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136 sats \ 0 replies \ @vigilantcitizen 19 May \ on: Why Are Americans Spending So Much ? econ
There's the usual suspects of inflation, debt being carried on higher interest rates, energy prices and all of the rest. But I would also suggest the idea of "revenge spending", which you can see in some of the data, is a fairly significant part. As it turns out, if you take a bunch of people with dubious enough time preferences, have them in a zero-rate environment where people can push present consumption at no cost, and then lock everybody down and turn the rates back up after explosive money supply growth, some of those people will want to get out get out at any rate.
One of the largest consumption bubbles/pops? Just look at this line from the PCE from net foreign travel and expenditures abroad by U.S. residents. Crazy growth post-COVID.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/DNFTRC1A027NBEA
Something to think about is that as inflation hits core regions (Europe-North America) and the rest of the world, it'll become more systematically attractive to go abroad (and perhaps settle there). First, there will likely be many states with inflation running hotter than the American dollar, which is an advantage if you derive USD/BTC income. Second, you will be able to buy less with your USD in the United States and adjacent regions. I think this will also be a subtle, probably smaller but still present, part of the demand equation for BTC - which should retain and grow its value vs. fiats and also allow for easier jumps between borders.