In American politics, it is always 1933. For Democrats, every economic downturn is the Great Depression, crying out for a New New Deal. For Republicans, every tin-pot dictator thumbing his nose at us is Adolf Hitler. Libertarians like to think of themselves as ahead of the curve: For them, it’s always 1921, with the Weimar hyperinflation ready to take off. But inflation in the 21st century is a curious phenomenon. “Inflation” technically describes the dilution of the money supply, but what we generally mean by the word is a general rise in prices. Never mind ruinous hyperinflation, we haven’t seen very much ordinary inflation, either.
Computer prices go one way, college tuition goes another — why?
