I’m referring to the scarcity of goods people want to and need to buy… asbestos is something people actively try to avoid.
Seems like the argument is changing to me. But whatever, how do you factor in that demand can create its own supply?
The argument isn’t changing. My argument is that the reason economists were freaked out was because of basic supply and demand theory. And that’s not controversial. If lots of people want a thing, and there isn’t enough of that thing to meet the demand, the price of that thing usually goes up.
We literally just saw this in action during the pandemic with port blockages and stimulus money. Ports restricted supply and stimulus money increased buying power / demand. More people wanted to buy things at a time when less things could make it to shelves. That produced inflation, because it almost always produces inflation when there is more demand than supply.
The rail strike threatened to prolong that imbalance. High inflation is NOT a good thing for the general public. High inflation creates food insecurity, housing insecurity, and has historically been a precursor to recessions and unemployment. Simply haulting rail would prolonged inflation or made it worse, and it would’ve hurt people.
IMHO, the dude made the right call. rail workers got paid leave 5 months later and we avoided inflationary risk. That solution probably helped the most amount of vulnerable people. Just my 2¢
Turns out your economists friends are shills and bigots.
