Monday, April 1, 2013

The Rising Cost of Everything

Inflation has been running at about 2 to 3 percent a year lately, according to the official government statistics, but it sometimes seems higher, because some high-profile items - gasoline, say, or college tuition - seem to be increasing much more than that. A columnist for Marketwatch named Rex Nutting has gone back and calculated just how much certain consumer items have risen in price in the 30 years since 1983. Here's what he found:

  • Gallon of milk: up 1.5 percent on an annual basis
  • Pound of ground chuck: up 2.3 percent
  • Dozen eggs: up 2.8 percent
  • Big Mac: up 3.6 percent
  • Gallon of gas: up 3.8 percent
  • Median home price: up 3.8 percent
  • Ford Mustang: up 4.0 percent
  • College tuition: up 7.3 percent
  • Health insurance premium: up 7.4 percent

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