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Forum Post: What Are The Causes of Inflation?

Posted 11 years ago on Feb. 19, 2013, 11:13 a.m. EST by TrevorMnemonic (5827)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

Do you think paying more money this year for the same exact thing you got last year is acceptable? What if it kept getting more expensive every year? Should you just accept this as "that's just the way things are" ??

Inflation has been going on for years while wages have been stagnant, and labor has gotten cheaper for many goods due to outsourcing and machinery. Cost of labor is not why we have the levels of inflation that we have.

The majority and most recent levels of inflation have been caused by

  • Commodities futures trading

  • The Fed's policies devaluing the dollar by creating it from nothing and backing it on a theory. Inflation is caused when you create new money without new wealth.

  • We buy oil in US dollars from Foreign countries. The Fed's policies from Greenspan to Bernanke, creating trillions from nothing and giving it to banks decreases our dollar against foreign currencies. This causes our oil bill to go up, which then increases the prices on everything that utilizes oil.

  • Monopolies

  • Greed

Would you consider roads, railways, water systems, and housing to be real wealth? I do. Most people would too. Our monetary policy should reflect that. We need to create new wealth when we introduce new money.

We need a National Economic Employment Defense Act! One that uses monetary policy to build our cities, create jobs, and increase the wealth in our country! Giving trillions to banks isn't working out. They've used it to manipulate, defraud, and corrupt.

A debt-based monetary system, where money comes into existence primarily through private bank lending, can neither create, nor sustain, a stable economic environment, but has proven to be a source of chronic financial instability and frequent crisis, as evidenced by the near collapse of the financial system in 2008. They create money from nothing and give it to banks. Not to the people, but just to the banks so they can gamble and exploit through commodities futures trading.

Read this - it would solve a lot of problems if legislation like this were passed - http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/hr2990/text

24 Comments

24 Comments


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[-] 2 points by shoozTroll (17632) 11 years ago

Extortion, overt and covert.

[-] -2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

That should be the definition of inflation.

[-] 2 points by shoozTroll (17632) 11 years ago

Oh, sorry. I misunderstood.

Then the cause would be a desire to extort.

[-] -2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

The desires of Goldman Sachs, Citi, Greenspan, Bernanke, Geitner, Paulson, Bank of America, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Koch, Boeing, Raytheon, KBR, and a gaggle of other greedy corporations and banks.

[-] 2 points by shoozTroll (17632) 11 years ago

The extortion goes far beyond the US alone, nor is it limited to US corporations.

[+] -5 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

Well if you can't equate "inflation" to rising oil prices then I am not sure you understand just how much of an effect "oil prices" has on our economy.

So Obama doesn't want to drill here in the USA, he doesn't want to build more oil refinereis, OWS is against oil altogethe and the EPA is putting more restrains on coal fired plants resulting in them perminently shutting down.

Now according to Obama we don't have an unemployment problem and the government doesn't have a spending problem.

He promised everyone employment and he believes he has delivered - just listen to him say so.

He doesn't think we need the Keystone pipeline so the only thing I have to say is this.

For those of you who voted for him - deal with it - you believed in what he "promised" and apparently according to him "he delivered".

So stop complaining about inflation, jobs and wages not going up.

[-] 1 points by OTP (-203) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

Actually Obama has approved more new drilling than Bush, and I believe he approved the first new refinery in decades.

Coal is down, but natural gas is exploding.

He's already approved half of keystone, you really think he's going to do that and then not approve the other?

This increase in gas prices is not the result of supply and demand problems.

[-] -1 points by BlueMonday (-154) 11 years ago

appproved? the leases will run out due to regulations, no drilling will happen. all for show.

[-] 0 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

And do you know why oil prices are rising? because I mentioned that in my post. I could have added in fraudulent speculators too.

Keystone pipeline is for export, not for America. Also it will increase costs in the midwest because it will route away from midwest refineries. Transcanada has even said in documents to the canadian government that the pipeline will be used to increase American energy costs by up to 4 billion per year.

Also Obama approved the southern section and will approve the northern section this summer. you have no idea what you're talking about.

You operate on assumption about me, and your arrogance is annoying. I award you no points.

[-] -3 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

You didn't read what I posted - I stated that drilling for oil and "more oil refineries" where the oil can be processed would greatly bring prices down that "commerece" has to pay.

Have you ever noticed in countries that supply oil to other countries their gasoline prices are less then $1.00 - think maybe that's because they refine their own oil to provide it to the people who live in their country.

At present we have refinreirs that will only refine certain types of oil and they are on either the west coast, east coast or along the gulf coast. Do you have any idea as to what it costs to move oil from one part of the country to the other part to be refined?

We do not have multiple refinereis in one area that has the capability to do whatever refining is necessary. So as a result it is being exported - what do you expect.

Sent out as crude oil and imported as gasoline - why is that?

Besides if we start refining our own oil the global price of oil will drop dramatically because of "lack of consmuer demand" and lack of fluctuation because of wars in the middle east.

[-] -2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

We got gas for a buck back in the 90's. Prices are up because of fraud, war, and speculators.

[-] -2 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

You still didn't answer what I posted - tell me why oil can't be processed here in the United States with more refineries - don't you agree that that would bring prices down. Just answer yes or no but if you say no please explain.

[-] 2 points by shoozTroll (17632) 11 years ago

No, it wouldn't.

[-] -1 points by john32 (-272) from Pittsburgh, PA 11 years ago

These are temporary solutions....it's not getting to the real problem...which is inflation...printing of money.

If you do what you're saying....prices are still going to increase in the long run...because the root cause hasn't been addressed.

Great video on this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8WReKlUFP4

[-] -1 points by BlueMonday (-154) 11 years ago

you're right about inflation,.......when crude was $150 a barrel, gasoline was the price it is now $3.50 +. why is gas now at the price when the price of crude is about $100? inflation.

[-] 1 points by john32 (-272) from Pittsburgh, PA 11 years ago

You can visualize this:

http://hmscoop.com/MoneySupplyvsCommodities.html

Supply and demand no doubt factor into this...but the main reason is because of the increase in the money supply.

[-] -1 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

So just who is basing the cost of a barrel of oil on the gold market? He didn't explain that.

Secondly he made the comment about US producing and keeping oil in this country wouldn't change anything. He never made mention about building more oil refinereis.

Gasoline in some midwest states today are under $3.00 a gallon - why is that - it's because they oil refineries in the area.

So if the government allowed drilling on federal lands, they could in fact regulate oil production along with oil prices here in the USA - only allowing a certain amount in profit for those who drill -

And, if more oil refineries were built and refined this oil drilled in this country the government could regulate and price fix what profit these refineries would make, and we would have all the gasoline we need.

We just need more "government control" and more "government price fixing" to solve the problem.

[-] -1 points by john32 (-272) from Pittsburgh, PA 11 years ago

They use gold because it is a currency that can't be manipulated....fiat currencies can be manipulated (the dollar)...so we want to use a currency where it's impossible for it to be manipulated to determine where the price of oil is at these days.

If you use dollars to price oil it's anyone's guess where it's at with its historical value because the dollar has been tampered with so much.

Great video proving this point..the guy buys 7 gallons of gas for 1$:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9YJsLPd8No

[-] -2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Exxon would rather go to the fields in Iraq.

Considering all the other factors that go into the scam in this system, they would probably say since it's in the US it costs more therefore it has to be 3 or 4 dollars a gallon.

The federal lands are open.

You do know these oil companies post record profits all the time right?

U.S. production of oil and gas has increased over the past four years.

[+] -4 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

There are lots of oil companies in the United States that drill for oil on private lands - not much going on on federal lands though -

We can produce all the oil and gas we want but if we can't refine it here it isn't going to make a damm bit of differnece will it,and it will allow us to be vunerable to world oil production won't it?

I will ask again, do you agree that the prices will come down in this country if we build more oil refineries in this country to refine the oil that is drilled on US soil?

[-] -1 points by DSamms (-294) 11 years ago

No, oil prices won't come down for two reasons: Production agreements between oil producers to restrict the amount of oil pumped; and commodity speculation. Production agreements set the base price and speculation on minor production, transport and refining snafus provides the illusion of market pricing and (much) additional profit.

[-] -2 points by BlueMonday (-154) 11 years ago

refineries that were supposed to close down last summer have recently closed,...after the election.

[-] -2 points by Shayneh (-482) 11 years ago

Yah, and when they did, the price of gasoline went up in those areas.

[-] -2 points by TrevorMnemonic (5827) 11 years ago

Prices will come down when we ban the fraudulent speculation that increases prices for no reason. Prices will come down when the feds stop devaluing the purchase power of the dollar.

US oil production is up and the prices are still going up. This is due to the inflation discussed in my post.