 in life my first thoughts are not about a recession just over the horizon. Maybe I'm like those on the Titanic who stayed in happy mode until the end... knowing the ship hit an ice berg and is taking on water... I just don't see the point of remaining focused on the things I have no control over. And aside from primary election day or a vs b election day I have little to no control over what the gubment does.

Are things seemingly heading in the wrong direction? He|| even Helen Keller could see that the answer is a resounding "yes", but I aint going to spend what little time I have left on the 3rd rock from the sun dwelling on it.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace
Molly is the singer in a band
Desmond says to Molly, "Girl, I like your face"
And Molly says this as she takes him by the hand
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on
Desmond takes a trolley to the jeweler's store
Buys a 20 carat golden ring (ring)
Takes it back to Molly waiting at the door
And as he gives it to her, she begins to sing (sing)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da (la, la, la, la, la, la)
Life goes on, brah (la, la, la, la, la, la)
La, la, how the life goes on
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da (la, la, la, la, la, la)
Life goes on, brah (la, la, la, la, la, la)
La, la, how the life goes on (yeah)
In a couple of years
They have built a home, sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
Of Desmond and Molly Jones (ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)
Happy ever after in the market place
Desmond lets the children lend a hand (arm, leg)
Molly stays at home and does her pretty face
And in the evening, she still sings it with the band (yes)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on (hey)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on
In a couple of years
They have built a home, sweet home
With a couple of kids running in the yard
Of Desmond and Molly Jones (hey)
Happy ever after in the market place
Molly lets the children lend a hand
Desmond stays at home and does his pretty face
And in the evening, she's a singer with the band (yeah)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on (hey)
Ob-la-di, ob-la-da
Life goes on, brah
La, la, how the life goes on
And if you want some fun
Take Ob-la-di-bla-da
Thank you

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

That would have been a great song to sing on the Titanic as it was going down.

 

[turbodog]

... If people save instead of spend, that's less money chasing a limited supply.

Saving concentrates spending to a particular group. The saved money is lent back out (at leveraged ratios) to debtors who use it for some purpose. Banks are not in the business of paying interest w/o making interest... just not interesting enough.

 

[bykfixer]

Some of this will be tongue n cheek, some will not.
On my commute home from work it dawned on me that when I was a little kid and gasoline was in short supply the national highways had a speed limit of 55 mph with a sign below it saying minimum 45. Apparently that was so that folks on bicycles would not ride on the interstate. There were tv comercials with ideas on how to get better fuel mileage too. Now everybody seems to want to be going 70+ by the 5th rotation of the wheel from a stop and some place have speed limits that match. Used to be folks drafted off of each other, now it's "awehellnaw Ima be in front of that dude".

So today I noticed a trend of drivers in the right lane going 55 in a 60. Then this one guy on a donor cycle bobbing and weaving in and out of the lanes as he whizzed past. I thought "why not lower the speed limit form 60 to 55, place those signs that tell you your speed, and let the guy on the donor cycle do what he does. Lots of folks are waiting for a kidney or a liver so have at it dude". Meanwhile the folks going 55 will end up buying gas less often, therefore smaller carbon foot print, right?

Roads with 70, make those 65. But instead of spending money on all those metal signs put up electronic kind that can change the numbers via computer in some building somewhere. If things go all electric just change the numbers back up. Or not.

I know if I drove a big rig for a living and paid $500+ per fill up there'd be a sign on the back saying "go around I'm saving the planet" and be driving 55 mph. I've been called a slow driver by my years for decades because I typically run about 2mph below the posted speed limit on a highway. So it's nice to find I'm no longer alone now that gasoline is $5+/- a gallon.

And if more people would slow down maybe shortages wouldn't seem so prevelent because by the time you get to the store the stock boy had time to restock it.

All kidding aside, if you have an electronic display on your automobile set it on mpg and watch how much better your mpg can be by just slowing down a little.

 

[idleprocess]

All kidding aside, if you have an electronic display on your automobile set it on mpg and watch how much better your mpg can be by just slowing down a little.

Or better yet how accelerating +10 MPH to execute a pass for <30 seconds puts a dent in the past >10 minutes of driving 10 MPH slower.

 

[ledbetter]

What did Sammy Hagar say???!!!!!

 

[knucklegary]

What did Sammy Hagar say???!!!!!

Fire-up another fatty?

 

[ledbetter]

^^^^^^^^
In that case, 55 is advisible.

 

[greatscoot]

There's a road I travel almost daily (I-88) and since the pandemic everyone seems to think it's the speed limit. I try to keep it at 70 and it's insane watching people pass me like I'm standing still.

 

[bykfixer]

There's a road I travel almost daily (I-88) and since the pandemic everyone seems to think it's the speed limit. I try to keep it at 70 and it's insane watching people pass me like I'm standing still.

One year a while back I commuted to Greensboro NC each weekend and a "train" of vehicles would shoot past me. One day I decided to see just how fast they were going and fell in behind them. At 105 they were still pulling away...

But my favorite was just before the pandemic I had to appear in traffic court. This one really old fellow approached the judge using a walker. The judge says "can you explain why you were going 85 in a 55?" The old dude chuckled and said "I was going the same speed as everybody else". The judge chuckles and says "so if everybody was jumping off a cliff would you?" The old dude says "well your honor I don't have a lot of time left so I have to hurry when I can." The judge laughed and says "I see your point.. I'm going to reduce it to 19 over the speed limit and send you to driving school". Applause broke out in the courtroom and the bailiff was turning red trying not to laugh.

One thing that is not a pandemic induced shortage is crazy drivers.

 

[Poppy]

I recall when the national speed limit was 55, that the truckers were complaining that it actually hurt their MPGs. Their argument was that @ 55 they didn't have the momentum to carry them over hills, and that they had to start PULLING at the bottom of a long grade. True or False? I don't know.

When gas hit $3.00 a gallon about 10 years ago, a lot of full size Broncos went to the grave-yard. They only got 12-18 MPG.

My car, a Grand Marquis, gets 18-19 combined, and almost 25 MPG highway @ 72 MPH. 4.6 L V8. A true highway cruiser.

 

[idleprocess]

I recall when the national speed limit was 55, that the truckers were complaining that it actually hurt their MPGs. Their argument was that @ 55 they didn't have the momentum to carry them over hills, and that they had to start PULLING at the bottom of a long grade. True or False? I don't know.

I don't know whether that's true or false either, but I do know that OTR truckers have long been paid by the mile. The math might pencil out that putting down more miles per day handily compensates for increased fuel consumption.

 

[KITROBASKIN]

Back in those old, over-controlling days, I remember Joan Claybrook (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) challenging anyone to prove going faster used less gas per mile.

An argument against lower speed limits:

https://www.cato.org/commentary/untrue-any-speed

 

[Hooked on Fenix]

I found this year's theme song:

 

[Empath]

I'd recommend moving the present off-topic discussion to a thread more topical, and return this thread to it's "pandemic supply-chain" topic.