The Picard ManeuverMar 10

"Bar car" on the NYC subway, 1962

It was a temporary stunt as part of a city-wide cleanup. The goal was to give a “first class experience” to commuters.

Show threadusername_1Mar 10
It looks like something has broken in the USA in the '70s. It only went downward from there…
Show threadThe Picard Maneuver

Ever since I learned of this, I think of it frequently:

https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

WTF Happened In 1971?

https://inflationdata.com/articles/2022/08/10/u-s-cumulative-inflation-since-1913/ "I don't believe we shall ever have a good money again before we take the thing out of the hands of government, that is, we can't take it violently out of the hands of government, all we can do is by some sly roundabout way introduce something that they can't stop." - F.A. Hayek…

WTF Happened In 1971?
Mar 10 at 3:26pmWeb
Show threadFaygoRedPopMar 10
so wtf happened in 1971 then?
Show threaddrolexMar 10
Well, first of all, absolutely nobody was kung-fu fighting. It was virtually unheard of.
Show threadPhobosAnomalyMar 10
Who were going to be as fast as lightning then?
Show threadJoeBigelowMar 10
Chuck Yeager
Show threadFaygoRedPopMar 10
Well, that’s more than a little bit frightening.
Show threadtetris11Mar 11
Huh.
Show threadAkasazhMar 11
Let your fears be assuaged by the fact that their timing was masterful.
Show threadarctanthropeMar 10
end of the gold standard
Show threadYorickMar 10

My guess is the end of the gold standard as its being referenced quite a few times across the webpage and it’s at the inflexion point of lots of these graphs.

But I didn’t check if it was a major cause or just correlation.

Show threadcaptainlezbianMar 10

Yeah, what happened in 1971 is the end of the gold standard. But what happened in the late 60s, and early 70s was a major increase in the workforce as boomers began entering it, and increasingly women were working careers instead of staying home to raise the children. Meanwhile Japanese and European manufacturing were finally recovering from the war, so the American prosperity from being the only major manufacturing power aside from the much smaller countries in the Americas and Oceania was ending. Later in the 70s the MBAs would begin taking power economically, and the new deal reforms began being whittled down in the name of deregulation, especially in the 80s.

I’m old enough and have been on the internet long enough to be able to spot gold nuts…

Show threadMintyFreshMar 10

Ya, I’m always called a simpleton for saying ditching the gold standard was a mistake. But somehow a system where banker bros can just print money for each other is better?

Why should that dollar I have in my bank account be worth less year after year? Why should the 1% have access to a system of near limitless loans, allowing them to buy up and monopolize every aspect of life, from food, to housing, to healthcare?

Shits fucked if you ask me.