Radio Paradise

Recently Active Forum Topics:

Page: 1, 2, 3 ... 209, 210, 211 Next

Bill_J

Bill_J Avatar

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 5:25pm
kurtster wrote: Shrinkflation has finally gone too far. Of all things, Q-Tips brand cotton swabs has greatly reduced the amount of cotton on the tips making them more of a dangerous pointy object than useful. Another venerable trusted old brand, trashed. Shoulda just left it it alone and raised the price. Maybe it's just that your ears are getting bigger.

kurtster

kurtster Avatar

Location: where fear is not a virtue
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 4:53pm
Shrinkflation has finally gone too far. Of all things, Q-Tips brand cotton swabs has greatly reduced the amount of cotton on the tips making them more of a dangerous pointy object than useful. Another venerable trusted old brand, trashed. Shoulda just left it it alone and raised the price.

R_P

Gender:

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 11:00am
rgio wrote: I assume we're talking about capitalism. There is a definition beyond "the private ownership of the means of production and their profits"? Not really, but there is the tendency to call mixed systems capitalism as well. Then the context (and article) is about (hallowed) pathological self-interest.

rgio

Location: West Jersey
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 9:22am
miamizsun wrote: a lot depends on how someone defines it as well I assume we're talking about capitalism. There is a definition beyond "the private ownership of the means of production and their profits"?

Lazy8

Location: The Gallatin Valley of Montana
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 8:55am

R_P wrote:

Noted anti-capitalist agitator Adam Smith had it right: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices."

(1/85)

Pity you stopped reading there. But, you know...context is hard.

He goes on to say:

"It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages. Nobody but a beggar chuses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow-citizens."

miamizsun

miamizsun Avatar

Location: (3283.1 Miles SE of RP)
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 8, 2024 - 8:16am
black321 wrote: It's the worst economic system there is...except for all the others humans have conjured a lot depends on how someone defines it as well

black321

black321 Avatar

Location: An earth without maps
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 6, 2024 - 11:31am
thisbody wrote: It's the worst economic system there is...except for all the others humans have conjured

thisbody

thisbody Avatar

Location: empty pages
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 6, 2024 - 10:59am

R_P

Gender:

Posted: Jun 5, 2024 - 5:48pm
Noted anti-capitalist agitator Adam Smith had it right: "People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices." (1/85)

Steely_D

Steely_D Avatar

Location: Biscayne Bay
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 5, 2024 - 12:29am

black321 wrote:

.As for insurance inflation, how much cheaper would it be if geico, state farm etc...weren't running tv ads every 15 minutes?

Iâve had USAA for decades (Dad was Chair Force) and a few years ago when they started running commercials I began to think it was time to switch. The product is so prevalent with the military, why would they need to advertise so globally to somehow capture the folks who are qualified to join - but havenât heard of it? Thatâs gotta be a very small number. So it seems like a horrible business decision that can do nothing but cause a rate rise.

rgio

Location: West Jersey
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 1:15pm
Isabeau wrote: No climate change here man... s/ We all hear facts and stats and data in support of things getting really hot really fast... but the fact that water temps in Florida reached 100 degrees last summer still makes me shake my head. It's not "shoreline" water (a bay)...but still. I've been in hot tubs at 103... 105... and had to get out. 100-degree ocean/bay/sea/lake water?

Isabeau

Isabeau Avatar

Location: sou' tex
Gender: Female

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 12:19pm

rgio wrote:

This gets incredibly complicated... because storm counts, deaths, damage costs, etc. (the quantitative measures) can't embed the severity. There are only "so many days" in a weather pattern per season, so while the number of hurricanes in Florida might not rise, the severity of them can significantly change financial impact/exposure.

On top of all of that... insurance company employees enjoy unreasonably high compensation levels. As I've heard Scott Galloway say a few times ... "if you meet someone average who seems to make a lot of money, they likely work in insurance"

'just'
Heat related Deaths last Summer:
874 AZ
450 TX
226 NV
84 FL
83 LA

Many believe these numbers are lower than the reality.

No climate change here man... s/

rgio

Location: West Jersey
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 10:51am

black321 wrote:

you're talking about diversification...putting everyone in the pool to share the risk. this lowers cost by reducing variability...and one of the reasons why we need some type of universal health care.
the cost of the risk is calculated using the probability of the event and the cost of the event.
we know the cost of the even has increased, at least your 20% #, but I havent seen real data that shows how the probability of the event has changed.
and i was being facetious (kind of) about the advertising.

black321

black321 Avatar

Location: An earth without maps
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 10:08am

rgio wrote:

Insurance, for some asset classes, is very competitive. It is... because there is so much money made. How do you think Warren got soooooo rich?

The deflection to inflation is short-sighted and wrong. Sure the cost of shingles and labor are a big part of the pricing, but when you need twice as many roofs repaired every month, the supply and demand for materials and people to use them will remain high.

Insurance is based on 100% of the people supporting the financial needs of 1%. If the need doubles to 2%... without any inflation ... it costs twice as much. That's MUCH more expensive than a 20% increase in the price of lumber.

rgio

Location: West Jersey
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 10:03am

black321 wrote:

As for insurance inflation, how much cheaper would it be if geico, state farm etc...weren't running tv ads every 15 minutes?

black321

black321 Avatar

Location: An earth without maps
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 4, 2024 - 9:19am

kurtster wrote:

It is not climate change that is driving up the cost of home owners insurance. Primarily it is from the rapidly rising cost of building materials and labor as well as replacement costs for personal items.

The rise in cost of building materials is primarily driven by inflation and supply or lack thereof. Construction labor is in extremely short supply driving those costs ever higher.

Anyone bought any drywall or plywood lately ? If so, you know of what I speak.

Well yes, as RP commented, its a contributor.
Material costs have actually somewhat normalized, but labor rates are through the roof. The small business cos are really driving ridiculous inflation for home improvement.
For a 12x 14' deck, i received quotes from $18-$25,000. I calculated material costs from Home Depot at up to $4,000.
To fix some concrete shingle tiles and add a few feet of flashing around gutters, no material costs, quotes up to $7,000. At most this was a 20 hour job for one person.

As for insurance inflation, how much cheaper would it be if geico, state farm etc...weren't running tv ads every 15 minutes?

R_P

Gender:

Posted: Jun 3, 2024 - 5:19pm

kurtster wrote:

A false dilemma (with the usual side dish of denial). It's not one or the other, it's both, and more. Location (such as Florida) is a factor.

Insurance rates have been climbing for a number of reasons: Storms have become more frequent and severe, inflation and labor shortages have driven up the cost of repairs and home values have increased, requiring larger policies. The biggest jumps occurred in Texas, Arizona and Utah, which were among 25 states in total that posted double-digit surges last year. In some places, including Florida, rates are up more than 40 percent over the past five years.

kurtster

kurtster Avatar

Location: where fear is not a virtue
Gender: Male

Posted: Jun 3, 2024 - 5:10pm

R_P

Gender:

Posted: Jun 3, 2024 - 4:31pm
The Age of Recoupment How power, technology, and opportunity have come together to gouge consumers

ColdMiser

ColdMiser Avatar

Location: On the Trail
Gender: Male

Posted: May 30, 2024 - 7:52am

black321 wrote:

if you donât believe in climate changec just talk to an insurance agent or claim adjuster.

So turning to the politics of climate change. It's well known that Republicans either flat out deny it or don't feel they need to do anything about it. Democrats on the other hand acknowledge the problem and for the most part want to pursue the fight to combat it. It's not a secret that insurance companies are running for the hills as evidence in the post below. So why aren't Democrats up on a stump pinning the insurance issue on Republicans? Hey local Joe, your insurance company just dropped you because there was a flood 10 miles from your home. Well you can blame your fellow Republican representative who is wasting your time and money fighting against gay people instead of taking the lead on climate change and the resulting problems it's causing that hits you, Joe, right in the wallet. Where are the ads? The social media memes etc.

Page: 1, 2, 3 ... 209, 210, 211 Next