I'm not sure why you're downvoted, but I think that this nails the biggest reason for runaway inflation in housing prices. When money supply is cheap, asset prices will be bid up. The only people who can afford the assets and profit from further increases in their prices are those with the means... in other words, the rich get richer while others are left behind.
It's downvoted because it puts the cart before the horse.
Monetary policy intervention interferes with the market by forcing interbank interest rates to be higher than they would be in a free market. As any banker will tell you the price of interbank reserves in a free market is zero - as there are more than are required to clear the banking system. In a free market asset prices are naturally determined by the last creditworthy person prepared to pay the current price of money who visits a bank. Which will be higher than zero because ordinary people have no access to the interbank, and therefore the bank can put their risk and cost mark up on the price of money.
You can hardly argue against rent controls but for interest rate controls. Why favour bankers over property occupiers?
Oh, a simple misunderstanding! I was arguing against the central bank controls on interest rates that have so distorted to the property market. Glad we cleared that up!
In fact, my post said nothing about interest rates currently being set on a free-market basis, because the whole point was that central bank interventions are distorting and setting those rates in a way that generates huge inflation in the property markets that is then treated as insignificant for purposes of calculating inflation statistics. Property inflation --> Rent inflation. Concentration of wealth + Rent inflation --> Rent control | Homelessness.
I agree. While there are many articles that are questionably sourced and there are many articles with which I profoundly disagree (mostly advocating Austrian style economics and unfettered capitalism), it also provides a forum for viewpoints that are actually quite progressive and liberal (particularly when it comes to civil liberties). I'd rather be the one separating the wheat from the chaff for myself than Facebook or its ilk filtering it for me.
Note that the ZH comments section, however, is a cesspit filled with all sort of -ists.
Blocking content like zh on the socials is really the same as Tim Allen/Roseanne/James Gunn being fired for things they've said. The company cares sooo much about what their audiences think that they won't let said audiences decide for themselves what to think. It's not supply produced to meet an existing demand but versa vice. Legally these companies may have the right to censor like so, but ethically they do not, and they belittle their customers in the doing.
I had an ultra 10 in my bedroom closet and it was impossible to sleep with that thing on. But I don't think it was much worse than HP 9000s or IIRC DEC alphas. Feeling nostalgic now.
Tarkovsky's works are generally demanding works of art. They are definitely slow paced and almost boring, but I've always found myself in a much more thoughtful frame of mind after watching his films.
As for Solaris, it is worth reading the book as well as watching both versions of the film -- they ask and explore different questions. The book is about the nature of intelligence and life whereas the films are more about the human part of the equation -- what does it mean to be a human as opposed to be a "replicant"? Tarkovsky is slower paced, but IMHO encourages deep reflection. Soderbergh's version is definitely more watchable and is actually quite thoughtful by Hollywood standards.
My favorite olive oil anecdote. Last year, I was traveling from Venice to Paris on an overnight train and I'd brought along a bottle of wine to share with my cabin-mates. One of them reciprocated by bringing out a can of olive oil that had "just been extracted last week" from his farm in Tuscany. We sampled that oil with a piece of bread torn from his sandwich -- our olive oil purveyor was probably not expecting to conduct a tasting in an overnight train. Would it be politically incorrect to exclaim: mamma mia? :-)
All I can say is that you are right -- it is impossible to taste real olive oil and not know the difference between it and the supermarket stuff.
I think the key is seasonality, though I'm sure that regulations and customer willingness to pay for quality do play a role. For instance, I find that fruits and vegetables taste better in India too and the typical Indian customer is very price sensitive and generally unwilling to pay a premium for quality. But availability is usually seasonal.
https://www.yugabyte.com/