Snapits,
re: "Standard of living is a better measure, but I guess more difficult to determine."
Price inflation is IMPOSSIBLE to measure. Nothing gets harder than impossible.
But "standard of living" is almost as bad. How do you measure something that is subjective?
To what extent is a standard of living buoyed by technological improvements?
But here's the real problem.
To what extent is a standard of living buoyed through the use of DEBT? By pillaging the nation of its savings and saddling future generations with the fiscal slavery that comes with having to pay for a prior generation's spending?
Naw, it's not standard of living that matters. What matters is the long-term trend for GDP, as measured in something static. Inflation adjusted (Year 2000) dollars aren't a bad choice for this static measure. Neither is gold... land... oil... or most anything else which has shown itself over time to have inherent value.
The trend, when so measured, is not good. Not good at all.
Gold is $1,581/oz today. When it hits $2,000, it will be up 26.5%. Let's see how long that takes. - De 3/11/2013 - ANSWER: 7 Years, 5 Months
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