Article Image

IPFS News Link • Inflation

Where's The Inflation? It's In Stocks, Real Estate, And Higher Ed

• https://www.zerohedge.com, by Ryan McMaken

But then, in the very same conversation, he'd remark with dismay on how much housing-price increases had outpaced household income in the region.

He didn't need an answer from me. He'd found some of "that inflation" all on his own.

Price Changes Are Not Homogeneous

These exchanges illustrated some of the blind spots we repeatedly find among economists and pundits who insist there is no inflation, or that there's even deflation. (In this article, I'm talking only about price inflation, and not money-supply inflation.) But whether or not one is experiencing an inflationary economy can vary widely on socio-economic status, location, life stage, and age.  For those who need higher education services, housing, health care, and savings for retirement, the current inflationary economy could be problematic indeed.

This isn't to say that price inflation is increasing everywhere. Oil prices are down by nearly half since 2014, for instance, which means lower transportation costs for most of us.  Apparel prices have been declining for decades.

Nevertheless, the official measure of inflation — the CPI — does show an increase over the past decade. Over the ten years from 2009 to 2018, the CPI value rose 15 percent. It has risen fifty percent in the twenty years since 1999.


midfest.info