I think regardless of quoted CPI numbers, most people agree that prices have doubled in the last ten years (gasoline, electricity, rents/houses, healthcare, education). That’s a 7.2% annual increase during a time of supposedly low inflation. Sure, some items have gone down, e.g. produced in China, but their quality, too. Computers have gone down a lot, but I am not using it for much more than I already did in 1996 when I got internet through Time Warner Cable. Rather I am upset, that I need a new computer every two years, because the software cloggs up everything, and it wastes more of my time.
So, going forward it might be more than a 7.2% per year increase. In another ten years, everyone would have to use his net salary to cover the rent, if incomes continue to lag. Denial or not, it can’t continue that long before nobody won’t be buying anything anymore. (The cornerstone of the US economy)
