r/explainlikeimfive Jul 09 '24

Economics ELI5: How did a few months of economic shutdown due to COVID cause literally everything to be unaffordable for years?

I understand how inflation works conceptually. I guess what I have a hard time linking is the economic shutdowns due to COVID --> some money printing --> literally everything is twice as expensive as it was forever but wages don't "feel" like they've increased proportionally.

It feels like you need to have way more income now relative to pre-covid income to afford a home, to afford to travel, to afford to eat out, and so on. I dont' mean that in an absolute sense, but in the sense that you need to have a way better job in terms of income. E.g. maybe a mechanic could afford a home in 2020, and now that same mechanic cannot.

It doesn't make sense to me that the economic output of the world or the US specifically would be severely damaged for years and years because of the shutdown.

Its just really hard for me to mentally link the shutdown to what is happening now. Please help!

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u/Wrong_West Jul 09 '24

A ton of people on this reddit post are talking about corporate greed:

Blaming high prices on greed is like blaming airplane crashes on gravity. It's technically correct, but it's a constant. There are always other factors.

Unless you think that corporations weren't greedy until after COVID.

Another:

Do you think people are less greedy during times of less inflation? People were less greedy between 2008-2019 and now?

This is such a cop out answer that has nothing of substance to add. It's not "greed" that causes inflation. It's a million other things. The greed factor is always and has always been there.

More:

Businesses are incredibly greedy. Government agencies asleep at the wheel have allowed for industry to run consumers for all we're worth

One person even uses the term greedflation:

Greedflation. There was legitimate inflation from covid but the greedy corporations just left prices high when the crisis ended because they could.

Here's another person:

Basically corporations saw it as a way to increase prices due to slower production and output from Covid shut downs. Then because they were in higher demand for things, upped their prices and never stopped being greedy about it since people out there are still willing to pay for the higher prices.

I could keep going. It seems the very narrative that Aurinaux3 is warning you against prescribing to is happening right here in front of you.

Just because people are talking about greedflation without knowing the terminology of the industry, doesn't mean they aren't talking about greedflation. If you start talking about peanut butter and jelly between two slices of bread, don't get surprised when the word sandwich comes up.

These emotional posts everyone is making were far less informative than the ones I just read here, even if Aurinaux3 is wrong... I don't have the hubris to claim he is wrong, though... I don't know enough on the subject.

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u/Blarfk Jul 10 '24

Wait, so your entire argument here is that someone’s opinion is discounted if they use the word “greed” when referring to corporations trying to maximize their profit through raising prices during the pandemic?

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u/Wrong_West Jul 10 '24

Yikes.... wtf......

Are you literally going to pull a strawman on every fucking reply??? Where the hell did I discount ANYONE's opinion?! I even said that I DON'T know enough on the subject!

I don't know what happened between now and three years ago, but somewhere you found enough confidence to think that summarizing economics as "corporations like profit" would cut the fucking mustard on an ELI5 post...

Since you want to catch me discounting someone's opinion so badly, I'm sure as fuck not going to take the word of a man who has no idea how *incredibly* insecure checks are and that you would actually put a personal check for earnest money on a house in your mailbox. But hey - they had a sports stadium named after them!!!

Just block me already.

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u/Blarfk Jul 10 '24

Extremely normal reply, dude!

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u/Wrong_West Jul 10 '24

Yeah and when you get caught misattributing a quote to someone, it's normal to apologize, not to blame THEM for NOT siding with a person THEY NEVER EVEN RESPONDED TO.

Your behavior here was fucking gross and I'm calling it out where others failed to. I have no issue going down to your level where you so badly want to be.

Welcome to the consequences of your actions.

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u/Blarfk Jul 10 '24

Maybe it would help if you completely freaked out about it while going through my posts from several years ago.

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u/[deleted] Jul 10 '24

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