Sorry, that was all me. Why wouldn't others say the same thing, it's fact. EVERYTHING I mentioned has gone up quickly and sharply. Tokeprep's assertion that those increases are offset by price drops on other necessities is ludicrous, there are no prices dropping...on anything. His example of gas is completely absurd, gas prices are insanely high.
If you want to say something like "prices are through the roof" etc. then you need to substantiate that claim in the face of contrary data (what I presented).
Everything you are stating is pure conjecture; show me your receipts or records indicating such action is happening to the extent you believe, then there is
room for debate.
What I am demonstrating in the charts is that some prices (in your "basket") were AS HIGH, pre-GFC, compared to now, and no sign of price shocks post-GFC. At least none that couldn't be explained through simple microeconomics (like our recent Bacon shortage in Ontario, Canada).
But, as I tried to imply, there are issues with geography and aggregation.
BREAD, for example, has different subsets. And Meat has plenty more (Pork, Beef, Chicken, etc & subsets of those).
What someone pays in Washington will probably be different from Florida.
AFTER one whittles down the data carcass into the minutiae, THEN other issues (such as Herfindahl-Hirschman indices) have to be considered before any causation can be gleaned from correlation.
However, making generalized statements (and it doesn't matter WHAT side of the debate one is on) without basic empiricism is grounds for ridicule, at the least.
Think Reinhart and Rogoff... do you know how disastrous their error is? Now imagine if they made all those claims about 90% Debt-to-GDP ratios WITHOUT even their faulty data...
This is the same type of situation. People run around jibbering about
fall of the dollar and
centrally planned economies and yadda-yadda-yadda... and where is their evidence? Where is their thorough investigation?
Ex Nihilo appeals to emotion... just like those dreaded Federal Reserve Notes that everyone goes ape-shit over because they "aren't backed by gold".
Or even worse, it's just made-up bullshit by fear-mongers looking to rip off Granma one more time because she is a dotty old fool with some savings leftover from the last hustle (and that's something all the gold-bugs and silver-stackers need to be aware of. Those two scammers--Schiff and Rogers--are only the tip of the iceberg)...
Now if you want to discuss the fact Real Wages have been relatively stagnant for 30+ years (for the lower quintiles anyway), which DOES cause price increases to be an issue, I'm completely ready to back you up on that, but there is no data at the national level to vindicate your (or any of your peers') prior statements as fact.
Yet just like Keynes, I am ready to "change my mind with the facts". So, present them...
In the meantime, check out this vid of Pro-moron Schiff getting checked by Fox, of all people...
(from Oct 2012)
[video=youtube;gVhcpNlq92U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVhcpNlq92U[/video]