by Charles Hugh Smith
Of Two Minds
The harder the authorities and pundits push the “inflation is under control” narrative, the faster they erode public trust and confidence in the future value of labor and “money.”
YOLO spending–grabbing what you can right now because You Only Live Once–is now embedded in the zeitgeist. The original narrative–that the pandemic shutdown awakened a broad cultural awareness of the fragility of life and security, and so it’s wiser to buy experiences now rather than later–may be expanding into the complex realm of inflation and inflation expectations.
Covid changed how we spend: More YOLO splurging but less saving
The possibility that the human herd senses trend changes before statistics and the economic punditry comes under the capacious category of the wisdom of crowds: in this line of thinking, YOLO spending may be a reflection not just of a pandemic-instigated change of priorities, but of a growing sense that inflation is now embedded, and so it’s better to spend earnings now before they lose value.