In 1975, there was this cute little two-bedroom house for sale
on Grant Street in Berkeley. I loved that house! I
wanted to buy that house! But I dithered around and missed
my chance because I couldn't come up with a down payment for its
outrageously expensive asking price -- $25,000.
I'd be extremely lucky today, even in the middle of the
current housing slump, to be able to purchase that same house
for less than $600,000.
I hate math but here goes. $25,000 goes into $600,000 how
many times? 24 times? That's a heck of a lot of inflation!
Remember back in the late 1970s when we had all those big long
lines at the gas pumps? When gas went from 60 cents
a gallon to $1.10 a gallon and we thought that was outrageous?
"President Carter has caused runaway inflation," we
were told. So we had an election and got stuck with Ronnie
Reagan instead - and suddenly "inflation" disappeared,
never to return.
Remember back in 1968? By living at home and working
during the summer, I was able to save up enough money
in just three short months to put myself through U.C. Berkeley
for the rest of the year. Tuition was $150, rent was $75,
utilities cost $10 and peanut butter was cheap. I didn't
live like a goddess but still -- I didn't have $150,000 in student
loans to pay off upon graduation either.
Remember when peaches at the Berkeley Bowl Marketplace cost 69
cents a pound and strawberries were 89 cents a basket and hamburger
was $1.75 a pound? Then suddenly about two years ago
the price of peaches went up to $2.00 a pound, strawberries were
suddenly $2.50 a basket and a pound of hamburger suddenly cost
$3.25? And gas went from $1.80 a gallon to $3.30 a gallon?
In approximately the last two years, almost everything we need
to survive has jumped up in price by at least 100%.
When this same incredible jump in prices occurred in 1979, everyone
screamed bloody murder about "Runaway Inflation".
Heads rolled. But when the exact same thing is happening
now, NOBODY talks about inflation....
What's the difference between then and now?
Here's the difference.
In 1979, every media outlet in America was constantly letting
us know that our country was suffering from inflation.
Now we have to figure all that stuff out all by ourselves.
According to a graph supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics, the rate of inflation in 1980 was 14%. And today
the rate of inflation is only between two and three per cent.
So, technically, we are NOT suffering from inflation right now.
BUT, what does it feel like to you?
Here we are, scurrying around, tightening our belts, doing all
of the desperate things we did in 1979 (and much more) - only now
we are doing it individually and gratefully, grateful as heck
that our misery is of our own doing and NOT because America is
suffering from inflation! We need to stop being sidetracked by
statistics and to start learning to trust our own experience at
the grocery store and the gas pump, instead. We need to
start flying by the seat of our pants.
Remember that old adage, "If a tree falls in the forest
and no one is around to hear it, does it still make a sound?"
Well, here's a new adage. "If a price raises at
the supermarket and the media doesn't report it, does inflation
still exist?" You bet!
If inflation cost Jimmy Carter the presidency after only one
term, how come Bush wasn't thrown out of the White House in 2004?
Two reasons. First, the rate of runaway inflation since GWB
took over the White House wasn't hyped in the news constantly
as it had been during the 1980 presidential election race.
And, second, "If election fraud steals an election, does
the winner still get to be President?"
PS: Instead of using the Consumer Price Index to measure
inflation rates, we now rely on the Core CPI, which doesn't record
dramatic changes in housing and energy costs. According
to economist Ann Berg, the Core CPI only reflects that we are
now buying more stuff at dollar stores. Dollar store purchases are
now keeping inflation down? What? The once-mighty
American economy is now being kept safe from inflation because
low prices in DOLLAR STORES are forcing the CPI down?
That's pathetic.
According to Berg, "Core CPI reveals no inflation because
it tracks manufactured goods that have cheapened over time, the
result of the entrance of a billion third world workers since
1990."
But still and all, the difference between the CPI and the Core
CPI isn't all that great. If you really want to know what
is going on in our economy, forget about the CPI and the Core
CPI. The true measurement of current inflation rates can
only be accurately determined by one thing -- what happens to
you and me at the gas pump and the grocery store check-out line.
And that news is NOT good.
BC Columnist Jane Stillwater is a freelance
writer, civil rights and peace activist living in Berkeley, California.
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