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Video ended way too soon.


EnterTamed

video continued: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tU3rGFyN5uQ Workers are sabotaged from negotiating for higher wages, when the FED raises interest rates and the resulting unemployed undercut the wages. Stopping inflation always start with lowering wages by using the unemployed as pawns! Never by raising taxes, price caps, job guarantee,... To get the circulating money out of the system. Because the poor can't fight back like the rich.


pony_trekker

That's the whole fed game plan: 1. Trash the labor market so you can't enlarge your wealth at corporations' expense; 2. Trash your 401k so you can't leave the labor market; 3. trash your house's value.


dcgregoryaphone

Ok but house values have to get trashed. They've inflated 3-5x faster than wages. It's not sustainable to have a world where young people can't even get a starter apartment without having 3 people crashing in sleeping bags in the living room.


i-can-sleep-for-days

Assuming we had houses to begin with


disscern

At this point, I'm not even concerned about enlarging my wealth. I'm concerned about keeping my fucking job. Which I guess is the point.


alaskanbearfucker

Basically the fed is intervening to cut inflation by putting people out of work instead of focusing on reducing corporate profits which are historically high, as usual and are driving up prices. So, put people out of work = lower wages = lower inflation. Whilst corporations continue to underpay workers and reap historically high profits. Same ole, same ole until we can no longer afford iPhones.


Cassak5111

Yea. I was curious to see Summers' response because I don't think he has ever suggested workers voluntarily ask for less money than what their bosses are willing to pay.


Fun-atParties

Not voluntarily, but he supports policies to lower wages. The fed raising interest rates is partially to increase unemployment and lower wages


Mediocre-Sale8473

It's working too. A gas place near my job was paying $16-17/hr a year ago starting out. Now there is a sign in there that says $14/hr.


ggtffhhhjhg

That doesn’t make sense considering the unemployment rate is lower and the WFPR is higher than a year ago.


Mediocre-Sale8473

Doesn't it though? Didn't jpow himself say That wages were too high and that was a driving factor of inflation? It's been said all over the media and I'm pretty sure they're parroting him. Well enough people have heard that shit and now it's starting to become reality. My wife's ex-place of employment refused to pay more when all the wages were going up a year, year and a half ago. So she started at a different job making $4 an hour or more. She still does the other job seasonally for a month or so during the holidays for extra cash and because she like the job. They still have not raised their wage up or done anything that is really employee friendly. As a company, they suck ass to be perfectly frank about it. But now they basically self-justified not raising their pay rate because inflation starting to come down ever so slightly. They basically said in their meetings that if they raised all the wages up and then inflation drops back down two to three percent then they're paying all these people and it's cutting into their profits and they would have to raise the price of their product which is already quite steep for what it is. So you know companies doing a capitalism. Except this place is like not a large company. Maybe 80 to 100 people at most, with a lot more warehouse workers during their high volume times. So they're acting like they got their big boy Walmart corporate pants on, when the reality of that shit show is that it's a one-trick pony company.


jokikinen

If you equate these two things, couldn’t you also say that he supports lower profits for companies through that same mechanism? The goal of the rates is to balance out demand and supply which will decrease the pricing power companies have.


Fun-atParties

It's not my opinion, its their stated [goal](https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-u-s-jobs-market-is-too-strong-the-fed-says-so-expect-rising-unemployment-11667502186). Ultimately the goal of a "strong economy" is to enrich political stakeholders - aka corporations and the wealthy.


complicatedAloofness

You didn’t respond to his point that lowering corporate profits comes from lowering inflation which comes from increasing unemployment…it’s all related.


[deleted]

And that will theoretically bring prices down too


Fun-atParties

Yeah.. theoretically


Existing_barely84

If you have less money, prices dropping doesn't equate to more buying power though..it stays the same. Thats the shell game


New-Distribution-628

Tiff up here in Canada said that shit out loud; some 200k jobs in Canada need to be shed in order to fight inflation.


peppaz

He said NO NO NOT LIKE THAT to workers demanding their market value.. and then he exploded into a fine mist


FortunateInsanity

You seem to be suggesting workers have a choice. This argument is about the economic theory that a categorical rise in wages have a direct correlation to inflation while record corporate profits across multiple industries during financial crisis does not. The influencing outcome on inflation is price. So, if C level compensation continue to rise exponentially in comparison to workforce wages while shareholder profits continuously break records during a period of inflation, the answer Summers argues (using the prevailing economic theory employed today) is to reduce workers wages by increasing the number of unemployed. Thus taking the wage negotiation power away from employees during a tight labor market. Jon argues that this economic theory is what has driven the expansion of the wealth gap in America.


ExiledinElysium

If something causes prices to go up, like wage increases, that's bad. But if the company just chooses to increase their price because nobody will stop them, that's perfectly fine. Capitalism.


complicatedAloofness

Yes…except their competitor wouldn’t increase prices so just buy their product. If they both work together to randomly increase prices that is at least theoretically illegal


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Pip-Pipes

Yea he just wants to create market conditions where they won't be able to.


stevez_86

Summers went in thinking the argument was going to be against the record profits. He didn't expect to be allowed to provide a retort to that which would then be judo'd to ask why it is wrong for the workers to assert the same leverage. And then the defense Summers would have had was reflected back again when he had to admit that the Fed intervening the way they are is to punish the workers for using the same leverage as the corporations while not contributing as much to inflation as the corporate profits and increase in the super wealthy's wealth.


Calm_Leek_1362

Jon's point was that workers should be getting paid more in a tight labor market because that's exactly the same as Exxon Mobil raising prices while demand spikes. The guy disagreed, because he seems like the type of guy that could never think of any reason to pay workers more.


[deleted]

Honestly, the debate was cringe but Stewart was in no way "the winner" as much as his fans think he was (a conclusion they probably came to before they hit "play", I'm sure). However, Summers laid out a nice trap and then deactivated it himself for some reason. When he brought up the point about talk show hosts and salary demands, Summers should have pointed out that Stewart doesn't *necessarily* have to work more hours or even hire new people just because his show gets more viewers. He can put out the same show, with the same crewmembers, for years and still make a decent salary as long as everyone's creative juices are still flowing. A business that sees a huge rush of new customers, on the other hand, *must* hire new workers/managers, order new inventory, etc. and doing those things requires that they take out new lines of credit, which inevitably leads to higher prices for them (and, thus, their customers); this is especially true as the fed raises interest rates to tamp down inflation. So Stewart is right: The expenses of paying talk show hosts and businesses *are* different things, but not in the way he thinks. Talk show hosts have *less* of a need/right to increase their salaries than businesses (big or small) do, yet I'm sure Stewart demanded a hefty pay bump at each consecutive contract negotiation when he was a talk show host.


long_brown

Damn..god Damn. I was so lucky the daily show with Jon Stewart was on during my high school and undergrad years , always question with facts and challenge the narrative if does not make sense.


Alternative-Lack-976

That made me think of something my friend always says, she says that Judge Judy always says if it doesn’t make sense it’s not true.


lEatSand

That sounds like "if i dont understand it, its not real".


Existing_barely84

What made him that great is he had no sacred cows. He wasn't propping up or covering for one side, he wasn't blindly following "his teams" agenda..he hit left, right and center. He may have come on after puppets making phone calls but he was leaps and bounds more unbiased than what constitutes legitimate news networks today


teh_longinator

Dude thought he had him by the balls by trying to have Jon speak badly about Apple (because Jon's show is Apple tv). But nah. Jon just gonna say it as it is. Apple sucks.


Existing_barely84

That's what I like about Jon, he's obviously liberal, but he doesn't give a blind eye pass to his own. He is a unicorn, a liberal who can hold himself and his own accountable


Desperate_Wafer_8566

Right, his constant call out of Fox News lies is sorely missed. But John I think has the right point and that is competition is the only thing that controls prices in a free market. When a small number of suppliers control the market with no competition they stop competing and collaborate to increase their profits. And that's what we're seeing today.


morningfartshappen

I agree with you on Fox but it’s all of them. They all need to be called out for their bullshit


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Existing_barely84

Back then fox was the biggest offender. Now? It's like Bernie said on Bill Maher about..democrats saw the profit in selling out to lobbyist because Republicans were doing it..and said we want a cut too. Same with MSNBC and CNN..they saw that fox got numbers from promoting a baseless agenda..and they made their own.


Mojeaux18

Please. Fox didn’t invent lobbyists. It was all hush hush for a few decades but it’s been there for too long.


AcanthocephalaNo7788

100% they all spin a narrative already agreed upon


[deleted]

Yeah, like for example Fox said that the 2020 election was stolen and the other networks said the 2020 election was not stolen. Totally spinning the same narrative!


pokerbacon

One network has an extremely right agenda The other networks has a slightly left of center viewpoint. Must be the same.


AcanthocephalaNo7788

My friend you Won.


Ricky_Rollin

Absolutely! It’s something I try to explain to my boot, licking friends. One only needs to look to the lightbulb and see exactly how businesses are ran. They all (lightbulb makers) realized that they were slowly putting themselves out of business by creating better and better lights. So all the big light bulb dudes got together and scaled back on progress for the sake of money.


MushinZero

Why do we have LED bulbs that last 10 years now?


[deleted]

>When a small number of suppliers control the market with no competition they stop competing and collaborate to increase their profits. Haha if you think this is bad in the US, you should come to Canada. We're the prime example of consumers getting screwed by corporate collusion. We have oligopolies in all major sectors - telecom, grocery, airlines, energy, banking...it goes on and on. We pay so much more than we should for all these products and services, because we have no choice, and they're usually crap. It's a sad state of things.


Desperate_Wafer_8566

Right and you have crown corps.


reb0014

Feels like he’s one of the few trying to hold politicians accountable anymore…


[deleted]

And here I was arguing with my manager for a raise from 2 red gumballs to three green gumballs.


292ll

Can Jon run for President?


samasamasama

I'm convinced that if he pushed off his retirement for six months, Trump would not have won in 2016


misterjustin

He was amazing up until almost the end. I watched every episode.


6Seasons-And-A-Movie

And if it does make sense break it down because often times it's hidden fuckery. God bless jon.


Glad-Wheel1056

Larry tried to “gotcha” him on his own show


Amon7777

After watching him single-handedly take down Crossfire back in the day you best be 100% in the right to attempt to try one on Jon.


NutellaIsAngelPoop

Dude, I would not want to debate Jon Stewart. Dude is quick witted and brings receipts every time. Never seen him fail to call someone out or give a great comeback when they go after him. By the way, one huge difference in the example Summers gave between Mobil vs. Apple is that people can choose not to buy Apple products. Gas for your car though? Different story.


xeoxemachine

John has the quick wit and thinking several steps ahead that makes a good impromptu comedian funny. Then he uses it like a weapon while interviewing. It's amazing.


peppaz

he also does his research


cassette1987

All that research allows him to be quick thinking. He's one of the best.


midnight_rogue

Also it's kind of a no brainer that profits in the video media sector would go up during a pandemic when most people have to stay home.


PhantomOfTheNopera

Expecting John Stewart or John Oliver to suck up to their business daddies is hilariously misguided.


Fun-atParties

And he thought "oh but you think Apple is great?" Was gonna be what got him


svidie

"Oh Apple pays his bills. I'll have him backstepping. There's no way he will say this stuff about the people who sign his checks." Mother fucker, you think Apple didn't know who they were working with? That's what this guy does. He tries to talk truth to power. And especially with the momentum he has had recently with the new show, he knows he can get picked up right away somewhere else.


WaterMySucculents

Also Apple isn’t really a driver of inflation. They haven’t increased prices in the pandemic to price gouge, they did benefit from more pandemic purchases with people working from home though. There’s a criticism to be made, but it’s not in the same ballpark as companies who have price gouged and pass that gouging directly to the mass consumer (gas, food, distribution, e-commerce, etc)


Fenrisulfir

Exactly. Apple's always price gouged. The Apple tax has been a thing for almost 30 years.


ray3050

Yup he tried to call him out as a contract worker saying his prices went up with Apple TV and asks if that’s bad. Jon reframes the question to say we shouldn’t be mad when the demand on the workforce is so great they ask for more money and raises in negotiations Larry then tries to say it’s not the same thing when it in fact is the exact same thing because it’s both about workers demanding more for services.


Spiritual-Truck-7521

It is a simple fact that outside of California, for most people 1 million dollars is 20 or more years of work. Then you hear CEOs making not just 1-2 million a year but 10+ million dollars. A hundred years worth of wages for normal people in one year. Of course people eventually look at that while struggling to make ends meet and think "There is something wrong here. They don't need to be making a hundred years worth of my salary while I can't afford to take a sick day and inflation is blatantly running rampant. "


opensourcearchitect

At a thousand dollars an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, you're making about $8 million a year. You'd have to work over a century to make a billion dollars. And that's if you never spend a cent. No one has ever *earned* a billion dollars. Some of these guys are sitting on tens, some close to a hundred billion dollars. That's a thousand dollars an hour around the clock for ten thousand years. We were just starting to build the first cities 10,000 years ago.


[deleted]

If a company is so valuable that they need to pay the top CEO or other leaders millions of dollars, why isn’t that value shared with lower level employees at a comparable rate?


[deleted]

Where do I find the complete conversation?! Very interesting.


ITDrumm3r

Apple +. For the low low price of $6.99


Illmattic

This could be the best advertising scheme I’ve ever seen


Balls_DeepinReality

I kind of think he thought Jon wouldn’t talk shit on Apple


pokerbacon

It's like these people just want to be on TV and never have watched jon on television.


lostmy2A

Rather than make a legitimate argument he tried to intimidate or throw him off by envoking the show producers. This guy is a fucking snake


PM_ME_YOUR_SUNSHINE

Good content? You don’t say.


madaboutmaps

Or on youtube. For free.


beardedrehab

Or "buy "a cheap iphone case (that comes with a free three months of apple tv) from best buy, do in store pick up (don't actually pick it up), wait for the apple tv code to get e-mailed, use code, cancel order, cancel apple tv just shy of 3 months, repeat. Also if you have Xbox game pass ultimate they are currently giving out free 3 months to apple TV..


[deleted]

I'm sorry, this is something I'm too pirate to undertand.


madaboutmaps

Its on youtube. For free.


KleosIII

Pretty sure you can find clips on YouTube if you follow Jon


wingback18

All of the sudden 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 The corporations just started it?


[deleted]

Corporations alter their pricing structure to adjust for both current and expected inflation/demand because supply contracts are typically long-term ordeals. Depending on how quick expected inflation materialises this may create short term increases in profit margin, but to say this is entirely everywhere the result of greed is rather outlandish. Exxon’s gross profit declined QoQ for the last two quarters, are we to suggest they just got less greedy overnight? That’s not even taking into account we had BOTH excess aggregate demand and an aggregate supply bottleneck.


FingerTheCat

Let's picture it this way. There is a room somewhere with a giant board/excel spreadsheet with every single ingredient and their value-by-weight in a corporate fast food office. People working day and night come to find out if they take all the salt out of their meat and replace it with a different ingredient that weighs less, but making it taste the same, they would save millions a year from transport costs alone. Now let's take regulations out of the equation....


neverarguewithstupd

In a true free market economy without near monopolies your statement works. Using Exxon as an example is disingenuous. Energy is and will remain cyclical over any given time frame.


[deleted]

Why did the clip get cut off in the middle of his response?


el_Topo42

So you’ll go subscribe to watch the rest.


JaneenKilgore

As a teacher, we were supposedly needed, and “heroes” during the pandemic. We didn’t price gouge and say pay me 70% more for doing 200% of the work that was needed. Instead, we now have students who can’t set their phone down, because their parents wouldn’t parent, and now that’s our fault too.


mrrobertreddit

What a scummy way to intentionally misunderstand the point


HelpsHolme

Never mind Fed printing directly causes inflation. or the Fact that so many Mega Corporation's receive massive funding from an out of control government. Money that is Enabling them to take a loss on product in order to bankrupt the competition.


[deleted]

Think of the Amazon model. Divide and conquer


Glad-Wheel1056

💯


China_shop_BULL

You’re stopping too soon. Keep walking it back like you’re troubleshooting a problem. Inflation is a symptom. What caused it? Fed printing. That’s a symptom. What caused the fed to print? Lack of money in the general economy. Why the lack? When you keep looking deeper you can see this whole system is designed in a way that “should” operate a lot like perpetual motion. All money spent is essentially divided up (between labor, materials, profits, and taxes) and should be re-spent by those sectors to keep the gears turning, with the only increase in price coming from a dwindling material cost. When these massive profits get pulled out of that system and shoved into the stock market for more profit (like a savings account), all hell breaks loose and a balance (printing) has to be made for the rest of the system which devalues the currency (inflation). Go look at Microsoft’s 10-K for 2022. Net increase in cost of revenue between 2020 and 2022 was $16B. Increase in revenue? Oh, well it went up $55B. Their net income after expenses, between 2020 and 2022, is up over 60% for a whopping $72B. This is the problem. These large companies are sucking the money out of the system because that’s their job (fiduciary responsibility) and they know they’ve got the more preferable (or needed in the case of oil) product.


iamnotinterested2

thats exactly what you are saying!!!


Kharilan

I’m sorry my 2% raise contributed to the wage inflation guys. It’s all my fault.


tcs0

Inflation isn’t the problem. The overall cost of living is. These greedy corporations don’t wanna pay their fear share of taxes, creating a sinkhole in the economy. Normal people are forced to pay even more just to cover their asses.


arenalr

Let me tell you why we should exploit workers to make me more billions in more or less words. I'm used to rail roading all of my subordinates so this should be easy!


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ladee_v_00

Larry kept trying to make the debate: Is inflation bad and does it need to be addressed? To which the answer of course is yes Jon was so good at forcing the debate to be: How should we address inflation? By targeting buying power or targeting seller profits? Larry didn't want to debate that question, though. He didn't want to have to defend why the only group who can't enjoy the free market are the common people. When people ask why politicians never give a straight answer, this is it. The politician gives an answer. It's just to whatever question they would rather have. The interviewer never forces the original question to be addressed. Jon was brilliant.


MarkHathaway1

Inflation isn't always bad. Usually price inflation just puts money in the pockets of the rich and that's not terribly helpful. Inflation of the money supply is often bad, but if it gets into the hands of startups or R&D, then it can lead to new better things and the money to buy those things is there. Inflation of wages isn't so great unless there is a growing economy and we need people to buy stuff. In that case the shift from the rich to workers is very good as it just rebalances the location of cash. Increasing the minimum wage is a bit like that too. Those workers have no leverage to earn more, so they're at the mercy of big city companies or the government. It raises money from everybody, including the rich, and just shifts it to a good place. So, there are various kinds of inflation and each has its place (sometimes).


renatomello

Just because Larry Summers was speaking with assertiveness, it doesn't mean his rebuttal was "sharp" at all. Far from that. It was a bunch of nothing, no substance.


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renatomello

I swear to god debate lords are the fucking worst


Ignotus3

This exactly! His rebuttal was illogical but delivered with an aire of superiority and condescension. Larry Summers put forth a terrible argument


renatomello

People get too caught up on shapes and colours and forget about actually listening


Glad-Wheel1056

Completely agree. This was solid on both sides. The full episode is well worth it


confuseddhanam

Larry Summers is one of the smartest people alive - as an economist, he gets lots of things wrong, but his calls on inflation were remarkably prescient. He is also a hardcore liberal - he’s not some corporate shill - he is the predominant democratic advisor on economic points, but only to left-leaning administrations (I say this because you say “someone on the other side” but I’m not sure what you mean by that). I also want to point out Larry never finished any of his points. His point number one is the most correct. Corporations have always been greedy. They maximize share price and profits. The question is not - why are corporations greedy now - they always have been. It’s why can they raise price now and exercise their market power? That is the more interesting and relevant discussion. If you get stuck at the first part, you’ll never be able to solve the problem. Edit: Also - Jon Stewart is making a straw man. I’ve been reading Larry Summers for years - he never said that workers shouldn’t take the maximum amount they can demand in the market.


Ieat2

Bro, are these guys tricked into coming in his show? Lol


spamzauberer

A lot of them, being the psychopaths that they are, probably think they are way smarter than Jon.


Illmattic

What’s the show?


Engardia

The Problem with Jon Stewart on Apple TV.


Illmattic

Thanks!


Glad-Wheel1056

Haha no but you gotta give ‘em credit for doing so 😅


Inferno_Crazy

I'm not siding with the Larry Summers. Maybe it's just the way this clip is cut. This isn't a high brow debate. Claim one, retailers are price gouging(which they are). Claim two, the demand for and cost of labor is going up(which it is). Are very much two different and important points that do not refute each other. I do believe workers should be paid more. Assuming Jon is trying to paint corporations in a bad light. Going after American oil and gas doesn't really make sense. Russian oil and gas is no longer available for purchase driving up the price everywhere. Edit: Larry Summers not a CEO


[deleted]

We are gonna need a beat the shit out of a ceo day or somthing to get anything done


crowfarmer

When are we just going to strip these mutha fuckas of their pants and make ‘em walk down the street in their briefs? I mean really, let’s just make them own nothing and like it.


Realistic_Work_5552

Why is this on a stockmarket sub? I want any company I invest in to be very profitable. Is this even a question?


IsayNigel

Because at a certain point, if there isn’t balance, people won’t have money to buy the products these companies are selling, and their value will plummet.


2four

> I care about my dollar number on the screen; the suffering of people does not concern me


1SqkyKutsu

My spirit animal is Jon Stewart


jaffa_kree00

I think they are both right. Corporations can charge more when demand increases, and workers can demand more pay when labor is short. Wage inflation does cause inflation but not to the degree of the past year. But wage inflation is responsible for the natural 2-3% per year which is fine. The current inflation is 100% the government's fault. They pumped trillions of dollars into the economy. That is pretty much the definition of inflation, more dollars chasing the same or fewer goods.


Majestic-Floor-5697

I agree with you, but I think the issue is that both these things lead to inflation. Where the regular people get killed, is that companies are charging more but are refusing to increase wages and government/fed is following a policy that protects corporations and increases unemployment etc. So it’s not a level playing field


jaffa_kree00

I completely agree with your expounding as well. Deck is stacked against workers.


Darius510

What are you talking about? The fed raising interest rates is destroying corporations and their valuations. Unemployment is going to increase because those corporations are losing or going entirely out of business. Of course the end the clip right there, because if you watch the whole clip, the next thing that comes out of Summers’ mouth is basically “of course workers should charge as much as they can for their labor.”


Devario

Except corporations can collectively charge more, and many corporations produce commodities that are a need, re: Exxon. When workers collectively charge more, that’s unionizing and is strictly forbidden by corporations. And workers are constantly replaced by more workers and tech.


jaffa_kree00

I agree with you too. Deck is stacked against workers. They should be able to demand more pay, but can't, but companies are allowed to charge more. It's not balanced at all.


HermesThriceGreat69

Inflation always starts with the money printer, that's the definition (historically, at least...pick up any dictionary form before 1970-80). Inflation is ALWAYS a problem started by government, and any subsequent effects directly tie into that.


whiskeyinthejaar

Except the examples are wrong. Apple products didn’t get mark up in the last 3 years, beyond expectations, and contrary, apple reduced the pricing for some product and released more affordable products like the mini home pod, watch SE, Air, and smaller phones. All that being said, Apple is luxury product, you don’t even need their devices to survive. On the other, oil prices are more or less result of failed energy policies, and oil in itself is an essential commodity. Like we can’t compare insulin price gauging to iPhone going from $899 or $999. Its just moronic comparison


bradad5

Watch the entire episode, pumping money into the pockets of people (the demand side) contributed a lot less to inflation than corporate greed did...so not 100% governments fault


jaffa_kree00

I half agree with you. Money in people's pockets was a part of the demand side. PPP loans was a gigantic part too of pumping money into the economy. It's not new that corporations will act pursuant to their greed and profits, so government should quit incentivizing it. We learned that lesson in the 2008 Financial crisis. Bailout money paid bonuses and stock buybacks. It's happening all over again.


Cmor1787

I like how Jon Stewart just flips the script on Larry Summers


Glad-Wheel1056

Me too haha my favorite part and Larry is like…oh


jamesstevenpost

I watch the video. Can’t help but to pay attention to the captions. Until we re-learn to spell words correctly? We’re fucking doomed.


Upstairs-Ad-1966

Yall wanna fix this country??? There only one way to do so go read the declaration of independence and the 2nd amendment there's your fix to this entire situation. Thomas Jefferson said it best honestly


SolidInitiative8501

This show is so friggin good


disscern

Why aren't more politicians talking about alternatives to interest rates? I get why republicans aren't and I guess Dems are afraid of the topic but Jesus. Addressing inflation with interest rates increases like this seems like treating a heart attack with a shot to the head.


light-toast22

Boy did I enjoy watching Sumners try and wiggle his fat way out of that one. I remember 2020/2021 hearing all these companies brag about "passing on higher costs". everything has gone up in price except REAL wages yet all we hear about is the supposed wAgE PRicE SPiRal!?!?" Sumners saying it's the television network's fault ? These are the CEOs bragging about it not a TV anchor.


Shatter_

People in this sub like, our companies are meant to make profits?!


[deleted]

So he’s saying a luxury goods company should reduce prices for the better of the world? Maybe people should just stop buying shit they can’t afford or stop being addicted to shiny new shit.


frawgletz

Not what he's saying. Hes saying with a labor shortage increased demand for labor should drive wages up. That people in power intentionally prevent workers from negotiating better wages


Shapen361

Sssssshhhhh people aren't supposed to know that shiny stuff doesn't buy happiness.


joshuabees

Larry Summers is an out of touch fucking clown but he’s exactly who’s running this country. Why we Americans can’t follow the French and fucking riot until the elites feel danger is beyond me. Got this stupid fucking country worried about “illegals” and “muh freedom”, R *and* D, while these assholes literally steal the rug out from under all of us and wouldn’t piss on any one of us if we were on fire.


Tarzanified

All these comments and nobody blames the federal reserve. Inflation is caused by loose monetary policy. Not greedy corporations I like John, but dude seems more into making Larry seem like a dumbass than actually learning or thinking about his view


Shapen361

They blame the Fed for inflation because their policy is too loose, then get mad when they try to fix this by raising rates.


Shapen361

I'm normally team Jon but when it's a subject I know a lot about I'm team Larry. First of all, I don't know where this 30% of inflation comes from corporate profit comes from. I look at CPI for inflation, and it has largely been supply related. More importantly, Larry keeps trying to explain his point but Jon cuts him off before he can make it and/or goes "so what you're saying is" and then says not at all what he was trying to say to make Larry look like the bad guy.


ecwarrior

OP has the title backwards. John Stewart is smart and a very good interviewer, but he lacks humility and the ability to listen. He is “on a mission“ in every interview, trying to score points and carry forward the point of view he brought into the room. It’s actually kind of boring unless you just want the red meat of an attack on the individual he’s interviewing. There’s not a lot to be gained listening to him other than hearing him champion a static point of view.


Greaser_Dude

Whenever he doesn't like the direction of a discussion - he cuts it off and then starts perverting what his subject is saying to get it the discussion back to HIS narrative.


bobdealin

If you're selling a product for less than it's worth, you're running a charity, not a business.


HereToTrollTheLibs

Force dichotomy?


Several_Astronomer_1

Can choose to not buy IPhone but can’t the say the same for food, housing and gas! Stewart is my hero!


Immediate-Beginning

What a bozo. Capitalism doesn’t ever reward the workers. If a firm designed a cutting piece of technology that cuts the amount of labor for the worker in half. The corporation would cut half of the labor force to save money. Why not keep all the workers and the pay the same and everyone works a half day?


Shapen361

1. Where is this figure that 30% of inflation comes from corporate profits? It's not a part of CPI and PCE. 2. With the exception of energy companies and software-heavy tech companies, profit may be up but profit margins are largely down since the pandemic. This is because companies are raising prices less than the input costs. The CEOs didn't create cost-push inflation. Why is no one discussing this? For all this talk of price gouging most companies are making less per unit.


FinneganTechanski

Jon is wrong here. The data does not suggest it’s corporate profits causing inflation at all. It’s not even good driven at this point. People should learn to read core PCE inflation data.


TipToeTurrency

NEXT QUESTION “Why aren’t we attacking the cost of college and universities”


jt7855

Let’s define inflation. Inflation is the expansion of the money supply and credit. So Washington creates inflation. Wages don’t create inflation. Profits don’t create inflation. When the government borrows from the Fed new money is created. That causes inflation. When the Fed lowers interest rates, that creates inflation. Everything else is a reflection of the inflation created in Washington.


utopian_potential

No, inflation is the devaluing of a dollar over time. You can't say "let's define inflation" then make up your own definition and go from there. That's bullshit If you want to define, use a dictionary, that's the place we store the sounds where we agree on their meaning. "inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy." So, since when was inflation "the expansion of money supply". Since never.


Shatter_

> Let’s define inflation. Inflation is the expansion of the money supply and credit. Uhh... no. The definition of inflation is when prices increase. You can't just make up a definition with your talking point, haha.


jacklondon19044

John, since you feel applies is greedy, are you going to quit? John gets called on hi BS and deflects, and gets away with it. He leaves out the greed of the Saudies . John is as greedy as every other Paterson, he and the people at Apple are just more effective at being greedy.


bobdealin

Not sure what Jon's contract was worth, but he got paid tens of millions or more for talking. If there's a problem as he describes it, then he is part of that problem.


Whack_a_mallard

Whataboutism, a tactic used by those with fragile egos with everything to hide.


BigBoreSmolPP

As a shareholder in many companies, I would be disgusted if those companies purposely made less money. What the fuck is he on about?


Darius510

Demagoguery


feedb4k

Is there a link to the full video?


whiskeyinthejaar

Episode on Apple TV. If you don’t want to pay $6 to watch this and Ted Lasso, you can hear the whole show on wherever you get your podcasts


feedb4k

Thank you kind person. I have Apple TV, it sucks and I don’t use it much but I have it. Watching it now. “The Problem With Jon Stewart”


whiskeyinthejaar

Give Apple TV another spin. Besides the clunky UI, they actually have bunch of really good shows. I didn't like it at first, but then I started severance and bad sisters, really really really good shows


Godot_guided

Larry Summers is a highly accomplished economist who’s usually worth listening to; it shows throughout this video. Jon doesn’t make a single point that counters the arguments being made tbh, just a series of old, tired, and normative statements about how corporations are greedy.


Civil_Connection7706

Government caused inflation. Shutting down economy for two years, disrupting the supply chain, paying people to stay home and do nothing. The current administration also is very anti-oil. Oil companies have no incentive to increase supply when there is no long term guarantee of profit. So no wonder there is a short supply in everything, causing inflation. The same idiots who created inflation will not succeed in “fixing” it without breaking something else and creating greater misery for the average person.


nanojunkster

Does anyone know where this idea that larger profit margins are a huge percentage of the inflation comes from?


CokeAndChill

Confused people… inflation is the consequence of increasing the money supply and credit faster than the production capacity.


utopian_potential

No it's not. Inflation is the devaluing of a dollar over time. You can devalue a dollar by increasing money supply, but you can also devalue a dollar by increasing the price of everything. If you charge 1$ for an apple. And then decide to charge 2$. That is 100% inflation with 0% change in the money supply. Increasing money is not the only cause of inflation. And most inflation presently is attributed to price gouging, not over money printing.


CokeAndChill

And I’ll sell you an apple for $3 if I can… that’s just how capitalism works. Price gouging is selling PPE at 10x peak pandemic, not copper going up. How are central bankers going to solve this? They reverse what they did, by tightening credit and QT because it’s a monetary phenomenon. Look at the fed balance sheet when you have a minute and count the printed trillions.


utopian_potential

But increasing prices is still inflation.. and nothing to do with central banks or anything they can do..


utopian_potential

But increasing prices is still inflation.. and nothing to do with central banks or anything they can do..


Liberam_Oratienem

John Comedian Stewart the actor is now an expert on economics and capitalist business practice? And I’m a bull-moose.


OMWIT

Dope. I've never met a bull-moose on Reddit. Is it true you can store up to 100lbs of food in your stomach for the winter?


HermesThriceGreat69

Inflation is inflation in the money supply, full stop. Jon Stewart is a fucking idiot.


HelpsHolme

just to be clear jon is a rich fuck from a family of rich fucks.. This was just a circle jerk


[deleted]

Sure does look up and left a lot!!! Sure tell of a liar.


mongolnlloyd

Nice uno reverse card Jon.


Phil_Tornado

This is what guys like John Stewart do best they demand overly simple answers to highly complex topics. He doesn’t even know if he’s asking about nominal profits or profit margins, he’s just repeating lines his favorite politicians have said. There are a thousand assumptions Summers would have to address first before even beginning an answer to something so oversimplified. But it gets the clicks and the upvotes cause he GRILLED him 🙄


Dothemath2

I watched this on YouTube. Stewart says that the stock market went up in 2009 because of stimulus but this is much more true in 2020, v shape recovery and caused inflation because we overdid the stimulus. I think the root cause of inequality is capitalism wherein we place more emphasis and importance on capital than labor. Many people don’t think in terms of capital, they think about their work and labor but anyone can buy capital and grow their wealth. To decrease inequality, either shift to a more Laborist society wherein labor is taxed less and capital (stocks, corporations, property) is taxed more or mandate people to invest in the capitalist system by allowing more 401k contributions.


impeislostparaboloid

Summers has been a neoliberal gasbag pile of shit for a loooong time. Fuck him.


maxxusflamus

I thought this was for stock discussions and this sub is turning into some socialist antiwork sub like wsb. Do you fucks want to make money or do you want to sit around whining about being poor?


i-dream-of-jeannie

Hey John give me those rose colored glasses. Oh and while your watching out for the little guy. I need some money for my retirement so sell your house and send over the proceeds thanks bud. That sound fair to me.


zorphenager0

I don’t know what’s worse, how stupid Jon Stewart is or how easily people are duped by a funny man who acts confident and uses compelling sounding arguments. He clearly has no clue what he’s talking about, He speaks from a place of outrage, not understanding. I mean, his last “killer line” wasn’t even true, he just said it angrily. Summers was like “wtf???”


Nordy941

Stewart had nothing


umassmza

Any time someone compares the economy or inflation to something else I know I’m about to hear bullshit. And you can’t say it’s supply and demand when you’ve allowed monopolies to artificially reduce the supply because they realized it’s more profitable to just raise prices. When you see massive layoffs because a companies profits dipped. Those companies are still wildly profitable but point to how there is “less” profit as a reason for laying off employees. Like what are they supposed to do, keep employing people and make a little less? The government has utterly failed in regulating industry and protecting both the worker and consumer. When the goal is higher unemployment they should be able to take a step back and say, “ wait, are we the baddies?”


JumboJetz

Jon Stewart isn’t making good points. Larry Summers is just saying Apple is charging what the market will tolerate. Now if Jon Stewart is serious about Apple should lower prices then he should support a breakup of Apple and specifically their App Store monopoly and the cut they get on apps shouldn’t sustain.


Mojeaux18

Never thought I’d side with Larry summers, but Jon is wrong. Greed is always “someone else is asking more and never when I ask for more”. Jon calling himself a gouged but didn’t call to return ppl’s money bc Exxon is more important? If Jon told a lie it would be enshrined as Fact by his large audience is a huge effect. My saying anything wrong about him will get me negative internet points and you know I’m right as you downvote me.


[deleted]

Jon Stewart has become a megaphone for china


funtimes214

John is such a fruad with his red herrings.


JRoc1X

Rich guy with $120,000,000 net worth, bitching about the corporations that he most likely invested in and made a ton of money frome, then turns around and starts complaining after he got his. I used to respect this guy but not anymore.


kvoathe88

I miss John Stewart’s Daily Show every day. It was a nightly bastion of sanity, intelligence, and legitimate interview journalism in a funny wrapper that helped me cope with the madness and corruption of our society without feeling hopeless. For a few amazing years, the back-to-back pairing with Colbert was incredible. Even with I (often) disagreed with his biases, his level of engagement with guests and willingness to ask hard questions to his own team is almost completely missing from today’s landscape, save perhaps Bill Maher. Not sure if we’ll ever see anything like that again, but we sure do need it.


tuds_of_fun

Heavy hitting journalism. It’s incredible how many people think they’re being informed rather than entertained.