Most people find it difficult to stifle a yawn when discussing economic terms and trends, but there is one concept we’re all too familiar with: inflation. Because of inflation, what you could buy for $10 in 2000 would cost you, on average, $12.67 today.
You may be surprised to hear, though, that not all prices have increased over the past ten years. As WalletPop.com recently found, certain items or services are actually cheaper today compared with their 2000 price adjusted for inflation through 2010. Mint.com partnered with WalletPop to produce the infographic above, which gives you 20 products where your dollar goes further today than it did 10 years ago. (The only item not adjusted for inflation is the $200,000 total mortgage payout value, which is based on a 30-year mortgage with a fixed interest rate and is therefore not affected by rising prices.) For more details on each item, read 20 Products That Are Cheaper Today Than 10 Years Ago on WalletPop.com.
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6 Comments so far
leave a commenttaken to task by reuters columnist Felix Salmon here
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/07/01/adventures-in-financial-literacy-mint-com-edition/
I looked at the chart and it got me thinking: What would this chart look like if the mess of late 2008 didn’t happen? I’m sure it wouldn’t have looked as favorable as this one does.
“What Inflation? Products That Cost Less Today Than in 2000″… When adjusted for inflation! This isn’t as cool of an infographic as it could be.
Wow.. This is some pretty interesting information. I am impressed with everything, except for Walmart’s stock. I’m sure there are plenty more companies in their shoes.
Adjusting for inflation makes this pointless. Since inflation is an average measure of increase in cost, half the things will grow faster than inflation and half the things will grow slower than inflation.
Eric, inflation is not a simple average, it’s a weighted average. Even if it were a simple average, you’ve made the universal mistake of thinking that an average is the “middle” value. However, what you’re referring to is the MEDIAN. It would be possible for 90% of products to grow slower than the average inflation rate if there were some outrageous inflation going on for certain expensive products, thereby skewing the average. Half above / half below and average is usually a false assumption, unless you’re dealing with a perfectly symmetrical distribution.