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21 sats \ 2 replies \ @m0wer 2 Jul \ on: Türks, Indians and Chinese hold 100k tonnes of Gold under-the-pillow!! econ
I've lived in Turkey and the situation there really sucks.
Gold is used as a gift for newborns or weddings mostly. People don't have much savings apart from that and everyone is heavily int debt.
I was shocked when I first went to IKEA there and saw that they offered 0% interest installments in 3-6 months for purchases over the equivalent of 30 USD. The I started learning that when a currency loses 50% of its value every year, you are incentivized to be in debt.
So most people in Turkey have a negative net worth and no saving power.
What hurts them the most is that their salaries are denominated in Liras. Another shocking things was seeing the long lines in gas stations on Sunday nights because the prices would be updated on Mondays. And old mothers hoarding bricks of milk in the supermarket on paydays. Crazy, and very sad.
Everyone knew about inflation, about the current forex rates, about “crypto”, ... And they were still doomed. Everyone was checking the stocks/forex/gold/Bitcoin price on the public bus, on the news, or even taxi drivers putting stop loses while driving.
So no, it's not that they don't care about inflation or that they are living the dream by just having a few grams of gold at home.
So no, it's not that they don't care about inflation or that they are living the dream by just having a few grams of gold at home.
I agree to most of what you said. By not not giving a fu*k about inflation I meant that they have come above it somehow. You see that have been facing it for a long long time but they are still living under it and not much revolt is forming. That maybe because people there have learnt how to hedge against their currency.
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People are aware of inflation but they don't really understand it. They don't revolt because they aren't sure who to revolt against.
For example, it's common for people to complain to shop/restaurant owners about price hikes. It's common to think that prices go up because this mysterious phenomena of inflation and blame it on the greed of shop owners and powerful people.
I remember talking to a taxi driver that was super proud of Turkey and their “president”. He was saying that the country was great and more powerful than ever, I asked him how much did he work per week. He was working 11 hours on average, 7 days a week. And then he started complaining about the economy. The cognitive dissonance was obvious at that point. So I innocently asked that how could it be that he had to work so much yet be miserable with such a great leader and country. He then complained about the enemies of his nation, and about how everything was USA's fault. And started asking if I was a foreign spy or something...
Most people have no clue about what causes inflation, no matter how used to it they might be.
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