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If you think deflation is good for liquidity, you are missing econ 101 knowledge. You only have to look to Japan in the 90's for proof or the great depression!

When deflation rises, businesses start feeling uncertain about the amount of money they can pull in regularly and start laying off workers. Individuals start to save more and spend less. Instead of hiring workers to do their lawns or buying meals, they will try to do everything themselves. In this manner, the "monetary" value of "wealth" from lawn mowers and processed food producers approaches 0.

This is another fundamental difference between the wealth pool and the currency pool.




you mean people will forgo consumption in favor of investment? the horror!


Exactly. Codexon, saving just causes another, ostensibly wiser, form of spending. If you save your money in a bank, then they will lend it out where it will be spent, usually on capital goods (whatever that means anymore, or ever meant). If you save it by buying some stock, you drive up the stock's price, making it more a better deal for the company to issue more stock (and spend the proceeds in building their business). Same thing with bonds.


I think you are being a bit naive here.

Think about this. If everyone saves all their money, who is going to do the spending? How is anyone supposed to earn money?

The only people you can trust to earn money from are the people who aren't saving all their money.

If you save your money in a bank, how are you and the bank supposed to make interest if everyone starts saving and no one takes out a loan??? Your savings rate will drop towards 0 in a situation like this. If companies act in the same manner, why should they issue any stock??? What is the benefit for them if they prefer to save up and use their own cash instead of share holder cash?

What happens in a situation like this is that the stock prices don't grow at all as you can see here in Japan for nearly 20 years:

http://www.progressdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/Nikk...

I recommend you think about these points for a while before discussing this matter again.


Codexon, on this site people use a civil tone. Please read this: http://ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Also I'd rather not debate economics, sorry.


See my reply here to see why that is a naive point of view.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1000181




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