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S09.E17: Inflation


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Main topic: Inflation

Also: "dirtbag English Stanley Tucci's" thoughts on Boris Johnson's ouster; Josh Hawley's running man action on January 6th; local news reacts to the consequences of global warming exactly as expected; LWT buys the creepy beach dolls; Melbourne banana statue update

Original air date 2022.07.24

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Welcome back, John :D!

And what a way to return. I swear, the accountants for this show must have an absolute field day looking over the stuff John and his staff purchase....XD. 

But I LOVE his suggestion on how to ultimately deal with the creepy dolls (and thanks, John, for bringing back the nightmares involving those...). That's perfect. The creepy dolls disappear, turning into recyclable product*, a food bank and a koala ward get some much needed funding, and John gets yet another thing named after him :D. Win-win!

*Granted, whatever kind of recyclable product the dolls turn into may wind up being haunted, but eh, can't have everything, right :p? 

"It was so hot that I nearly went to my ex-girlfriend's house. I just...wanted to be near something shady..." OMFG...XD. Thanks for sharing!

As for the inflation story, my main question is, didn't Kramer get total egg on his face and get called out point blank on "The Daily Show" back when the 2008 economic crash happened? So, uh...why exactly is anyone continuing to listen to him about other economic matters? Also, stop yelling at us, Kramer, we can hear you just fine. 

Also, regarding the GOP griping about the stimulus spending...you guys gave a big ol' tax cut to your rich buddies a few years ago, and your party's refusal to take the pandemic seriously was a large part of why we needed the stimulus spending to help people get through it all to begin with. Sit down and be quiet. 

Regarding that clip of Hawley at the beginning, I saw a tweet the other day reminding everyone that even after running away from this mob that he clearly realized posed a serious threat, Hawley STILL decided to go ahead and join the other Republicans who refused to certify the 2020 election results. He really is a piece of work, and I hope like hell he's one of many politicians who get tossed out on their ass later this year. 

I can just imagine what John's reaction must've been when the news broke that Boris Johnson was resigning. "I had to pick NOW to take time off work?!?!" ;p. 

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It took about 10 minutes, but John at least mentioned that inflation is happening almost in every country right now, not just US. It seems funny to me that despite the rampant globalisation, something like this gets overlooked so often, because from following news in a couple of countries, it appears to me as if everywhere people think it's exclusively their problem. And of course, the current governments get blamed, same as with pandemic response. Never mind that a lot of the issues can be a result of previous governments' screwups just now becoming more obvious.

I have a hard time understanding a lot of economics theory, despite studying some of it at college, so a lot of the talks about inflation just go over my head. But shouldn't the answer to the question whether the problem lies in supply or demand be rather simple? Can people afford to buy shit now, in general? Well, some can't afford even the basic necessities, so that would be more of a no. There. 

Also, no offense John, but read the room a bit. Buying 3 overpriced statues that you don't even want during a piece about inflation takes some courage, but not the kind that I would applaud.

Pity that we didn't get more about Britain's government drama, but it's probably going to last for a while, so maybe next time? 

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6 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

t took about 10 minutes, but John at least mentioned that inflation is happening almost in every country right now, not just US. It seems funny to me that despite the rampant globalisation, something like this gets overlooked so often

Right. I don't know if any Repubs get asked how this can be Biden's fault if it's happening all over the world. And if they are asked, what is their response?

I got a big laugh out of John saying that dogs blame inflation on the vacuum cleaner.

The mayor of Yara (?) has a great sense of humor. I expect her to accept John's offer of the demon dolls, and I hope we get video of their destruction.

I was also hoping that John would comment on the fact that the demon dolls were shipped in bubble wrap. Why? WHY?

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1 hour ago, peeayebee said:

I was also hoping that John would comment on the fact that the demon dolls were shipped in bubble wrap. Why? WHY?

Bubble wrap disrupts their evil magic superpowers and immobilizes stabbing arms...

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8 hours ago, JustHereForFood said:

But shouldn't the answer to the question whether the problem lies in supply or demand be rather simple? Can people afford to buy shit now, in general? Well, some can't afford even the basic necessities, so that would be more of a no.

I think he covered that with the victims of inflation. As a recent retiree, I could relate to that part. But in general, there are still plenty of people who can afford to buy stuff, even at ridiculous prices. For example, I doubt the frog statue people only made 3. Quite a few people must have had enough disposable income to buy one of those things for their yard or garden. 

I thought John did a pretty good job of showing how complex the causes are and how few tools any one person or agency has to deal with it all.  

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"it's so hot I want to call my ex girlfriend so I can be near something shady." 😱 That lady is gonna need a whole bag of ice because DAMN!

Sigh inflation is all too real and as John said there is no one problem.  I'm also highly obsessed with the idea of "shrinkflation" like back in the day when your tub of ice cream was a half gallon and not 1.5 quarts *grumblegrumble*.  I am glad he mentioned that not giving out the stimulus money would have resulted in a much worse dilemma.

On 7/24/2022 at 8:50 PM, Annber03 said:

I can just imagine what John's reaction must've been when the news broke that Boris Johnson was resigning. "I had to pick NOW to take time off work?!?!" ;p. 

I know between that and all the Jan 6 hearing revelations, every time John takes a break all the things happen.

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17 hours ago, peeayebee said:

The mayor of Yara (?) has a great sense of humor. I expect her to accept John's offer of the demon dolls, and I hope we get video of their destruction.

I live in the City of Yarra and am delighted with the ongoing connection with John and LWT! I live quite near our recycling centre so I knew exactly where the mayor was standing when she made that video. If she accepts John's offer, I hope I'll be able to witness the destruction of the creepy dolls in person.

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I like that your mayor didn't sell out your banana guy.

On 7/24/2022 at 11:50 PM, Annber03 said:

As for the inflation story, my main question is, didn't Kramer get total egg on his face and get called out point blank on "The Daily Show" back when the 2008 economic crash happened?

The key to being a pundit is to never admit your bad calls and promote the good ones forever.

On 7/24/2022 at 11:50 PM, Annber03 said:

And what a way to return. I swear, the accountants for this show must have an absolute field day looking over the stuff John and his staff purchase....XD. 

I was thinking the same thing! The accountants and lawyers for this show (RIP Bob Murray) have pretty unique duties.

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5 hours ago, purist said:

I live in the City of Yarra and am delighted with the ongoing connection with John and LWT! I live quite near our recycling centre so I knew exactly where the mayor was standing when she made that video. If she accepts John's offer, I hope I'll be able to witness the destruction of the creepy dolls in person.

How cool! Is the mayor as awesome as she seemed in the video?

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Arguably the situation within in the EU is even worse due to the ECB having hesitate to rise the interest rates for way too long...though not quite as bad as in the UK which currently deals with the doubly whammy of all the supply issues plus Brexit. But yeah, the inflation is a worldwide problem, caused by a number of different factors. This was a really good piece taking apart which factors those are and what might work (and what won't).  

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15 hours ago, peeayebee said:

How cool! Is the mayor as awesome as she seemed in the video?

To be honest, I don't know much about her. I can tell you that our municipal council is the only one in Melbourne that is dominated by elected reps from the Greens party, and she is one of them.

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Nice return for John. We get an intro into the physics of inflation . . . unless you're someone that didn't forget that while taking economics classes in high school and/or college. Yeah, it sometimes feels like every other topic ends with John making a bizarre purchase or three,

Cute bit with the penguins refusing the less expensive mackerel. John is right . . . Footage Of What Appears To Be A Large, Flightless Bird Being A Massive Bitch with John Oliver would be a good title for this series.

I'm guessing most people reading in this forum saw John's "online exclusive" segment on the dolls, but just in case you didn't get a chance . . .

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To me 'shrinkflation' is worse. I agree that there are many factors to inflation, and the show pointed them out well. It's condescending to me for politicians distilling the issue down to one thing, typically for their own gain. However, the shrinkflation is really fundamentally derived from corporate greed imo. I noticed it recently in my own market, where prices haven't really gone up much at all because it's employee owned. I'm not going to buy those products. Anyway, the point about shrinkflation --> greed, seems easy, low hanging political fruit that everyone agrees on, and it would be nice if something was done about it. Or groups organizing to highlight those products as part of a boycott. 

I mean, really by now, how many of you all were like, 'He's buying that frog.'

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