Recently Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that inflation in the U.S. is low and will probably stay that way for the next 5 to 10 years. When my husband read that he said either Bernanke is telling us a story or else he has lost touch with reality. What do you think? Do you agree with Bernanke or does inflation seem higher than he says?
Do you think Bernanke deserves the Pinocchio nose? If not, can you think of anyone who does?
If you live in a country other than the U.S. do you have much inflation? Does it affect you much?
When I was a child my father said that inflation would climb in the future. He thought it a bad thing.
That was when a loaf of bread was less than a dime, & 3 scoops of ice cream, a nickel.
Ben Bernanke says inflation will be low. What’s his definition of low?
I’d like the “olden days” (as my daughter refers to my youth) back again.
bikehikebabe,
He said recently inflation has been only 1.25%, including food and energy prices. Excluding them, the “core” inflation, was only 0.5%. He thinks long-term inflation should be about 2.75%. If true that’s better than some of the inflation we had in the past.
I don’t think I’d like to go back to the olden days. I love my computers and the internet.
I live in Australia where the economy is doing comparatively well (though as the President of I think Brazil pointed out this doesn’t mean the people are). This is due to the good luck of Australia having lots of iron ore to sell and China paying for it at the moment.
As the economists say – you can drown in a river with an average depth of six inches. In Australia the prices of consumer durables (all those ipods and whatnot) are dropping and the prices of those luxuries like food and shelter are rising. The average inflation rate takes account of all these things. Put another way – inflation is highest for the poor. You may not be able to afford adequate housing but there is a great program on that cheap wide-screen TV.
There have been studies on the predictions of economists: they are no better than random. I have a cure for listening to this rubbish, to ask ourselves: Where were these predictions when the great depression to hit the Western world for nearly a century? A shorter version: Why aren’t people laughing?
I don’t want to go back to the olden days as me, now with no computer/ Internet. I’d go back as I was then. It was a simpler happy life. Mainly I’d be YOUNG.
Evan,
Here they say the cost of living didn’t go up last year for the very reasons you mention. Food and energy (and medical costs?) don’t count. I think a lot of people knew the dangers of sub-prime mortgages but the banks and politicians didn’t care. It wasn’t in their interests. And Fortune magazine and others warned about derivatives years ago. It made my husband and me nervous at the time but there was nothing we could do. It sounds as if Australia is in better shape financially than the U.S. is. Let’s hope we don’t go the way of Greece!
bikehikebabe,
How old would you like to be if you could choose? I wouldn’t want to be younger if it meant I had to give up some of the things I’ve learned, but it sure would be nice to have a magic wand to fix a few things in my body. 🙂
we have a saying about the ‘lies ooops ideas’ that politicans have when they want to stretch or avoid the true “PORKIES”
here is a page about current inflation in NZ http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/ but don’t ask me anything about monetary things right now…having a enuff trouble staying on the ‘life path’ just now!
.-= Cathy in NZ´s last blog ..once you get to the bottom of it you… =-.
Cathy,
Thanks for the link. One thing we’ve been noticing is that even when the manufacturer’s don’t change the price, they shrink the size of the product. And sometimes they cheapen the product.
In India, inflation is running at around 9% and yes, it is affecting all of us. The counterpart to your Fed, our Reserve Bank of India has just taken some tough measures, though in my opinion, not tough enough. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2010/04/21/stories/2010042154480100.htm
While we have this on the one hand, we also have very rapid growth in our GDP. Striking a balance between growth and inflation is the trick and I think so far what we have done has come close to that but again not to my satisfaction. I however realize that there can be many opinions on this and one can only be wise by hindsight!
That is a great alteration to Mr. Bernanke’s features! I am however not qualified to comment on whether it is long enough or not!
.-= Rummuser´s last blog ..If I could be anything, I would be… =-.
Cathy, you have given a live link in your comments here. How did you do it? I wish that I could do the same with the links that I give in my comments on and off. For instance, in my comments above, I have given a link to an article in one of our newspapers, but I could not give a live one and Jean, if she wants to, has to copy paste it on her browser.
.-= Rummuser´s last blog ..If I could be anything, I would be… =-.
Rummuser,
I wrote this post because my husband and I joke a lot about people’s noses growing when we think they’re telling us a story. I knew the picture would make him laugh and I was curious to see how to do it.
I fixed your link. You didn’t leave a space after the previous sentence so I put it in for you.
Thank you Jean.
.-= Rummuser´s last blog ..Gutteria. =-.