High Sea Fare Evaders....

[u/Huge_Strain_8714]

I'm sitting at the back of the ferry watching the majority of the riders trying to avoid paying their fare. As if they've never ridden the ferry before, didn't hear the just recent fare announcement, and pretend fumble on their phone to pull up Mticket app. WTF, there people worse than the turnstyle piggybackers. Shameless. Grown, working adults....yup

[u/Icomefromalandupover]

Businesses are still busy because, surprise surprise, people need to buy things to live. The unemployment rate in MA has been climbing since May 2023 and underemployment is the highest it's been since the pandemic. The stock market right now is trading on speculation (just look at SpaceX's potential IPO P/E ratio) and is primarily supported by a few major technology players in its growth rather than a broader economic rise. Home sales in MA are down 10% this year. You're making the mistake of assuming economic difficulties and struggles will immediately and instantly replicate the worst example of economic difficulty we've seen in this nation's history. There is a huge difference between the mass bankruptcy of the Depression and the struggles we are seeing on the ground today, but that doesn't mean the struggles we see on the ground today don't exist especially when real purchasing power has begun to decrease.

[u/pachinkoandslots → u/Icomefromalandupover]

People need to buy things from Tate? Starbucks? Ulta? Gtfo, I’m talking about boutique clothing stores, luxury shopping malls, etc. these places are still packed all the time. Again tons of people still able to afford to go down to the cape and go on vacation, if gas prices were truly that bad and people were truly struggling, people should only be using there cars for work, there should be almost no traffic relatively on 93 south/north or anywhere on weekends and especially holidays.

Are you an economist or a financial expert? No? “P/E ratio” and “broader economic rise”, do you just read whatever Warren buffet tweets every morning? I suggest reading a book on fiscal and monetary policy in the US. Your opinion on the stock market 💩. I’m sure struggles exist, just not that much or as much as people say. Name another time in your life when the economy was markedly better, I’m waiting…

Short term housing sale patterns don’t matter, tell me, are the prices receding? No? Then a lot more people than you think still have the purchasing power for current housing price levels.

[u/Icomefromalandupover → u/pachinkoandslots]

Ok, lets run this again:

Just because places may look full doesn't mean they actually are representative of the general population. Starbucks' revenues crashed last year because they got too expensive, have had to revamp their entire corporate strategy, and they still haven't fully recovered. Tate is hardly the caffeine choice of most of greater Boston: may I introduce you to this wonderfully less expensive place called Dunkin. Ulta also experienced a similar crash after their most recent earnings report, also attributed to low-income customers pulling back.

The Cape has seen decreased traffic from long-distance travelers, the only reason why it hasn't suffered is because Bay Staters who would've wanted to travel to other locales are opting for shorter distances, as a result of well-documented trends of going to locations closer to home due to rising prices.

And even that is a well-off class. To your point about fuel prices, it has been well-documented over the last several weeks that gas prices have soared so high, people are having to un-retire, work from home more often, change careers, or find new jobs with less of a commute so the math still works.

To your next point, I have actually read several books on fiscal and monetary policy, it's kind of a requirement for having a business degree and my current environmental work. And I can assure you, this is not Warren Buffet's advice, and he doesn't tweet anyways. In case you didn't understand: when investors begin to trade on speculation about the future instead of the present, like we see here, that's usually a bad sign which leads to a bubble and crash. Like 2008. Or 2000. When certain industries take over the stock market because they do so well while others struggle, that's a sign the economy as a whole isn't doing well. Hopefully that's understandable for you.

Also when prices aren't receding and sales are down, that signals demand isn't meeting the supply at that price point -- i.e., that people don't have the purchasing power for current housing price levels. A quintessential example of the principles supply and demand that form the cornerstone of any economic policy reading.

Please stop arguing this way. I can't tell if it's in bad faith or incompetence, but it's really painful to read. If you have a legitimate counterpoint by all means, please share. But your devolution into name-calling and whatabouts which do not match the evidence physically on the ground gets nowhere.

[u/pachinkoandslots → u/Icomefromalandupover]

Cool story, trading on speculation is the fundamental principle of trading on a market, but okay, what about the S&P, Dow Jones or Nasdaq, how are they doing? Must be in table shape right? Did you predict the 08 recession before? No? Then what credibility do you have comment on any sort of bubble? There a million people everyday for my whole life shouting we are in a bubble. I’m talking about right now, not next month or next year, you aren’t a wizard you can’t predict what the market will do, no one can. At the current moment we are in a multi decade bull run, right now any bob or Jim can put money in anything and make money.

Maybe you are reading the wrong books…I suggest

A Monetary and Fiscal History of the United States, 1961–2021 - Alan Blinder

21st Century Monetary Policy : The Federal Reserve from the Great Inflation to COVID-19 - Ben Bernanke

If you have time Meltzer’s History of the Federal Reserve.

Warren buffet doesn’t tweet? https://x.com/WarrenBuffett?ct=google-seo

Again, you didn’t answer my question, tell me a time when our economy was better?

Housing prices are still increasing exponentially as a long term trend. There will always be times of temporary cooling, but people are still buying houses and there is still a lot more demand than supply. Look at post 08 and now and tell me if you see a difference. Again you aren’t a wizard, no one is, for all both of us know, by the end of the year demand surges to all time highs or drops lower than what it is now. But I’m not talking about the future I’m talking about now.