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30 Of The Best Reactions From The Internet On Bloomberg’s ‘Surviving Inflation’ Tips
Rising food and energy costs have pushed the already soaring U.S. inflation to another four-decade high. According to the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the February Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased 7.9% over the past 12 months. CPI measures the weighted average prices of goods and services, such as gas, food, medical care, and more.
The surging prices not only force more and more Americans to re-think their budget but also invite industry experts to share their thoughts. Recently, one such Bloomberg article has gone viral. NYC-based labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci wrote a piece headlined 'Inflation Stings Most If You Earn Less Than $300k'. Later on, Bloomberg shared it on social media, and it got widely mocked by anyone with a Twitter account.
You see, Ghilarducci shared tips on dealing with inflation which people all over thought were extremely out-of-touch and delusional about the reality. She wrote that if you want to "lessen the blow" of inflation, it’s time to substitute lentils for meat and let your pet die of cancer. People quickly started sharing their reactions online, so scroll down to see what they had to say.
Bloomberg’s recent opinion piece with tips for surviving inflation "if you earn less than $300k" received backlash on Twitter, with many people sharing their reactions
Image credits: economics
Image credits: bopinion
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Do you mean, as "Arrowsmith" suggested (Or ingested, perhaps), we should "eat the rich"?
People were left upset and rightfully confused after reading the article. After all, it blatantly attempts to share pieces of advice on how to pinch pennies if you’re unlucky enough to make less than $300K every year. However, some tips the labor economist and expert in retirement security offered seem innocent enough. Well, at least at first.
Ghilarducci’s op-ed reads: "To deal with gas prices, it’s worth reconsidering public transportation if it’s an option where you live. Fares are up about 8% compared with 38% for gasoline. Now may even be the time to sell your car."
Well, public transit might be an essential everyday necessity for many people across the country. It allows to reach jobs and schools, do shopping, have access to healthcare, and other services while also being a sustainable form of mobility. However, according to The American Public Transportation Association (APTA), 45% of Americans have no access to public transportation.
Another tip that caught the attention of the Twitter-sphere was when the economist said that households might consider swapping out their meat for lentils. "Meat prices have increased about 14% from February 2021 and will go up even more. Though your palate may not be used to it, tasty meat substitutes include vegetables (where prices are up a little over 4%, or lentils and beans, which are up about 9%)," she wrote.
Yet, there was one more suggestion that immediately struck a chord with the users — advising them to skip out on their pet’s medical bills. "If you’re one of the many Americans who became a new pet owner during the pandemic, you might want to rethink those costly pet medical needs. It may sound harsh, but researchers actually don’t recommend pet chemotherapy — which can cost up to $10,000 — for ethical reasons," the scholar explained.
"Harsh" may be an understatement. Many social media users viewed this suggestion as straight-up dark. They had some more severe remarks to say about the article and its writer, and as you can see from this post, they did not hold back. Even when Bloomberg Opinion reshared the article on Twitter, they wrote "nobody said this would be fun". Well, folks online certainly didn’t think it was.
People started talking about how yet again the privileged members of society who hold positions of power explain what those who earn less should be doing with their personal lives and finances. Some were baffled that this financial news site shared such advice to those struggling every day with such a lack of consideration.
All publicity is good publicity.. If they're talking negatively about you, at least they're talking about you.
According to the Washington Post, wealthier Americans have stronger protections shielding them against increasing prices. And that is why inflation won’t affect them as much. They already own homes, have substantial retirement savings, and their investments will probably outpace inflation in the long run.
Meanwhile, lower-income workers usually feel only the negative side of inflation. "Their rent goes up. Their heating oil prices go up. Their grocery bills go up. And there’s no room for higher prices in their already stretched budgets. Plus, with stimulus benefits and child-tax credit payments long gone, many have exhausted their financial cushions."
"End profit" is a bit extreme. If businesses operated on a non-profit basis they would have little in the way of capital to fund growth. I am very anti-price-gouging though.
This shirt originally said "Stop Being Desperate." It's a shop job.
Xavier Jaravel, a London School of Economics professor said that for low-income Americans, a small change in disposable income is very difficult to cope with. "Every bit of additional inflation just reduces purchasing power. If you have a large income, which often goes with the fact that you’re saving a lot, then losing some of your purchasing power is not a big cost."
Share the bath water... last 1 in is gonna smell like a rotten egg! Boil bath water on the stove to avoid paying for gas to heat it!!! (Thanks you rich privileged f**k wads for the advice)...
Honk honk....lentils is the world super saver we didn't know we needed. Lol
If you don't make 1.5x the amount of money the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES does, inflation really stings! Edit: Okay, apparently the president makes 400,000 dollars. Sorry, but also WHAT THE HECK!?
Vermouth? I would never try surgery with any less than brandy. Sorry, but there are limits.
I figured a long time ago that the 25lb bag of very nice basmati rice costs the same per-pound as the 1lb bag of mostly broken crummy store-brand rice.
All of them. Then he'll just raise the price by a factor of of 10...
Yeah I'm not spending 4 to 5 hours trying to get to and from work, the work day is already long enough. Hello, live in LA.
Let them eat cake!.....What's that out there making that slashing metal noise?
I’m in full agreement with this. Most people won’t suffer until they have too though. It’s one byproduct of American first world privilege. Baby boomers that say “pull up those bootstraps” we’re lucky enough to be wearing boots. So many are stuck wearing sandals.
Some of the richest a-holes in the country got that way as a result of manipulating the fossil fuel markets over the last hundred years. Fighting fossil fuels is key to moving forward as a society.
Isn't the national purge just around the corner? Say hi to your neighbors for me.
Hey, here's a novel idea. Why don't we stop accepting the lie that this problem has anything to do with which party happens to be in charge at the moment, stop letting the elite turn us against each other, and fight the real enemy which is the corporate elite who actually run this country. Just a suggestion.
Please don't fall for this b******t. If it was the Republicans in office when this happened, the Democrats would say say it was their fault. The blame doesn't lie with the current dominant political party in office, but with the corporations and 1%ers who put them there. Partisanism is a smokescreen, don't let it distract you.
Follow the money! The writer of this opinion piece is clearly in the back pocket of Big Lentil!
"Here are all the change you need to make so that the rich can hoard even more wealth!"
I love they think that someone earning six figures is hurting the same as folks earning min wage...
Follow the money! The writer of this opinion piece is clearly in the back pocket of Big Lentil!
"Here are all the change you need to make so that the rich can hoard even more wealth!"
I love they think that someone earning six figures is hurting the same as folks earning min wage...
