[cpressroll]

I am convinced that deflation has already arrived in the US. Certainly wages in my area seem to have actually started a downward trend and goods in the stores are cheaper than a year ago. More importantly, it seems that people are catching on to the fact that any purchase which can be delayed is probably going to be available later on at at least no increase in price and possibly a lower price. Once people get the deflationary expectation it can be self fulfilling. Twenty five years ago people were borrowing money to buy things before the price went up, which only added to the upward pressure on prices. I think we may be seeing the reverse of that now. Having lived through double digit inflation I now see that deflation is even worse.

[FITZ]

Wages in my part of the country were dropping in the so-called good economy of the 90's. Even with an increased number of people, the total payroll had fallen. I don't think the 90's were really a good economy.