Thursday, May 29, 2008

Cost of clothing

The price of most clothing has gone down over the past decade, reports the NYT."In current dollars, the 1998 suit would cost $788, the jeans would be $66 and the underwear would be nearly $24." In 2008, these items (same brands and products) would be $598 for the suit, $46 for the jeans and $21.50 for underwear.

The article notes that prices have gone up for other goods: "As consumers adjust to soaring prices for gasoline, food, education and medical care, just about the only thing that seems a bargain today is clothes — mainstream clothes, anyway."

Here's an opening for Scooter to make the case that the market for these other goods is not "free" because of government regulation or the insurance industry and that's why their prices are up.

2 comments:

Scooter said...

I guess I should but since we already know each other's positions and seem to be the only ones playing...sigh.

Scooter said...

And I should add that you do so in a much more sophisticated way than I.