My point being, if everything is a power game then what makes it special to talk about economics as a power game?

There are certainly some things that don't easily reduce to money, and mostly they have to do with either artificial abundance causing wierd effects (as in regulated commodity markets) or places where our moral systems dictate that we be more charitable then our systems allow (as health cake
care)

Depreciation is measured in...?

The whole point of money is that it's meant to be a universal solvent: everything ends up reducing to it when you dunk it in a market bath.

Because money isn't just about power, it's also one part of the spectrum of collective decision making, along with culture and law. We collectively decide on how we live based on what we're willing to spend money on. Calling it a "power game" is like calling literature a power game.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 8. Figuring out the ways in which your personal circumstances have limited you doesn't let you off the hook for trying to do better. Learning that you're autistic doesn't excuse you from civil behavior, learning that you've got ADHD doesn't excuse you from getting shit done.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 7. Conflict isn't bad. Losing is bad. Good systems have room for conflict; great systems rely on it. If we don't make explicit space for disagreement, competition, and contention, then every time we come to a crossroads we end up falling apart in order to deal with it.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 6. Nuance doesn't have to be the enemy of coherence. Articulating a vision that includes everyone is kind of our thing, but we need a vision that includes everyone, not a thousand visions that each exclude all the other ones.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 5. Being reflexively opposed to new shit makes you a reactionary. The Internet is here to stay. We have to be willing to shape it to be what we want it to be, hiding in your cottagecore garden doesn't put us in a place to define the future we want. Build something new.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 4. Being inclusive doesn't mean you can't hold boundaries. Letting anyone in means that the lowest, loudest common denominator controls the message. We have to be willing to say "You're not one of us" and actually do something about it. Rooms are made of walls.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 3. Just because someone lost a fight doesn't make them the good guy. Just because you're standing up for someone who's getting their ass kicked doesn't mean you're on their side. Thinking what Israel is doing in Gaza is deplorable doesn't mean you have to wave a HAMAS flag.

[Unpopular Opinion Day] 2. Clinging to Marx and the Labor Theory of Value is just as embarrassing as the Right refusing to wear masks & saying that vaccines cause autism. If science is real, then Economics is real. Read some fucking Keynes. Or really any economic theory from the last hundred years.

"fine" is super relative. If you've got a mortgage and student loans, it's easy to see inflation as a double edged sword: sure, stuff costs more, but also your debt is worth less. Especially true if you get a COLA of some sort.

If you're living hand to mouth, 8% inflation can feel catastrophic.