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I never understood the argument that people would delay their purchases. Most purchases can't wait, like you don't wait with your groceries when your fridge is
by wewxjfq 4y ago
I never understood the argument that people would delay their purchases. Most purchases can't wait, like you don't wait with your groceries when your fridge is empty. And even if the purchases can wait, would you wait 5 years for a 10% discount on a sweater? Lastly, even without deflation, many things do get cheaper over time and it doesn't stop anyone from buying them right away.
- sokoloff 4y agoI'm waiting on buying a used car right now. Our older daily driver is a 2005 with ~230K miles on it and starting to show significant rust from New England's salted roads. In normal times, I'd have replaced that car last year. In current times, with the used car market so screwed up, I'm waiting to delay this ~$10K purchase specifically because I expect deflation in the used car market. I don't think that my situation is particularly uncommon.
- kleer001 4y agoSo then the essential question is what is the ratio of delayable vs non-delayable purchases.
- sokoloff 4y agoI'd guess that a pretty significant portion (at least 25%?) of durable goods purchases are delayable (which is probably what drives a lot of the volatility in durable goods purchasing). If my washing machine breaks, I don't have to buy another one immediately. I could repair it; I could use a laundromat; I could use a neighbor's; I could wash by hand.
- fomine3 4y agoAs a younger Japanese (virtually never had experienced inflation but always deflation, until 2022), I finally understand how inflation works for buying intention. I bought items what I wanted to buy, before inflation and weak Yen rate applied.