clifp
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2006
- Messages
- 7,733
"a.) does anyone feel inflation is somehow less now than in 2004/5/6?"
I do. Rents in 2004-2006 were increasing rapidly here (I bought a house during this period so rents don't directly effect me) and now rents are flat to down. Housing is huge expense for many people. On personal level a couple of expense for me have dropped significantly my cell phone cost and interisland travel has dropped from $200 to $50. Now is the applicable to US as whole? of course not.
I honestly don't know if the CPI is really 2.3% 1.3% or 3.3%. I do believe that the reliability and quality of many expensive products cars, appliances, TVs etc has continued to increase. AFAIK there is no good way of accounting for these improvements. I am quite sure that my 2003 Accura will likely last for many years and I'll be ready to buy a new car well before it stops running. If I buy a new car sometime around 2011-13 Is this a REAL and Unavoidable expense? not sure.. I don't believe the CPI accurately reflect the longer potential life of my car.
Finally, I think one of the reasons that CPI is probably overstated... is because the information revolution has made it so easy for people to shop for the best deals.
Looking for the best travel deals, Orbitz, sidestep, Travelocity... Used goods Ebay, Craigslist. Want tips on cutting your laundry and household cleaning bills, why right here on Early Retirement Forum a whole thread on them, same place information on best CDs and cheapest brokerages.
You don't even have to own a computer to benefit from the information revolution, for poor and middle class you go to your local Walmart and buy most things at prices that were probably lower than your local drug, department or grocery store 5 years ago. For us affluent consumers Costco provides the same function.
I do. Rents in 2004-2006 were increasing rapidly here (I bought a house during this period so rents don't directly effect me) and now rents are flat to down. Housing is huge expense for many people. On personal level a couple of expense for me have dropped significantly my cell phone cost and interisland travel has dropped from $200 to $50. Now is the applicable to US as whole? of course not.
I honestly don't know if the CPI is really 2.3% 1.3% or 3.3%. I do believe that the reliability and quality of many expensive products cars, appliances, TVs etc has continued to increase. AFAIK there is no good way of accounting for these improvements. I am quite sure that my 2003 Accura will likely last for many years and I'll be ready to buy a new car well before it stops running. If I buy a new car sometime around 2011-13 Is this a REAL and Unavoidable expense? not sure.. I don't believe the CPI accurately reflect the longer potential life of my car.
Finally, I think one of the reasons that CPI is probably overstated... is because the information revolution has made it so easy for people to shop for the best deals.
Looking for the best travel deals, Orbitz, sidestep, Travelocity... Used goods Ebay, Craigslist. Want tips on cutting your laundry and household cleaning bills, why right here on Early Retirement Forum a whole thread on them, same place information on best CDs and cheapest brokerages.
You don't even have to own a computer to benefit from the information revolution, for poor and middle class you go to your local Walmart and buy most things at prices that were probably lower than your local drug, department or grocery store 5 years ago. For us affluent consumers Costco provides the same function.