“U.S. consumer prices fell unexpectedly in March and recorded their first annual drop since 1955, government data showed on Wednesday, as slumping demand pushed down energy and food costs,” says a Reuters article at finance.yahoo.com.
If we are going back to the way things were when I was a child, it may be a good thing. I’d think it would be a good thing for most people to have consumer prices falling slightly rather than rising.
Sales-tax revenue has been falling too, says the Wall Street Journal. “State and local sales-tax revenue fell more sharply in the fourth quarter of 2008 than at any time in the past half century, and has continued to erode through the beginning of 2009, according to a report released Tuesday.” I doubt that state governments will willingly downsize, and so we can expect them to raise some taxes and to come up with new fees.
