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Consumer prices aren't really going down, at least on things people care about (food, housing, or education). At least in the U.S., it seems like the consumer

Consumer prices aren't really going down, at least on things people care about (food, housing, or education). At least in the U.S., it seems like the consumer classes are pretty tapped out in terms of consumption, and wages are stagnant so new consumption growth is elusive. With the income inequality that the U.S. is current experience, there just aren't enough consumers with resources that can keep spending indefinitely.

kbenson 7y ago
> and wages are stagnant Wages aren't stagnant right now, they're almost on target (for current growth, at least. They are still behind overall from being below target for a few years).[1] That's a relatively new thing though, and who knows how long it will last... 1: https://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/ https://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/
malandrew 7y ago
I would imagine that consumer prices going down for everything but local, supply constrained goods like housing, education and healthcare, is leaving people with more disposable income to spend on local, supply constrained goods, thereby making them more expensive.
- notfromhere 7y ago
  From a micro perspective, the cost of consumer goods seems to be steady but the cost of housing, education, and healthcare is increasing faster than inflation.
thunderbird120 7y ago
Real median personal income increased 14% between its low point after the recession in 2012 and 2018[1]. There are plenty of resources for consumer spending, at least in the U.S. [1]https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N
imtringued 7y ago
People are cutting out consumer spending because they have to spend an increasingly higher percentage of their income on housing and education. The fatal flaw isn't that inflation doesn't happen, it's the fallacy that inflation in one sector of the economy will automatically propagate to all other sectors.

kbenson 7y ago

> and wages are stagnant Wages aren't stagnant right now, they're almost on target (for current growth, at least. They are still behind overall from being below target for a few years).[1] That's a relatively new thing though, and who knows how long it will last... 1: https://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/ https://www.epi.org/nominal-wage-tracker/

malandrew 7y ago

I would imagine that consumer prices going down for everything but local, supply constrained goods like housing, education and healthcare, is leaving people with more disposable income to spend on local, supply constrained goods, thereby making them more expensive.

notfromhere 7y ago
From a micro perspective, the cost of consumer goods seems to be steady but the cost of housing, education, and healthcare is increasing faster than inflation.

thunderbird120 7y ago

Real median personal income increased 14% between its low point after the recession in 2012 and 2018[1]. There are plenty of resources for consumer spending, at least in the U.S. [1]https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEPAINUSA672N

imtringued 7y ago

People are cutting out consumer spending because they have to spend an increasingly higher percentage of their income on housing and education. The fatal flaw isn't that inflation doesn't happen, it's the fallacy that inflation in one sector of the economy will automatically propagate to all other sectors.