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» Jas_Jain - Inflationists Please Note: “My Wife & I Can Have Pizza & Coke Di

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Inflationists Please Note: "My Wife & I Can Have Pizza & Coke Dinner For $2.36"

That was e-mail on Faux Business News. The guy said that he bought ten frozen pizzas for $10 and cans of Coke for 18c each. I can attest to the 18c price for a can of Coke. I personally prefer Costco pizza that feeds 4-6 people for $10.79. So the price of "Costco pizza and coke dinner" for two is more like $5. How much was it 25 years ago?

My contention is that restaurants are affected by almost all inflationary costs, including agricultural and dairy products, labor, and transportation. In every part of California I have lived, the restaurant prices are not up as much as the CPI. Amazingly, you can get better and cheaper Indian food in Silly.con Valley today than in 1980-81 when the first Indian restaurant opened.

In my case, my cost of living, excluding the age-related sickness care insurance premium, IS LOWER in nominal dollars today than in 1980-81. I consume a huge amount of written material, especially, history and classic books. Watching tennis in HD on a large flat screen TV beats going to the stadium. My current car is the cheapest and lowest repair cost car I have had since 1980.

CPI more than reflects the cost of living. Only kooks think that CPI understates the actual cost of living in the US. It may be off in a given year, or two, but then more than compensates year or two later. For example, restaurants increase prices once in few years and not every year or every two years.

Jas

-- posted by Jas_Jain