[getsmart-l] The Price of Almost Everything We Need to Survive Has Jumped by 100 Per Cent

[23skidoo]

March 28, 2007 
CounterPunch 
www.counterpunch.org 

The Price of Almost Everything We Need to Survive Has Jumped by 100 Per Cent 


How Runaway Inflation Has Slipped Under the Radar 


By 


JANE STILLWATER 


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 hecka 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 like 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. 


-- 


Jane Stillwater can be reached through her website: 
http://jpstillwater.blogspot.com 


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