Friday, January 27, 2006

Inflation Rises Slightly Not Significantly

A brief article published by the Free Market Project, describes a news report a few weeks ago about an over excited reporter claiming that inflation is at its highest in 15 years! He cites a 5.4% increase in wholesale prices, but Mr. Shepherd points out that core prices (what you and I pay for most things) only rose 1.7% during the same period.

Businesses chose not to pass on their increased costs to the consumers. I have to ask why not? My guess is because of competition. It is hard for a business to raise their prices subtly. They can't meet with their competitors to agree on a date when everybody will raise their prices, so any increase in the sales price runs the risk of driving their customers right into their competitor's hands.

This especially rings true if there is no or little cost to the customer for switching. This often results in the good sold being a commodity or near-commodity.

Be careful what you read and make sure you examine the numbers before jumping to conclusions.

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