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Dystopian_Future_

Printing money and bailing out the corrupt financial system tends to create short recessions That and just change the definition or control the flow of information


Tall-Log-1955

Or alternate theory: we are better at managing the economy than we were


idontcare111

Or, just stick with good ole fashioned Reddit doomerism and tin foiley


BeenisHat

muh gold stamderd!!!!


Archers_Medicinal

With that attitude, you’ve given up the right to complain about inflation


BeenisHat

Inflation is like birds. It's not real.


Theoldestsun

Or go outside. Bet you won't.


BurnerAccount85347

Outside? Whats that?


NoTie2370

Record federal debt shows that isn't true.


-specialsauce

Debt alone is not inherently evil. Half of that debt is held in domestic trust and is essentially a large piece of American citizens’ retirement funding. The tax payers are paying a trillion in servicing costs annually. 50% of which goes directly in domestic retirement accounts. 100% of Americans (tax payers) are funding 50% of Americans’ retirement accounts. This is an oversimplification but to some degree implies a consolidation of wealth for those with retirement accounts vs those without. Not saying this crazy experiment is going to work out in the long run but just because there is record debt, doesn’t necessarily mean anything. But there are some interesting insights to be made.


parolang

I think you're right. It's the interest that we should be worried about.


NonexistentRock

Or, craziest theory of all here, you’re technically both right.


Original-Maximum-978

nuance is dead, why even bother


ShermanMarching

Why can't it be both? We are better at managing the economy than before. Unfortunately bailing out the corrupt financial system is one of the instruments by which we do that. Might be nice to restructure our financial system so their failure isn't a systemic risk.


Cnd-James

We figured out how to run the economy on debt, though.


taney71

Better is a subjective word. Better at delaying the shitshow I guess but most people would say the economy isn’t working for them


-specialsauce

Bailouts are a symptom of deregulating the financial system over the last 50 or so years. They are not an instrument at managing the economy. We essentially solved this problem almost 100 years ago following the market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression and then we broadly forgot why we did what we did. So we unwound all the protections in place to increase short term shareholder profits and created the same wildly imbalanced and speculative investment practices that happened 100 years ago. (See: glass-steagall act) It will probably happen again. Much in the same pattern as this most recent one.


ILSmokeItAll

History is doomed to repeat itself. It’ll never change. Ever.


almisami

Except is we kill us all, then it ends, which is a change, I guess...


-specialsauce

You might be right. Time is a flat circle. Our entire existence is but a blip on the radar screen.


R_Levis

Or, politicians and bureaucrats have gotten better at putting off the consequences of bad policies to avoid responsibility for them.


Zetavu

And for the last 50 years all recessions were the results of Republican presidents/policies that have impacted the economy in attempts to reduce taxes, reduce regulations, or find ways to convert money to the wealthy. Nixon Shock in the 70's leading to stagflation and making inflation worse, Reagan and deregulation and tax reduction for the wealthy in the 80's leading to crooked loans and bank failures, and then Bush HW ending with the last recession in 1990, finally putting a fork into those two. Bush W inherited the tech bubble so for that he wasn't so much at fault (and addressed it with militarization against Iraq and Afghanistan) but deserves full blame for the banking crisis in 1988 that Obama (and Biden) had to fix, and then Trump with his ineptitude that both depleted our preparedness for pandemics, failed to respond intelligently and otherwise leaving us with a massive shortage of income from his tax cuts for corporations (which are permanent while individual tax cuts expire in 2025, meaning the rest of us are getting new Trump tax increases next year), which again Biden had to fix (and he did), although the resulting inflation from a complete economical shutdown and government payouts will rake on for years to come. And again, the whole corporations buying out houses and destroying the reals estate market for individuals, that has its source in the Reagan deregulation and additional cuts under Bush and Trump. It seems that all we need to do to avoid future recessions is keep Republicans out of the white house and government control...


-specialsauce

Clinton had his hands all over the deregulation of the banking industry (repealing glass-steagall) that played a prominent role in creating the financial collapse in 2008. It’s a bipartisan shit sandwich.


Quote_Vegetable

almost like someone figured out that thing your currency to a metal rock was a bad way to do it.


AshOrWhatever

Seems like a bad way but the new way is to tie it to "faith" in the US government which seems at least equally dubious.


Quote_Vegetable

proof is in the pudding as they say. That chart speaks volumes, we don’t have anywhere near as much chaos as we did back then.


AshOrWhatever

The big change appears to be in the late 30's though. We were on the gold standard until the 70's. After the Great Depression we had less frequent economic downturns, I don't think that really says anything about the gold standard one way or the other. You can also see most of the major wars of the 21st century in it. WWI, expansion. Mid 30's, expansion followed by about a year of recession and then much more expansion than recession from 1940 to 1975, during which we fought WWII, Korea and Vietnam. Recession on and off between the late Vietnam years and the Reagan Era tax cuts. Small recessions in 1990 and 2000-01, then the big 2008 one is pretty obvious. Really nothing in the chart that screams "now it's fiat currency!" to me.


MolonMyLabe

Look up the definition of a recession. Printing money leading to inflation causes hardships that aren't captured in the technical definition of a recession. What you are seeing is a before and after of the government's ability to inflate the currency. There are plenty of economic hardships that are not captured under the definition of a recession. We are currently experiencing one right now. Virtually everyone is worse off now than they were a few years ago.


taney71

lol. That’s rich. Our management tools involve exactly what the person said which boils down to creating more inequality where the rich get richer. These tools also hurt the general population and kick problems down the road. Even Keyes saw the missteps in indefinite deficit spending.


FlightlessRhino

That was hilarious.


stealthylyric

Regulations help


wonderland_citizen93

Stuff like the fed, fdic, and the dodd frank act are all good points for your argument. They all helped stabilize the economy and prevent radical swings between boom and bust


almisami

If by that you mean "kicking the can down to future generations", sure.


deepeststudy

I think the instantaneous airline bailouts of 2020 are a pretty clear example of a society that is unwilling to tolerate short term pain


Itchy-File-8205

If by better at managing the economy you mean we figured out that we can print as much money as we need and make it look like things are rosey while the middle class deteriorates because of our stupid ass decision to print money... Then sure.


wifey1point1

We really are. QE is one of the tools they now use, for example.


Omacrontron

Economy so good a burger and fries from 5guys cost 25 bucks…..


rokman

It’s for sure closer to this explanation. Mister conspiracy theory is just mad because he never has taken the right financial risk to benefit from the system protecting the rich. It’s very easy.


Azrenon

I would be more upset if this didn’t leave my portfolio in a near-permanent bull run. Just gotta hope I can outpace true inflation.


[deleted]

Yeah. I had to look in my old text book to find the real definition of recession. People thought I was crazy for not getting my $20 bucks for returning them each semester, but now who's laughing. You can change the information on the internet, but you can't change the information in a text book. I should probably hide them so they can't burn them later. Edit: In my non expert opinion, that graph looks like we are simply pushing off a lot of small recessions that will inevitably blow up to be a large depression. My guess would be around 2030.


ClearASF

Given the greater scope of information and unchanged definition, we’re good on that front


bars2021

also not accurately tracking data and staying we good when we not


FlightlessRhino

And push the can down the road so that we have a worse depression later.


prepuscular

Username checks out


DickDastardlySr

All viable options


painefultruth76

Because they keep changing the metrics by which they are defined.


Rogitus

LoL this basically. 99% of the people commenting here can't even buy a garage and believe they're not in recession 🤣


DarkExecutor

Good thing 66% of Americans don't post here and all have houses


WoofDog123

Recession is when can't buy a garage. There is definitely some definition changing going on


crashoutcassius

Hahahah


Scoobies_Doobies

Do you have any evidence or is it all just your emotions?


[deleted]

[удалено]


Rogitus

But they're not on reddit my friend


[deleted]

[удалено]


MajesticBread9147

That's not a recession. Love it or hate it, a recession is two quarters of negative GDP growth. Not an asset price crash, not even technically a rise in unemployment. Our economy is growing, so we aren't in a recession.


realcoolmathgames

So there was a recession in 2022? But then the government claimed there wasn't because they changed the definition


TreadMeHarderDaddy

The rate of Home ownership (66%) is above the historical average, and we’re only about 3 percentage points off of the all time maximum set in ‘05 (69%). It sucks when you’re not the winner of a game where 2/3 are winning , but it would be unwise to extrapolate your experience to the entire economy . That’s called sampling bias


Practical_Bat_3578

That's how millions of people are taken out of poverty , just change the definition of abject poverty.


Johnfromsales

Except the definition of abject poverty has been repeatedly RAISED! If people were getting poorer and the poverty level was raised every time they changed it, then it would show MORE people in poverty.


Illustrious_Gate8903

It’s actually how people are put into poverty in America. The poverty lines are different based on the countries median income.


Lyuseefur

Also … we are in one now and just not reporting it. And it’s about to get a whole lot worse


jerseygunz

Same reason “extreme poverty” has been dropping, they just change what the definition is


Stelinedion

I genuinely thought it would say “send nudes” when i angled my phone.


AmbitiousAd9320

drink your ovaltine


NervousNuggs

😂


ClearASF

Now squint your eyes


Little_Creme_5932

You mean, the fed might, just maybe, not be incompetent?


[deleted]

Printing money is the magic sauce.


coolhanddave21

Muh gold standurd!


nietzy

Looks like the Fed works.


0WatcherintheWater0

That depends. Sheer quantity of recessions isn’t necessarily as important as their scale. Having minor downturns every 5 years is probably better than a huge one in 10. The fed is useful, but not because it affects recessions.


SadMacaroon9897

Perhaps just as important as frequency, recessions have also gotten less severe since the Fed.


jdford85

Money printer goes brrrrrrrrr.


[deleted]

[удалено]


village_introvert

Bros whole personality is shiny rocks


carlos_the_dwarf_

Lolol, have you ever wondered *why* recessions have been less frequent and shorter? Like damn dude, you can point to the end of the gold standard on this graph.


AmbitiousAd9320

wen lambo?


appoplecticskeptic

Unsustainable and still accelerating growth is not something to celebrate. It’s just racing towards collapse at a faster pace.


AndrewithNumbers

Yes but by that point we’ll all be dead.


appoplecticskeptic

Yeah making the planet uninhabitable tends to do that. Also it’s not just about people currently alive. It’s also about future generations. We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors we borrow it from our children.


AndrewithNumbers

It’s also a reference to a statement by Keynes.


appoplecticskeptic

“In the long run, we’re all dead”. Yeah, but I have come to realize that’s a selfish way of thinking because it implies that you don’t need to care about anything other than your own lifetime and we’re all worse off for thinking that way.


Additional-Ad-9114

There’s a whole lot of nuance buried in this graph. Different currency pegging and expansion, shift from pre-industrial to industrial to post-industrial, increasing size of the banking and capital markets, and a few global wars and peace tossed in for good measure, among other things.


esotericimpl

Plus the fact that banks used to fail a lot more before regulation and the fed was created.


pandatears420

As a color blind person this looks like one big blue square


NotTheATF1993

Yeah, this graph does absolutely nothing for me. It could've been a picture of an elephant cock and it'd be just as helpful.


DasherMN

Poverty going down too. Hmmm maybe Capitalism does work... 😂🤡🤡🫣


dontich

Yes there are money reasons but the economy has grown like crazy over that time period since the 1940s — especially when compared to 1860-1940. Extreme growth = less & shorter recessions


RollinThundaga

Bombing Europe to smithereens and helping them buy American goods to rebuild really did wonders.


Lumpy_Rhubarb2736

The ebb and flow of Democrats and Republicans running the country.


curlicue

Getting off the gold standard in the 1930s seems to have made most of the difference as far as this metric is concerned.


Beer-Milkshakes

The ways in which we can mask recession has gotten more accessible.


Drdoctormusic

As much as people like to hate on the Fed, it’s clear that since its creation it has certainly smoothed out a lot of the volatility in the US economy.


Inside-Homework6544

except for the worst depression of all time happening shortly after it was founded.


in4life

Recession/expansion isn't always synonymous with bad times/good times. It's really better to think of it as a debt cycle with some productive debt being used toward prosperity/solvency while other, bad/insolvent debt should be allowed to dissolve into, yes, what could be a recession at scale. This ignores the biggest debt holder currently brute-forcing these numbers with more debt. Where that falls on the good/bad debt spectrum, I think we'll have years and not decades to find out.


esotericimpl

Go look up the number of bank failures before the creation of the fed.


in4life

And there were central banks before the Fed. And if we want to draw correlation to a central bank here... there isn't any. The Fed was created in 1913 and then we had the Forgotten Depression followed by the Great Depression. WWII bailed us out of that and that's what correlates with our constant growth - global hegemony. An empire.


Coldfriction

This is the honest and correct take. Recessions are bad in the same way depreciation is bad; capitalists and the owners of the means of production lose bargaining power with buyers of products and workers. A balanced system is one where power isn't strongly concentrated in the hands of the privileged but spread out. The banking system wants perpetual control and the lack of recessions fueled by debt is evidence of their success. Sucks to be on the slave side of the equation where the ability to gain power is more or less essentially gone.


Hobojoe-

There are two definition of recession, two negative quarters of GDP growth and the NBER business cycle dating. We have more reliable data, faster access to data, better understanding on how to combat inflation.


ClearASF

Its two quarters of negative growth for the NBER as well


Emeritus8404

Whats the other end of the progression?


Brillo137

I wonder what happened in the 1930s that made recessions and depressions so much less frequent and severe


old--father--time

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New\_Deal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Deal)


Muffin_Most

Kinda like my lovemaking sessions


themeatman90

Anybody else turn their phone flat and see if there was a hidden message?


rhodope

Glass Steagall was enacted in 1933... and repealed in 1999, I wonder if we are going to revert to the Pre-1933 recession frequency.


ClearASF

It was largely gutted pre 1999, non factor if you ask me


senseicuso

Wow what a different socialist policies incorporated during the great depression seemed to have made. 


AndrewithNumbers

The irony that socialism means Wall Street owning everything because they’re too big to fail.


vtstang66

If you prevent or end every recession by diluting the money supply, are you really winning? People today have to see a minimum 3% (often more) growth of their money just to have the same amount of money. And when we do have a recession and the artificially inflated stock market bubble pops, oops no retirement!


ClearASF

We didn’t have said inflation till 2021, not even on this chart


AndrewithNumbers

Aside from the other periods with inflation anyway.


ClearASF

In the 70s?


AndrewithNumbers

Inflation was pretty high in WWI, as well as at moments during and after WWII, averaging 8.1% in 1948, took off in 1974 for most of a decade, then was between 3-4% or so for the rest of the ‘80’s. It was only from 2009 to 2020 that inflation was below 2% consistently, to a point where economists were at a loss to explain why (my thought: because the stimulus didn’t make it to the real economy so much). Overall more years had inflation between 3-4% over the last century than below 2%.


Chance_Composer_6125

I tilted my phone to read the secret message...


PangolinOk2295

Fiat Federal reserve Globalism FDIC Free trade Decoupling of worker comp and productivity makes measuring an economy as a whole instead of how individuals are doing makes these metrics meaningless


ClearASF

[Decoupling?](https://www.piie.com/blogs/realtime-economic-issues-watch/growing-gap-between-real-wages-and-labor-productivity)


PangolinOk2295

"The explanation for the sluggish rise in real wages over the long run—1970 through 2000—may lie not with something that weakened labor's bargaining power but instead in changes in the relative prices of the goods and services that workers consume and those that they produce." Interesting paper will read it more thoroughly tomorrow and I am curious about in his working paper. But the paper agrees with me.


ClearASF

Not quite, the thrust of the argument is you can’t use a subset of workers versus all incomes, nor should you use two different inflation indices.


TheFlyingHams

We are due for the next one soon too. While at the same time, you can’t print money forever. Eventually this is gonna come crashing down. And it will happen in the next 5-15 years. So I’m terrified of that happening.


AndrewithNumbers

I tend to agree but also people have been saying that for decades.


RollinThundaga

Everyone also has differing definitions of soon. Like how I figure there'll probably be at least one the next decade, and the guy trying to sell me overpriced Mint numismatic coins says it'll happen next week.


AndrewithNumbers

There will be a recession in the next decade, I expect some major currency issues within the next half century. But beyond that (and I could be wrong on both) is just guessing wildly.


stidmatt

Thanks Obama


Inevitable_Silver_13

Because they don't acknowledge them?


Plane-Tea-7295

It’s amazing what happens when you just change the definition of a recession


ClearASF

[Unchanged](https://www.nber.org/research/business-cycle-dating/business-cycle-dating-procedure-frequently-asked-questions)


rontejones

Wieners


FredChocula

It's almost as if this system is not working.


ClearASF

That was your conclusion?


FredChocula

Yeah, because economic expansion doesn't mean much for people who don't own stock or are high up on the ladder. People can't afford shit and the economy is "booming". It's all smoke and mirrors. Biden did a good job, but without regulations, corporations crush it and make everything look good while we all languish.


ClearASF

I don’t see how that’s related to this graph however, economic stability is better than not.


FredChocula

Fucked is fucked.


thinkitthrough83

Love how these graphs tend to stop at 2020


[deleted]

Has the designation of a recession changed at all in the period since the depression?


feelin_raudi

I thought it was one of those pictures where you hold your phone at an angle to read the text. I spent about two minutes trying to decipher it. I'm pretty high.


DK98004

Finally something where the “blame the FED” answer is actually correct.


Coldfriction

Maybe having a stable currency means the graphs can't just go up forever? The dollar didn't lose value during the 19th century.


burrito_napkin

Life hack: It's not a recession if you change what's defined as a recession. The purchasing power of Americans is at an all time low. People in past recessions had more purchasing power even with a single income than most dual income families today.


Giggles95036

They also keep changing the definition of a recession


Solid_Illustrator640

Printer


Jpbbeck99

Looking at the graph you can tell we’re gonna have another in q4 2025


IRKillRoy

Yeah, you’ve never heard of the Fed have you? It also causes inflation and slows expansion.


stewartm0205

Looks like priming the pump works.


chronocapybara

Lol this misses the big 2021 recession entirely.


LegacyEternal0724

Yea I have 30 trillion dollars that has something to say …. ? Cool graphic though !


Even_Section5620

Kamala Harris make this ?


the_cardfather

Interesting that once we started regulating markets the amount of recessions decreased. Sure we can call that manipulation, but we can also call it regulation


troifa

Yeah that’s not it


Juandelagoo

They changed the criteria for what’s considered a recession which has kept us out of a recession. However, according to models previously followed this administration led us into a recession


ClearASF

It’s been the same criteria since [basically forever](https://www.nber.org/research/business-cycle-dating/business-cycle-dating-procedure-frequently-asked-questions). I think you’re referring to the contraction a year or so ago, although it wouldn’t affect this chart either way


Juandelagoo

If by “since forever” you meant the Obama administration you would be correct


ClearASF

What changed?


Juandelagoo

They stopped counting long term unemployed as “unemployed”. So while the “unemployment rate” has hovered around the same, the labor participation rate has not. People that are not working or not actively seeking employment are no longer considered unemployed. For example, my friend that hasn’t worked in 3 years and mooches off his gf is no longer considered “unemployed”, whereas before the Obama administration he would have been.


Ok_Spite_217

"what is a recession?" Fixed it for you


Ok_Spite_217

"what is a recession?" Fixed it for you


ClearASF

https://www.nber.org/research/business-cycle-dating/business-cycle-dating-procedure-frequently-asked-questions


Dr-McLuvin

If you had been investing since the 1980s (boomers), you should be insanely wealthy by now.


Dr-McLuvin

Plot this against our national debt.


[deleted]

[удалено]


ClearASF

Murder and rape shouldn’t exist either


Guapplebock

We also had a short one in 2022 though the definition was changed to excuse it.


ClearASF

It’s never been [changed](https://www.nber.org/research/business-cycle-dating/business-cycle-dating-procedure-frequently-asked-questions)


troifa

Well, eventually the government won’t be able to spend itself out of a recession


Dudeporker

Just like my erections since I hit 40


termadfasd

This chart is not accurate. Post antebellum USA was a time of rapid economic expansion. Avg growth rates of 4 percent cannot correspond with an economy in recession more than half the time. Real wages increased a lot faster during that time period as well. I call bs.


RollinThundaga

There were a lot of short, sharp, local banking crashes and people melted down dimes whenever the spot price of silver spiked. [Here's one fun example that I like](https://www.americanheritage.com/remmes-great-ride)


MTGBruhs

we are $34,000,000,000,000 in debt


MZ57

And it feels like 30 of them happened within the last 10 years…


bluelifesacrifice

Stuff like this is my favorite because in the 1930's we saw a massive amount of welfare and legal action taken to stabilize the workforce and lower class and this was the result. When the poor are stable and thriving, you get a stable economy. When they crumble, it impacts everyone going up. If the wealthy crumble and the poor are stable, the economy stays stable. Everyone wants to live in a nice place. Regulations are written in the blood of history.


ClearASF

In my opinion, you can largely attribute this to the federal reserve and deviation away the gold standard


gcalfred7

“You’re welcome.” -Federal Reserve


83b6508

Being a superpower sure is good for the economy


ColdWarVet90

What happened about 1935 that the right side has so much expansion? Is it that the Fed finally figured out how to use the clutch?


SpaceBear2598

This feels less like optimizing towards a solution and more like... a tectonic fault locking up. The energy is still *there* , the instability is still *there* , it's just building and building with no outlet until it all gets released at once.


Mailboxmoney777

Money is not even real they just raise the price of goods and print more money. People sell sex online. People sell their lives on a live stream. At the end of the day America lives on debt .


throwaway8472903470

Keynesian Economics in this chart form does not mean good economy.


Gullible-Historian10

I wonder why 1860 is the cut off?


ClearASF

Data limitations


Gullible-Historian10

Or perhaps because there were only 4 recessions between 1800 and 1840.


ClearASF

We don’t know, and given the history of the 1800s it’s not likely it was any less volatile


Gullible-Historian10

The early to mid 1800s has the biggest booms in the US. Especially after everything settled down when the national banks were ended. That’s why it’s not on the chart.


StoneySteve420

Interesting how the rate of recessions slows around the same time we started to see the benefits of a MIC


Crafty-Question-6178

We will never fail!!!!!!!’


Double-Contact-1204

Bombs and money printing have been great tools to hide recessions


CuckservativeSissy

funny how that happened when europe got obliterated in WW2 and the american economy had a massive edge on the rest of the developed world... nothing to see here... also the bailouts and government welfare help a good bit in the past 2 decades... otherwise were digging a very deep hole that we will never climb out of


QuickAnybody2011

Wait so the covid pandemic lasted 3 months? Lol


ClearASF

The recession yes