Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Deflation ?

Petrol's going up by 2p, having crept up from around 86p to 93p or so already this year, water rates by over 4%, council tax by 3% (and that's presented as a triumph of frugality). Food prices are rising, as is the price of everything we import.

It's a pity the protesters in London today will be the usual suspects - hideously white, hideously middle-class, hideously 'left', if you can call it that, hideously tax-funded.

I'm sure there are lots of Brits who will be going to work today but are just as cross with our glorious leaders, but with more reason.

"On a lighter note" ... how a bright and savvy programmer facilitated the sub-prime disaster by creating better software to facilitate the slicing and dicing of mortgages into bonds (there are other factors, of course).

6 comments:

Rob said...

There is no deflation. It is a trick by the government to give them an excuse to inflate their debt away by printing money.

Socialists always end up doing this, and people are always voting them back in. Stupid bastards.

Ross said...

If you include house prices there probably is inflation, but seeing as the is holding its value about as well a Dutch tulips our imports are more expensive.

Anonymous said...

Deflation seems like a crock of bullshit. How can they even say with a straight face?

Funny how rising house prices were kept out of the numbers to keep inflation down. Now they are falling we are supposed to include them to 'prove' there is deflation.

Thud said...

I'm too busy working to bother spending my time playing silly games with crusties and has been radicals.

bodo said...

Ref your link.
I keep on seeing more and more articles - some nearly 10 yrs old - about the Community Reinvestment Act, with dire predictions about its impact. Most of which seem to have come true in a spectular and disastrous way.

Do you think the mainstream media will ever pick up on it? Or will the REAL cause of our current troubles remain forever 'unsaid' because its just too awkward.

I say 'real' cause cos its the most [only?] convincing explanation I've heard.

Matthew said...

Anonymous your point is the wrong way around. For a start house prices aren't in any measure of inflation, for the simple reason share prices aren't - they also are an investment. Imputed rents (with mortgages as a proxy) are, as they are the consumption part. But they certainly haven't been put back in, the composition of the different measures is the same as last year.

I'm not a great fan of the 'common sense' approach to economics so beloved by the Telegraph et al, but I have to say personally I am finding quite hefty deflation in the goods and services I buy and indeed the Telegraph's Real Cost of Living index has deflation at 4.3%.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/5048554/Deflation-Not-if-youre-buying-food.html