Do People Care About Inflation?
I wonder whether people really care about inflation sometimes. They say they do if you ask them. But what people say they care about isn't always what they really care about.
For example, politicians take lots of polls and tell us what we care about based on those polls. But a lot of people I know are pretty fickle. What they cared about yesterday may not be what they care about today. Besides, lots of us say one thing but do another.
When it comes to money, let's say I ask my clients what they care about. Can I always count on the accuracy of their answers? We do deceive ourselves sometimes (maybe not you, but some of us).
You can listen to what people say, but watching what they do yields better results. Watch what people do, rather than just listen to what they say.
Example:
Some guy tells his wife "I love you sweetie" - then he goes off and cheats on her, over and over again. (If he does it once, it's bad enough, but somehow you'll always find there's some almost-reasonable excuse that minimizes the offenders culpability, at least in their own mind if not the wife's.) So does he love her if he behaves this way. If you say "Yes," then answer this: In what sense does he love her?
So what does this have to do with inflation?
I wonder whether people don't really care about the fact that their money loses value - consistently - over time, year after year. They tell you they care about inflation and want to "plan" for its devastating effects. But they keep their money in the U.S. dollar - the very thing that's losing value and has been losing value for decades. They say one thing; they do another.
So can we say that - in the end - they don't really care that their money loses value, that they really don't care about inflation?
One other thought occurs to me. Maybe they care about inflation, but they just won't do what it takes to protect themselves. Why not? Because protecting themselves, in the end, means having to buy some gold (and maybe other precious metals) and that's just too strange for some of us. We've forgotten that gold is money and has been all over the world for thousands of years. We don't know history, never mind the history of money.
So maybe people care about inflation, but their ignorance prevents them from doing what they really need to do.
There's more to this, but I think ignorance plays a big role here.
(Of course, there are always the people who say they care about inflation, and all sorts of other important things, but what they really care about - based on what they actually do - is watching the next installment of "American Idol." Sometimes is seems like there a lot of those folks out there!)
So if you think you care about inflation, but you have all your money tied up only in the US dollar, think again. The important thing is that you do think. Well, not just that you think, but that your thinking leads to some reasonable action at some point. Ya think?
For example, politicians take lots of polls and tell us what we care about based on those polls. But a lot of people I know are pretty fickle. What they cared about yesterday may not be what they care about today. Besides, lots of us say one thing but do another.
When it comes to money, let's say I ask my clients what they care about. Can I always count on the accuracy of their answers? We do deceive ourselves sometimes (maybe not you, but some of us).
You can listen to what people say, but watching what they do yields better results. Watch what people do, rather than just listen to what they say.
Example:
Some guy tells his wife "I love you sweetie" - then he goes off and cheats on her, over and over again. (If he does it once, it's bad enough, but somehow you'll always find there's some almost-reasonable excuse that minimizes the offenders culpability, at least in their own mind if not the wife's.) So does he love her if he behaves this way. If you say "Yes," then answer this: In what sense does he love her?
So what does this have to do with inflation?
I wonder whether people don't really care about the fact that their money loses value - consistently - over time, year after year. They tell you they care about inflation and want to "plan" for its devastating effects. But they keep their money in the U.S. dollar - the very thing that's losing value and has been losing value for decades. They say one thing; they do another.
So can we say that - in the end - they don't really care that their money loses value, that they really don't care about inflation?
One other thought occurs to me. Maybe they care about inflation, but they just won't do what it takes to protect themselves. Why not? Because protecting themselves, in the end, means having to buy some gold (and maybe other precious metals) and that's just too strange for some of us. We've forgotten that gold is money and has been all over the world for thousands of years. We don't know history, never mind the history of money.
So maybe people care about inflation, but their ignorance prevents them from doing what they really need to do.
There's more to this, but I think ignorance plays a big role here.
(Of course, there are always the people who say they care about inflation, and all sorts of other important things, but what they really care about - based on what they actually do - is watching the next installment of "American Idol." Sometimes is seems like there a lot of those folks out there!)
So if you think you care about inflation, but you have all your money tied up only in the US dollar, think again. The important thing is that you do think. Well, not just that you think, but that your thinking leads to some reasonable action at some point. Ya think?
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