[John Thornton]

According to Random Lengths, a trade publication, 1,000 square feet of -inch OSB sells for $503 in the north-central United States; this time last year, the same amount cost $170. Half-inch four-ply southern pine plywood is up to $523 for 1,000 square feet, from $240 a year ago.

Yes, but a year ago, the plywood business was in a slump---prices were way down and wood processing plants were shut down---putting a lot of people out of work.

What was the price of plywood in 2000 or 2001?

I know this is hard for the media to understand, but in a market economy, prices go up and down based on demand. I'm sure John Kerry feels that if he is elected, he will be able to order prices very low with no impact on production---after all, his favorite era was the Nixon administration.

[Moonman62]

I know this is hard for the media to understand, but in a market economy, prices go up and down based on demand. I'm sure John Kerry feels that if he is elected, he will be able to order prices very low with no impact on production---after all, his favorite era was the Nixon administration.

Nixon and Carter both did price controls, which discourage new supply and really do lead to inflation.