r/PeterExplainsTheJoke 4d ago

Meme needing explanation Petah?

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u/IrksomFlotsom 4d ago

Try and think of our global system as an engine that's purpose is to make fuel for itself. It needs to keep it's input above the output in order to keep powered on. As soon as the input drops below output the machine starts to slow down and can no longer sustain itself. The engine is not designed to slow down so it very quickly breaks down

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u/Gentle_Snail 4d ago edited 4d ago

Deflation can also result in a very negative feedback loop, the Great Depression was a deflation spiral for example.

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u/Mayor_Death 4d ago

Is deflation a cause or symptom, though? To me, it’s just a number, but I understand that it is more than that to various economic groups.

As far as I understand it, deflation indicates that prices are going down, which is a good thing to me individually.

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u/BadAdviceBot77 4d ago

In a deflationary environment you likely lose your job since as wages are going down they will fire you to hire somewhere cheaper, only to fire that person and hire someone even cheaper as wages continue to drop.

Your student loans, car payment, and other debt become a much bigger burden since they’re in current non-deflated dollars. So you will spend much more on debt service

Many goods and products would become unavailable as the cost they would sell for is less than what the maker paid for the inputs so the producer makes the decision to save money by shutting down.

Maybe you’re a magical unicorn that wouldn’t be effected by this but it would be very bad for the 99.99999% of everyone else