Priorities?

[ohbejuan]

From the consumerist:
Up:
College tuition and fees: 248.4%
Cigarettes & other tobacco products: 246.5%
Motor oil, coolant & fluids: 170.7%
Oranges and tangerines: 157.6%

Down:
Personal computers & other information processing equipment: -89.4%
Televisions: -83.0%
Audio equipment: -45.4%
Toys: -43.4%

Good news for those of you who like electronics

Comments

[marcee12]

The cost of electronics is going down because they're getting cheaper, easier and faster to make.
The cost of oil and vehicle fluids is going up because the resources used to make them are progressively getting more and more scarce.
The cost of certain fruits have gone up because a) (oranges especially are only grown in small areas of the US - as opposed to factories for electronics) shipping costs have risen -- gas prices, etc. b) supply -- impact of freeze damage, crops that were flooded or destroyed due to storms and hurricanes...

I mean, you're looking at the broad strokes of the changes in costs of a few specific items and drawing the very specific conclusion that it's related to our priorities? Really? Come on. Yes, sure, we're a spending, selfish nation -- but these numbers don't prove that in any way.

[ohbejuan]

Those are all interesting points. But why is tobacco more? is it all taxes.

Also, I think you are incorrect about this one:
"The cost of oil and vehicle fluids is going up because the resources used to make them are progressively getting more and more scarce."
I don't think the oil companies care about scarcity at all. In fact they make a living denying it. What i find interesting is that it is such common knowledge that these commodities are becoming scarce, and yet when the prez signs a bill acknowledging that, some people clamor about the effect on commerce.

But interesting points all, thanks for commenting.

[ohbejuan]

also, on the oil bit. many electronics contain a substantial amount of plastic, which is primarily made from oil. So shouldn't that rising cost counter the electronics decrease?

[marcee12]

I think the overall decrease in production costs are where the big savings lie when it comes to consumer electronics...I mean, most of our electronics come from overseas - cheap labor, smaller chips/smaller parts means more can be made in less space -- more can be shipped for lower cost...

the oil in plastic is only a teeny tiny percentage of the cost involved in making an TV or an MP3 player - it's all the additional components, putting it all together in a factory and shipping it where the costs (or savings) lie. On the other hand, I tend to believe it's the actual oil/fluid in the oil and fluid products that have probably risen substantially in price.

[learntoflyrar]

In 2004 my school was the cheapest tuition in Arizona, now its probably one of the more expensive ones. I've watched it double. It used to be around 1700 for a semester, and this semester it was 2700. And it's definitely going to rise higher again next year since they just did a drastic budget cut.