2/20/2008

"they've never paid more for college, never paid more for gas at the pump"

From Obama's speech last night:

You see it in your own lives and in your own neighborhoods. The stories I told you are not unique. Everywhere I go, I hear the same stories. People are working harder for less; they've never paid more for college, never paid more for gas at the pump. (APPLAUSE)


Well, doesn't the overall price level matter? If the inflation rate is 2 percent and college and gas are going up, that means something else is falling. A 2 percent or even a 3 percent increase in the price level seems awfully small.

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3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

While the Obama remark is mostly political rhetoric, you raise an interesting question wrt the rest of the basket of goods. To which the obvious rejoinder is that (perhaps) some people, perhaps poor people have a disproportionate part of their purchases related to gasoline and such.

2/20/2008 9:30 PM  
Blogger John Lott said...

Thanks, TCO. I haven't looked up the numbers for gasoline, but poorer people spend relatively less on college tuition so most likely their share of expenditures in these two categories added together is low relative to others.

2/20/2008 11:08 PM  
Blogger Dad29 said...

"...something else is falling."

Yup.

It's the USD.

2/21/2008 8:25 AM  

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