I want to live in your world where prices have fallen 20 to 30%.
Social security recipients must really be living high on the hog!
I have seen increases of at least 20% on my utility bills (per unit) since 2007, I have seen my true cost of using my health insurance increase by 2 to 400%. Yes, when your copay was 5. and goes to 20 that is 400%. Or your copay for a hospital stay goes from 200 to 1000, that is 500%. My rent has been 2100 a month for 2 years, that ain’t down.
Yes, I keep hearing about “falling rents” but they are statistically minuscule, especially when I look around here in San Diego and realize the cost of moving would eat up 7 years worth of rent savings.
Now yes, I have seen 20 to 50% reductions in consumer items, consumer items that don’t last like they use to but most of my money goes towards those items that have increased more.
I am not saying rampant inflation is the immediate concern. I am saying the fed has got people talking so much about “deflation”, they have people believeing a 30 year bond that pays just over 3% is a fair price because they believe long term deflation is an actual concern. In other words, the “fear of delfation” is a big fat joke as deflation would be the best thing that happened to Americans who are savers.
Those who set themselves up, investment wise, for deflation have done well from 2007 to 2009 and poorly since march of 2009. It is going forward that counts and I think that going forward you need to have your head examined if you were to buy a 30year bond that pays 3%.
Inflation has been the rule for this government since 1902 and it will remain the rule. THe deflation of the early 1930s and the short bout of deflation we HAD recently, were flukes.