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Decline in buying power? I could nor disagree more. I just bought furniture for my new home and paid a fraction for this furniture then I paid for similar stuff 8 years ago. Much of it made in China but as someone who has at least some knowledge of quality I feel I can say it is more then worth what I paid and probably would cost 2-3 times more if made here. I also was at a Staples store today and saw flt screen monitors, 17" for $279.00. Only 3 years ago they were selling for about $499. A 3.1 mega pixel digital camera I paid $265.00 for a year and a half ago can be replaced with a 5 mega pixel multi mode digital camera for the same price. The 3.1 mega pixel cameras are now selling for $149. A 32 inch TV that cost almost $900.00 in the early 1990's can be bought for a bit over $300.00 today. Cell phone, computers, printers, you name it all have come down in price markedly as have clothing. Gasoline has gone up as have heating costs and any fuel oil related products but they have been offset by declines in the areas I mentioned. Except for housing and health care, products and services that have increased in price have generally done so within the bounds of inflation.

One question I would like to aqsk is how long does today's stuff last compared to years ago? Sure a 25 inch TV costs less tan one did in 1982 or 1972 but how long do they lst. I'm watching a 1982 Zenith TV now, the same set now as when we bought it for $650 in 1983. It's been on everyday from February 1983 to now. I have a 1970 color Zenith 23 incher (the biggest TV back then) that might not take a lot to get back into service and I'm sure it would last a while too. My 1966 Sony B&W set still works. I know a guy who still watches a 1955 RCA color TV to this day and drives a 1964 Rambler he bought new. I know the examples are extreme, but I'd like to know the value you would get for your buck back in 1970 as what you would get now.

We are so wasteful as a society, one of my fellow radio/TV enthusiasts went our scrounging for old TV's by the curb on garbage day. As he tooled around in his 1970 Dodge Polara stationwagon, he spotted a 1989 RCA Colortrak to take home to fix. Well, he was curious so he plugged it in and turned it on, it worked perfectly even though it was being tossed out as garbage. This is one of the times I actually do agree with the "greenies" on where in this respect, we are too wasteful when it comes to discarding old but still useable stuff for the latest thing.

You pose some really interesting questions. You may in fact be correct about the quality of todays electronic equipment. I myself have a 32 inch Sony since 1991 and a Sony pre amp that works flawlessly and has done so since 1988. It cost me about $1000 back then and it cannot even be replaced today with the features it has. As far as automobiles, I believe they are perhaps better then they were. They are certainly more complex and as for quality it depends on whose you buy. I am a Japanese car buyer myself and have been since 1971. I can honestly say that except for tires, brakes, wipers and other routine maintenance, I have never has anything close to a major repair.

However, that said, as far as electronics goes, TV's for instance, you would have to replace about 4 of them to equal what you paid for one 15 years ago. All in all I believe the quality of the TV's has gone up due to advances in technology and no one questions that the prices have plummeted. This will not last however because as the emerging nations who now produce this stuff using ultra cheap labor will ultimately have to increase their wages and it will be reflected in the price of their goods and services.