tegs07

I would guess that they do it by a combination of rock bottom Chinese labour prices and the distribution capacity and relative low cost web based sales of Thoman’s online platforms. The couple I have tried have been very good for the price but a little on the heavy side.

I’m pretty sure Reverend instruments are made in South Korea where labour is cheaper ( and if squid game or parasite are indicative inequality fairly rife). It’s not looking great for US or European manufacturing if inflation continues on its current trajectory.

rosetta stoned - tool

free nelson mandela - special a.k.a

nah it was right the first time. never trusted that roger daltry fella.

Well the USA in particular got away with it for years due to the petrodollar (world reserve currency). They could buy commodities in $, get the host countries to re-invest the profits in US treasuries then print and debase the currency at will as it wasn’t backed by anything substantial (gold). These IOUs on maturity were later worth less. This ruse is all but over with the BRICs moving away from the $. This won’t help inflation or price increases one bit. Banks haven’t needed to pay interest. Deposits are not required in the same way when central banks are offering QE liquidity at rock bottom rates. As for manufacturing well that takes energy and the gas and oil is largely imported and though the prices have stabilised they are still historically high. This is not good for inflation. I think people sense that they are being scammed but don’t quite understand by who.

A picture tells a thousand words and all that. I’m really not sure what is so controversial about the fact that there has been a massive rise in public and private borrowing over the last two decades and interest rates have been far below their historical average. It seems fairly basic economics to me that: a) a huge increase in borrowed money would mean prices would increase. b) At some stage interest rates would rise and the debt would need to be paid back at a higher cost than it was borrowed for. c) this would cause big problems. d) anything that could be done to slow down the rate of interest rate rises should have been done well in advance. Slamming the brakes on was never going to be smooth.

👆😂

So are you saying that prior to central banks massive liquidity injection to rescue the financial system in 2008, followed by massive increase in commercial banks lending as the housing market started its next bubble phase in roughly 2011 onwards there was a corresponding rise in the price of things but interest rates were kept at near zero? I’ve been preaching that message for a while. This is basic economics. Massively increase the money supply and keep rates at near zero for a couple of decades and there will be huge consequences. We are now experiencing them. Edit. As this topic is predominantly about USA products I have replaced the graph with a US one. Same pattern. If anyone is interested though check out positivemoney.org they are some of the good guys.

shake, rattle and roll - snooks eaglin

I have a Sandberg and it’s by far the best build quality on a bass I have ever had. The finish is amazing…. but I just don’t love it. Possibly because I don’t seem to gel with active basses. For whatever inexplicable reason I have a Fender Nate P and it just works for me. Expensive, mass produced worth the cash? For me yep. For hours of enjoyment provided it is unbelievably cheap.

The problem economists have is that human behaviour is hardly rational or predictable so making a science of it is bound to fail. I’m not a great fan of central banks. I think they have meddled and messed up in a very big way and we are all now paying the price for their mistakes and shortcomings. Anyway back to price rises of basses or cars or whatever. Everyone finds the economy and geopolitics dull even though they are the invisible hand behind most of these issues.

Which was probably a months salary so a reversal to the norm?

Central banks (attempt) to control inflation rather than economists. I’m questioning the purposes of numerous threads about rising prices. Price rises don’t happen overnight or by accident. A massive increase in the supply of money (QE then furlough) at the same time as rising costs of energy and raw materials (war), increased consumption, lack of supply ( both of which are Covid related) and rising labour costs (inflation/cost of living crisis) all play a part. I can’t see this situation resolving quickly and countries like the USA which produce the expensive Gibsons, Fenders, G&Ls and MusicMan basses are hit by all of the problems above. I guess energy costs, raw materials and transportation costs are rising so it’s only the labour costs (including welfare of employees) that can really be contained which gives a considerable advantage to Far East producers of instruments. So yep I expect that considering all the circumstances it’s not that shocking that a US mass produced instruments are costing more than a few years back when central banks were pumping liquidity into the market to rescue investment banks, commercial banks were flooding the economy with money for cheap mortgages and loans, the cost of borrowing was at historic lows and energy (read fossil fuels) were being burned cheaply with little regard to their cost either in terms of national security or environmental impact.

Indeed. A McEconomy.

OK I will phrase it another way. If the economy was based upon a barter system and a chicken could be swapped for a nugget of gold. Even though the nugget of gold has no practical use it’s pretty rare so has value and is sought after. This works pretty well until the chicken farmer discovers that a gold mine has opened up and is distributing gold nuggets around the town and everyone has them. Does he still want to swap his chicken for a nugget, or does he ask for a bit extra? (Obviously extremely simplistic analogy we could add in the extraction costs of the gold , the fuel required to mine and transport it, the russian dictator, the debt cost required to borrow the gold from the mine to start with and the chicken flu pandemic that limited the supply of chickens and the rising scarcity of chicken feed due to the russian dictator as well as the increasing labour costs for the farmer).

Are the prices of instruments going up or is the purchasing power of currency going down?

november rain - GnR

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three minute hero - the selector

brothers on the slide - Cymande

madness - madness

always the sun - stranglers

back to the old house - the smiths

red right hand - nick cave