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PaperclipPerfector  1mo ago (text post)   25581 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 7, 2026

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That's about 2 days of social welfare spending. Think of all the mobility scooters and dialysis we could have bought with that money!

Obviously wasting money is bad, but this war is being done on the cheap.

There's also the disruption in energy and pressure on inflation and interest rates, which is the bulk of the economic cost of the war.

Indeed. If you are like me and think inflation is essentially a tax, then this war directly increased the taxes on every American. Not to mention adding to the debt.

Core CPI is at 2.9 percent, lowest since 2021. Total CPI is at 3.4.

This is only high compared to the anomalously low inflation of the ZIRP period, driven by the replacement of western goods with cheaper Chinese ones.

We are also doing a trillion dollar data center buildout which is pressuring prices.

The main cause of “high” inflation is higher wages for working class Americans.

Going from very high inflation Going from very high inflation to 3% means the rate of price increases has slowed. It doesn’t reverse the cumulative price increases, and 3% is still above the Fed’s 2% target. Trump also got elected on decreasing prices and has made it worse through stupid decisions like tariffs and Iran. Also, saying lowest inflation since 2021 is the MAGA version of there’s more right wing terror attacks than Islamic ones since September 11th. Also completely ignores Trump’s disastrous Covid response to persistent inflation. Trump’s economic policy is not good. This doesn’t take into account his fiscal irresponsibility.

You are mad because Trump didn’t bring in deflation, which has only happened during a deep recession or depression? No, you really don’t want deflation.

Trump ran on this! Do you want me to quote him? He’s your guy that you’re defending. He said it not me! Or is he just a liar (obviously) or incompetent? Or is he too old to even remember what he even says? I believe in free trade and fiscal responsibility. I’m a libertarian. Of course I think Trump’s policies are trash. I’m going to laugh my ass off when plan trusters see his policies get Republicans wiped out on the midterms. I hate Democrats but I can’t say it won’t be fun to watch. The bond market agrees with me. Incoming fed rate increase. I could go on.

Higher wages are a reflection of the higher inflation and an indicator of its stickiness, not the cause. This might not be the case if the higher wages were legislation-driven (eg minimum wage), but these increases are market driven.

Yes. The root cause is data center buildout and reshoring industrial jobs.

Data center buildout is a major cause and one of the areas where money is too easy, but I am fairly unaware of manufacturing reshoring that is not related to data center construction. Excluding high-tech and electrical equipment, I understand manufacturing to be doing poorly.

Also people sort of forget that all the money you spend on weapons is eventually fired off anyway - in this sense the cost is already sunk.

Now, particularly in this case, I do expect the cost to be more "real" in the sense that the munitions burn was so deep and prolonged that it will likely require fresh purchases to cover the balance.

Which, if it gets the US industrial base to finally start making the damn things again and scaling up their production lines, is an odd net win.

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