We all understand how the cost of education, healthcare, and childcare has gone up significantly over the last 10, 20, or 30 years. This is because these are industries heavily dominated by the federal and state governments.
On the other hand, common goods and services provided by the private sector over the same time period have gone down considerably. A television or a cellphone is a lot cheaper today than it was decades ago, even though they are far more advanced.
Here is an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) chart that examines price inflation from 1997 to 2017:
Shocked? Not necessarily.
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There are lies, damned lies and statistics. This chart is bogus.
In 1997 the price of a new car was $16,000, today the price is $34,000. Of course car prices have increased much faster than the average family income. Bogus, Bogus, Bogus chart.