Since the Great Recession began in December 2007, the overall consumer price index is up 7.5 percent, or 1.9 percent a year. But there are plenty of people who insist that the figure must understate actual inflation, citing their own impressions from visits to stores.
In researching my Off the Charts column for this week, which looks at trends in apparel prices, I came across two categories that have been moving in opposite directions, for no reason I could discern. In one, inflation appears to be out of control. In the other there is deflation.
The government puts out a little-noted series on department store inventory prices. It covers goods sold in department stores, but includes prices from other stores. So prices charged at Wal-Mart and the Gap presumably count. It is not just a measure of what Macy’s and Nordstrom are charging.
Such prices can be volatile (SALE! SALE!), so the chart following uses three-month moving averages of seasonally adjusted prices, and shows changes from the level in the three months ended in December 2007.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, via Haver AnalyticsPrices of a category called Women’s Outerwear and Girls’ Wear are down 4.8 percent, although that index has begun to rise recently. Other than shoes, that category includes most everything women wear that is supposed to be visible, including coats, dresses, skirts, pants and blouses. Then there is the category Women’s Underwear, which by the way does not include stockings. It is up 32.5 percent, an annual rate of 7.8 percent.
What is going on? Cotton prices went up, as Stephanie Clifford reported a year ago. But cotton prices are lower now than they were then, and the underwear index is higher.
Would anyone care to explain why, as the economy went down, the prices of undergarments went up?
There is, alas, no separate category for men’s underwear.
E-mail ThisPrintRecommendShare CloseTumblrDiggLinkedinRedditPermalink Previous Post The Infrastructure Twofer: Jobs Now and Future Growth // NYTD.CRNR.userContent.getUserContent(25,'default'); // // if (typeof adxpos_SponLink2 != "undefined"){document.write(adxads[adxpos_SponLink2]);} // // if (typeof adxpos_Position1 != "undefined"){document.write(adxads[adxpos_Position1]);} //Search This Blog Search Previous Post The Infrastructure Twofer: Jobs Now and Future GrowthFollow This BlogTwitterRSS In order to view this feature, you must download the latest version of flash player here.var so = new SWFObject("http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/20090302-econ-indicators-graphic/econIndicators.swf","nytSWF", 334,290,9,"#FFFFFF"); so.addParam("allowScriptAccess","always"); so.addParam("allowFullScreen","true"); so.addParam("BASE","http://graphics8.nytimes.com/packages/flash/business/20090302-econ-indicators-graphic/"); so.addVariable("allowCaching",true); so.write("embed70");#embed70{visibility:visible !important;}h2.multiHeadline {font-size:156% !important;padding:0px 0px 7px !important;margin:6px 6px 11px 3px !important;border-bottom:1px solid #CCCCCC !important;}Featured The Infrastructure Twofer: Jobs Now and Future Growth // NYTD.blogsCRNRObj.setPostData('http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/the-infrastructure-two-fer-jobs-now-and-future-growth/', 'http://community.nytimes.com/comments/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/the-infrastructure-two-fer-jobs-now-and-future-growth/', 'http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/the-infrastructure-two-fer-jobs-now-and-future-growth/'); //Investment in infrastructure construction and repair is an efficient way to create jobs, an economist writes.
Huntsman’s Warning on ‘Too Big to Fail’ // NYTD.blogsCRNRObj.setPostData('http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/huntsmans-warning-on-too-big-to-fail/', 'http://community.nytimes.com/comments/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/huntsmans-warning-on-too-big-to-fail/', 'http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/20/huntsmans-warning-on-too-big-to-fail/'); //Jon Huntsman has effectively warned against the perils of “too big to fail,” and in terms his Republican colleagues must respond to, an economist writes.
Are Employers Requiring People to Work Longer Hours? // NYTD.blogsCRNRObj.setPostData('http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/are-employers-requiring-people-to-work-longer-hours/', 'http://community.nytimes.com/comments/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/are-employers-requiring-people-to-work-longer-hours/', 'http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/are-employers-requiring-people-to-work-longer-hours/'); //With fewer people working and those employed working fewer hours, it’s not surprising at all that the nation’s total hours worked dropped significantly, an economist writes.
The Tax Reform Act of 1986: Should We Do It Again? // NYTD.blogsCRNRObj.setPostData('http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/the-tax-reform-act-of-1986-should-we-do-it-again/', 'http://community.nytimes.com/comments/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/the-tax-reform-act-of-1986-should-we-do-it-again/', 'http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/18/the-tax-reform-act-of-1986-should-we-do-it-again/'); //Ambitious attempts to overhaul the entire tax code often founder on small exceptions made, an economist writes.
Storming the Capitalist Castle // NYTD.blogsCRNRObj.setPostData('http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/storming-the-capitalist-castle/', 'http://community.nytimes.com/comments/economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/storming-the-capitalist-castle/', 'http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/17/storming-the-capitalist-castle/'); //The current protests on Wall Street effectively call attention to the extreme and growing income inequality in the United States, an economist writes.
// if (typeof adxpos_MiddleRight != "undefined"){document.write(adxads[adxpos_MiddleRight]);} //Featured ContributorsFloyd Norris, the chief financial correspondent of The New York Times and The International Herald Tribune, covers the world of finance and economics.
Posts | Profile | E-mailCatherine Rampell is an economics reporter for The New York Times.
Posts | Profile | E-mailMotoko Rich is an economics reporter for The New York Times.
Posts | Profile |E-MailDaily EconomistsEach day, Economix offers perspectives from expert contributors.
Bruce BartlettFormer Treasury OfficialBio | PostsNancy FolbreUniversity of Massachusetts-AmherstBio | PostsSimon JohnsonM.I.T./Peterson InstituteBio | PostsCasey B. MulliganUniversity of ChicagoBio | PostsUwe E. ReinhardtPrinceton UniversityBio | PostsJudith Scott-ClaytonColumbia UniversityBio | PostsLaura D'Andrea TysonUniversity of California, BerkeleyBio | PostsAbout EconomixEconomics doesn't have to be complicated. It is the study of our lives "” our jobs, our homes, our families and the little decisions we face every day. Here at Economix, journalists and economists analyze the news and use economics as a framework for thinking about the world. We welcome feedback, at economix@nytimes.com.
Our Policy on CommentsTag List Read Full Article »