Quote:
Originally Posted by Chrysalis
Thats a valid point I guess, although ultimately waiting to see if something gets cheaper is always a gamble.
Take smartphones as an example, its a very high chance they will go down in price when waiting for a while after release day, yet they get pre orders in the 10s of millions and most people buy specific models within a month or two of release.
So whilst I agree "some people who are addicted to always getting the best value may wait, I dont think it will apply to a majority.
As a reference JSA would be at least £15 higher a week if it followed inflation in recent years. Public sector workers are fighting for 1% rise in wages never mind inflation matching rises.
|
Newly released, high-end tech isn't a very good example in this case. Such items are always going to be more highly priced in their first few months of release as manufacturers try to recoup their development costs at the expense of early adopters who are more willing to pay a premium for the latest toy.
Deflation, remember, works across the economy, and it is the affect on expensive commodity goods like computers, Hi Fis, TVs, watches, cars etc, and even certain services like holidays, that overall, has a depressing effect on economic activity.
Re benefits, I did qualify my earlier post with "in normal economic times" - most of the last decade has not been normal, and compared to historic averages, inflation and interest rates are still far from normal.
If public sector workers achieve a 1pc pay rise then that would be an above-inflation settlement, on current figures.