Political Compass: Question #9

[ElectionsGuy]

Agree if I had to choose.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Strongly disagree (sane), especially since this sort of thinking destroyed my continent.

[SWE]

Strongly disagree

[Deus Naturae]

Strongly agree, although this question is something of a false dichotomy. Inflation (and the artificially low interest rates that come with it) is nothing more than an attempt to engineer an unsustainable economic boom which inevitably ends in a bust. In the long term, inflation (or at least the way the Fed does it here in the US) is a recipe for unemployment in that it throws the business cycle out of whack and creates an inevitable "boom-bust" pattern.

In addition, inflation (regardless of whether it involves a central bank putting new money into circulation via Treasury Bond purchases, lending to private banks, etc or whether it's just good ol' fashioned money printing) is especially harmful to the poor because of its effect on prices. By increasing prices for basic goods while decreasing the purchasing power of an individual's wages, inflation hurts low-income individuals most of all. Prices for basic food items like pork, beef, fruits, etc have skyrocketed over the past decade, and it isn't the 1% that's been hit the hardest by it.   

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

Strongly agree (sane), especially since the opposite type of thinking destroyed my country.

[Supersonic]

Agree, but going by that Federal Chairman game, I'm hopeless at it.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Strongly agree (sane), especially since the opposite type of thinking destroyed my country.

[AggregateDemand]

We already learned what happens when unemployment is put before inflation policy. Let's not learn that lesson again. Many ways to encourage employment without stagflation.

[Wake Me Up When The Hard Border Ends]

Strongly agree.

[Dr. Cynic]

Disagree. Employment should always be the first priority, cause if no one has a job, what good will it do if prices are low?

[Meursault]

A false dichotomy. I'm ashamed that our economics has not advanced beyond it since the nineteenth century.

[morgieb]

Strongly disagree. Aren't you controlling inflation when you control unemployment?

[Antonio the Sixth]

Agree. If you don't understand why, you are a Keynesian at heart.

Indeed, I subscribe to a sane, empirically based economic theory, as opposed to some self-referential neoclassical bullsh*t.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Strongly agree (sane), especially since the opposite type of thinking destroyed my country.

So here you have two American right-wingers claiming that their country is worse off than Europe. Interesting...