Question: Has there been anything that has gone down drastically in price? Yes, Do you know what?

[Stuart G]

[rsdsharp]

1. I don't know if anything, recently, but overall, adjusted for inflation,

consumer electronics are much cheaper than they were a generation ago.

[OAITW r.2.0]

2. Stock market?

Given what I think is reasonably good financial news, why is the market shedding all their gains from earlier this year?

[Deuxcents]

4. Sell offs is my guess

My IRA is feeling it. The stock market is a rich man’s game of legit gambling..jmo..but I put my contribution into a 401K for years as that’s how the game was played..to help with retirement was the carrot. Not being savvy in the ways of the market or gambling, I’ve learned the hard way at times.

[Stuart G]

5. You have to be "Mature" to know this one...(65 to 80) Yes, the cost of a long distant phone call.

From Chicago to California .(in the 50s)...3 minutes in today's money ---at least $5.00
today's cost .............................3 minutes today.......................21 cents ( I just looked at my phone bill to see the latest rate)
........................................................................................................................ I have friends in California

For some people there are plans that offer unlimited calls at a monthly rate.

[captain queeg]

6. I can't think of anything specific, but when you take inflation into account

there are things that haven’t gone up as much as you’d expect. Like someone already said electronics. Other things when compared to a few decades ago have only gone up 300 or 400 percent compared to lots of other things that have gone up at least ten fold. I’m thinking of groceries particularly. They feel like they’ve gone up a lot but that may be because you pretty much have to buy food and a lot of other things can be delayed or just not even purchased.

[malthaussen]

20. One of the reasons I don't trust "inflation" figures...

... is that they seem not to take into account the rate changes of commodities people actually buy, in contrast to big-ticket items like housing and vehicles.

This is an amusing site: https://www.mclib.info/Research/Local-History-Genealogy/Historic-Prices

It's the Morris County Library in New Jersey, where they have a project of researching prices by using local newspaper flyers and other advertisements. Keeping in mind that prices also fluctuate regionally, you can browse around and marvel at how much (or how little) the prices of things have changed over time.

-- Mal

[captain queeg]

24. Interesting. Thanks.

There are a couple prices that I always remember from when I first started working, about 1975. I worked in a meat market and ground beef was 0,99/lb, which this site shows. Not sure where it is now but I think it’s maybe gone up 4 fold. I also bought a new 25” color TV and I think it was around $500. That’s something that has actually gone down, I think you can get one for about $300 nowadays.

The big ticket stuff like homes and autos has probably gone up 10x, maybe even more. And pay has certainly not gone up as much for regular, hourly workers.

[Butterflylady]

7. In my part of PA......eggs.

[Stuart G]

8. What does PA mean??

[Earl_from_PA]

11. Pennsylvania

PA is the official post office two letter designation.

[Meadowoak]

9. Gas, it's $2.73 gallon here in central KY, down about $1. From a year ago.

[ChazInAz]

15. Wow.

We have three gas stations in Atchison KS. Their prices haven't gone down in over a year. I fuel up twenty miles south in Leavenworth.

[yellowdogintexas]

23. Gas in Fort Worth is under $3 per gallon, and we have big pump taxes here. nt

[MLAA]

10. TVs and computers.

[The Blue Flower]

12. Hubby paid $150 for a handheld calculator when they first came out

now you can buy them at the Dollar Store.

[malthaussen]

19. Or get them free...

... I once received a calculator (basic arithmetic, nothing special) as an item included with a fellow's business card, like pens are also. They're that cheap.

-- Mal

[Elessar Zappa]

13. Bananas always seem to be cheap.

TV price has gone down I believe.

[ChazInAz]

14. GOP members of congress.

[ms liberty]

16. Gas. It's dropped about 25-30 cents a gallon.

Last fill up was 3.12 a gallon; the one before that was 3.29 a gallon. The one before that one was 3.49 a gallon. That's over about a 3-4 week period. I've been on the road a lot this month. I saw it lower last week (2 93), but I was on the interstate, halfway across the state from home, on a time schedule, and I didn't need gas.

[dembotoz]

17. small kitchen appliance

air fryers and such....

[malthaussen]

18. Electronics in general.

It's really quite astonishing to remember how much a tube color TV cost in, say 1965, compared to the same thing in a sold state configuration. In order to make televisions more expensive, manufactures had to increase the sizes, resolutions, and overall utility, and they're still not as expensive as a Magnavox in constant dollars. Same is true of adio equipment, calculators, computers, etc. As a corollary of Moore's Law, the more transistors they cram on a chip, the cheaper the chips seem to get.

Large appliances, while still pricey items, are not so expensive in constant dollars as they were, say, 50 years ago, but their durability has gone downhill, so it kind of balances. Who keeps a refrigerator for 40 years now, or could?

Many commodities have not gone up in sync with inflation, but many others have shot up disproportionately, the biggest being housing.

-- Mal

[chouchou]

21. Hard drives. Smart watches.

Bought a nice looking smart watch last week for 26.49 (Amazon) 2 year warranty. Does the heart beat, steps and way more stuff. Pretty cool
Apple sells them for arm, leg and other appendages.
(Apple sales are down..Gee, I wonder why)

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. TV's It is unbelievable how cheaply you can purchase a big screen tv nowadays.

Hell, there are 75 " ones in Walmart for less than $500. And they are not bad quality.