Over 100 Years, Food Prices Have FALLEN By 82%

Carpe Diem (Mark Perry): Over 100 Years, Food Prices Have FALLEN By 82%

… And it's not just egg prices that have fallen over the last 100 years. Grocery prices in general fell in real price by 82% between 1919 and 2007, measured in the number of hours worked (9.5 to 1.7 hours, another way to adjust for inflation) to purchase a 12-item basket of groceries, according to the Dallas Fed (see graph below).

This post also reminded me of an article I read a while ago that shows the long-term trend in commodity prices over the last 150 years (source):

This graph only goes to about 2000. There would no doubt be a spike in the past year or two, but commodities have already declined significantly. It is important to put short-term shocks in long-term perspective. A generation of stability has spoiled us.