The curious piece of this is that every instance of deflation that I've actually experienced in my life has been a good thing. Working class Americans now have

The curious piece of this is that every instance of deflation that I've actually experienced in my life has been a good thing. Working class Americans now have flat screen TVs and smartphones because of massive deflation in the prices of consumer technology. Technological advancements have also been deflationary in lots of less-obvious ways like energy efficient appliances, zero-commission stock trading or medical imaging machinery. A million dollar super-computer of a couple decades ago now rivals the power of a smartphone. It's largely a regulatory and cultural failure that's prevented us from driving down the cost of housing through technology.