Inflation

[CliffEdge]

Do we need a new heading "Inflation" in Managing your Finances?

[88V8]

Mnm, isn't it a Macro Topic?

Good point though, it may come as a surprise to our younger readers who don't remember 70s inflation and 17% mortgage rates.

V8

[Mike4]

Mnm, isn't it a Macro Topic?

Good point though, it may come as a surprise to our younger readers who don't remember 70s inflation and 17% mortgage rates.

V8

One of my many jobs after leaving skool was in the office of a small engineering company supplying the motor trade. First thing every Monday morning I applied a multiplier to the company price list and distributed the newly revised price list it to the customers and our sales staff.

Nowadays annual price rises are the norm. Back then, tight-margin business tended to issue new price lists weekly. Remarkable, from today's perspective.


(Edit for spelling. Why do mistakes only become apparent AFTER pressing 'Submit'?)

[88V8]

...and distributed the newly revised price list it to the customers ....

(Edit for spelling. Why do mistakes only become apparent AFTER pressing 'Submit'?)

Why indeed.
I find the same.
A question for DAK perhaps

[Gengulphus]

Do we need a new heading "Inflation" in Managing your Finances?

The bit of the site rules that seems relevant is "LemonFool can always create a new board if there is significant demand."

So is there significant demand for a board about inflation in the Managing Your Finances area? I've done a very quick skim through the existing boards in that area, and it suggests to me that there is little or none - I didn't find any existing discussion of inflation there. It was a very quick skim, though, so I could easily have missed it - so that doesn't mean that the answer should be "No". It just means that if you want to request such a board, you'd do well to back up the request by finding significant existing discussion of inflation that's suitable for the board you're requesting and providing links to it.

Note that I did find significant existing discussion of inflation on the Current Affairs & News and The Economy boards in the Polite Discussion And Debate area - for instance, see viewtopic.php?f=99&t=31330 and viewtopic.php?f=62&t=22588. That points out a potential problem with an inflation board in the Managing Your Finances area - that area is for discussions about how to manage one's own finances (how to deal with being in debt, how to live below your means, what financial software might help you, etc), not the country's finances! There is potential for discussion about how to manage one's own finances in inflationary times, and it's highly likely that there are people around here who have practical experience of doing so in the 1970s and could offer practical advice about how to do so (*) - but inflation is a rather political topic and so discussions about it seem highly likely to 'drift' into Polite Discussion And Debate territory.

So if an inflation board is created in the Managing Your Finances area, I would reckon that the board name should be something more than just "Inflation" to indicate that it's not the place for general discussion of inflation and especially not for political or theoretical economic discussion of inflation - e.g. "Living in Inflationary Times". And it will almost certainly require more moderator effort that an inflation board in the Polite Discussion And Debate area or just leaving inflation discussions to continue on existing boards in that area.

(*) I'm a near miss on that - I was an adult in the second half of the 1970s, but as a student funded mainly by ex-pat parents under the rather different education system of the time, my experience of running my own finances back then is highly unlikely to be very relevant to people now!

Gengulphus

[CliffEdge]

Do we need a new heading "Inflation" in Managing your Finances?

The bit of the site rules that seems relevant is "LemonFool can always create a new board if there is significant demand."

So is there significant demand for a board about inflation in the Managing Your Finances area? I've done a very quick skim through the existing boards in that area, and it suggests to me that there is little or none - I didn't find any existing discussion of inflation there. It was a very quick skim, though, so I could easily have missed it - so that doesn't mean that the answer should be "No". It just means that if you want to request such a board, you'd do well to back up the request by finding significant existing discussion of inflation that's suitable for the board you're requesting and providing links to it.

Note that I did find significant existing discussion of inflation on the Current Affairs & News and The Economy boards in the Polite Discussion And Debate area - for instance, see viewtopic.php?f=99&t=31330 and viewtopic.php?f=62&t=22588. That points out a potential problem with an inflation board in the Managing Your Finances area - that area is for discussions about how to manage one's own finances (how to deal with being in debt, how to live below your means, what financial software might help you, etc), not the country's finances! There is potential for discussion about how to manage one's own finances in inflationary times, and it's highly likely that there are people around here who have practical experience of doing so in the 1970s and could offer practical advice about how to do so (*) - but inflation is a rather political topic and so discussions about it seem highly likely to 'drift' into Polite Discussion And Debate territory.

So if an inflation board is created in the Managing Your Finances area, I would reckon that the board name should be something more than just "Inflation" to indicate that it's not the place for general discussion of inflation and especially not for political or theoretical economic discussion of inflation - e.g. "Living in Inflationary Times". And it will almost certainly require more moderator effort that an inflation board in the Polite Discussion And Debate area or just leaving inflation discussions to continue on existing boards in that area.

(*) I'm a near miss on that - I was an adult in the second half of the 1970s, but as a student funded mainly by ex-pat parents under the rather different education system of the time, my experience of running my own finances back then is highly unlikely to be very relevant to people now!

Gengulphus

You're probably right that it would be likely to descend into the usual ping pong squabble.
Which is a shame because I think inflation is a big worry now. I believe and I could well be wrong, that we are in store for a protracted period of inflation well above 2%.

How does one fight it? It's complex and there are people on here who have great knowledge but if their wisdom is spread all over the place it can be hard to find.

[Clariman]

I would think that Inflation could be adequately covered as topic(s) in Living Below Your Means??

[MDW1954]

...and distributed the newly revised price list it to the customers ....

(Edit for spelling. Why do mistakes only become apparent AFTER pressing 'Submit'?)

Why indeed.
I find the same.
A question for DAK perhaps

I'm a professional writer. There are (at least) two things going on:

1) When proofing, people tend to read what they think they wrote, not what they actually wrote.

2) Line breaks and the nearby presence of long words both cause a form of word-blindness.

Routinely, I write in one font, and proof in another. This at least helps to deal with (2).

Re: inflation, it's not clear to me why the OP wants that topic. Is he or she thinking of it from a macroeconomic point of view? Or from a personal cost-of-living point of view?

MDW1954

[dealtn]

You're probably right that it would be likely to descend into the usual ping pong squabble.
Which is a shame because I think inflation is a big worry now.

It might help if "The Economy" as a Board was removed from "Polite Debate and Discussion" and moved to "Investors Roundtable", like "Macro and Global Topics" is. Then suitably moderated to prevent the ping-pong as witnessed on "Current Affairs & News". Economics is a serious subject, and those that would rather debate Politics could remain doing so on CAN.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I would think that Inflation could be adequately covered as topic(s) in Living Below Your Means??

May be worth considering a slight tweak to the title of the board?

For example

Living Below Your Means & Inflation

Thank you

Take care

AiY

[GoSeigen]

Do we need a new heading "Inflation" in Managing your Finances?

No thank you.

GS

[csearle]

Trouble is that inflation is one of those background things that pervades all sorts of investing. I think that whatever strategy one adopts, beating inflation is a prerequisite.

So I am against the creation of a board called Inflation. It would be like having a board called Not Losing Money.

Chris

[mc2fool]

...a board called Not Losing Money.

Ah, a board devoted to Warren Buffett's primary rule of investing! What a good idea!

"Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1."

https://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0210/rules-that-warren-buffett-lives-by.aspx

[chas49]

Moderator Message:
Posts discussing inflation rather than the OP question of whether a new board is required are OFF-TOPIC for this board and will be removed. (chas49)

[Gengulphus]

I would think that Inflation could be adequately covered as topic(s) in Living Below Your Means??

May be worth considering a slight tweak to the title of the board?

For example

Living Below Your Means & Inflation

That might be read as a board on which anything that's about either living below your means or inflation is welcome... Arguably that's a somewhat perverse interpretation, I know, but it would IMHO be better for it to be clearer that inflation is relevant to the board where it affects living below your means, not a subject on an equal footing with living below your means.

Perhaps an extension of the board's subtitle "Making your money go further" to something like "Making your money go further, including in inflationary times" would deal with that? It would mean that someone looking for mentions of "inflation" on this site's home page should find the board, but shouldn't be misled into believing that it's suitable for discussing inflation from macroeconomic or political perspectives.

Gengulphus

[AsleepInYorkshire]

I would think that Inflation could be adequately covered as topic(s) in Living Below Your Means??

May be worth considering a slight tweak to the title of the board?

For example

Living Below Your Means & Inflation

That might be read as a board on which anything that's about either living below your means or inflation is welcome... Arguably that's a somewhat perverse interpretation, I know, but it would IMHO be better for it to be clearer that inflation is relevant to the board where it affects living below your means, not a subject on an equal footing with living below your means.

Perhaps an extension of the board's subtitle "Making your money go further" to something like "Making your money go further, including in inflationary times" would deal with that? It would mean that someone looking for mentions of "inflation" on this site's home page should find the board, but shouldn't be misled into believing that it's suitable for discussing inflation from macroeconomic or political perspectives.

Gengulphus

That's an excellent point yes. However, being devils advocate I wonder if Clariman is trying to keep the number of boards available to a "manageable minimum" due to overall constraints? I think inflation could be discussed in Macro Topics though as suggested?

Best

AiY

[csearle]

That's an excellent point yes. However, being devils advocate I wonder if Clariman is trying to keep the number of boards available to a "manageable minimum" due to overall constraints? I think inflation could be discussed in Macro Topics though as suggested?

You need wonder no longer as we have for a long time resisted creating new boards unless there is a glaring omission.

Chris

[88V8]

That's an excellent point yes. However, being devils advocate I wonder if Clariman is trying to keep the number of boards available to a "manageable minimum" due to overall constraints? I think inflation could be discussed in Macro Topics though as suggested?

You need wonder no longer as we have for a long time resisted creating new boards unless there is a glaring omission.

I think for the number of posters there are already too many boards.

However, inflation is going to become a hot topic, and perhaps the need for a Proper Home - such as Macro Topics - is indicated by the fact that we currently have three inflation topics running.
One, bizzarely, in the Snug, https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=99&t=31330 one long-runner in Economy https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=22588, and one in Macro topics https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=412752#p412752.

I have no special fondness for any particular board, but perhaps one of them should have Inflation added to its title so we don't dissipate the collective wisdom.

V8.

Moderator Message:
Third link corrected. - Chris