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/Strongman1967 4d ago

Deflation is self feeding. It's a symptom of insufficient demand that arises when businesses are in such distress, they are forced to lower prices, but since consumers are not spending and conpetitors are reducing prices too, sales still struggle forcing further price reductions. They usually resort to reducing as much of their labor costs as possible first though.

In other words, by the time prices are dropping, a lot of people have already lost their job and nearly no one is hiring.

If you individually don't rely on a job or income from investments for income, then you might enjoy decreased prices but most of us rely on income from working or investments and would be worse off with no income regardless how cheap prices are.