Nostr Web Client

Everyone talks about inflation and how $100 today has the value of only $5 one hundred years ago.

Today you can buy a smartphone for $100 and have access to a camera, access to the music catalogue of the worlds greatest composers performed by the worlds greatest musicians, the ability to read every book ever written, the ability to communicate instantly with anyone, the ability to teleport digital value to anyone anywhere in the world and so much more.

Good luck going back one hundred years and doing that with $5 or $5,000 or any amount of money.

It is easy to imagine inflation into the future but it is hard to imagine deflationary abundance.

Reply to this note

Please Login to reply.

Discussion

GoToHealth 5mo ago 💬 1

Yes. Jeff booth explains this so well in The Price of Tomorrow!

Den Yellek 5mo ago

Yes he does.

I have recently been on a bit of a Booth binge. 😂

Marc 5mo ago

Homeless people can afford smart phones, but they can't afford homes. That's the problem with inflation in a nutshell.

HoloKat 5mo ago

Two unrelated concepts: monetary inflation and technological deflation. Very easy to imagine: a $5000 TV many years ago costs less than $100 IF they even make it - they don’t.

HoloKat 5mo ago

Even making the case for abundance! A phone that does all those things in your pocket for under $500 vs what it would have cost you to have all of those experiences back then.

Den Yellek 5mo ago

yes it is easy to imagine a $5000 TV from many years ago costing $100 today but it is hard to imagine what $5000 TV might be like many years in the future.

HoloKat 5mo ago

I’m confused. You said it’s hard to imagine deflationary abundance, but here the tv price is inflated. Either you misspoke or I’m missing something …

Den Yellek 5mo ago

Now I am confused. How did the tv price inflate?

HoloKat 5mo ago

100 -> 5000

Den Yellek 5mo ago

Ah I was trying to contrast that it is easy to understand the past but hard to project the future.

I can imagine a $5000 TV of many years ago costing only $100 today.

I can not imagine what a TV that cost $5000 in the future would be like or what it would possibly cost in today’s dollars. Depending on how far you go in to the future no amount of dollars today could buy you the features of a TV costing $5000 many years in the future.

Perhaps I am not clear. What is clear it is past my bedtime and I am sure I am making less sense than I think I am.

HoloKat 5mo ago

Alright. I think I know what you’re getting at.

But I’ll leave this gif regardless 😆

Also late here. Maybe my brain is fried.

HoloKat 5mo ago

You just said it’s hard to imagine it in first note but now you’re saying it’s easy…. lol

Den Yellek 5mo ago

easy to look back and comprehend the past

hard to look forward and imagine the future

HoloKat 5mo ago

I guess… though I can imagine deflationary abundance I think … everything will be near free or whatever it costs to produce it with most competitive margins imagined unless daddy govt. regulates you into a nice regulatory mote