Copper prices going down?

[k4kyv]

http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/base/spot-copper-5y-Large.gif

http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/base/spot-aluminum-5y-Large.gif

http://www.weblinks247.com/indexes/gfms-5y-Large.gif

Looks like metal prices have dropped back down to 2005 levels.  I wonder if that plummet is reflected in the price of copper wire yet, as in the case of petroleum fuels.

It was during the economic downturn in 1974 that I bought the copper wire at a bargain price to use for my radial ground system, just before the price started to rise again.

Hopefully this will deter further copper theft.

Now, economists are worrying about deflation instead of inflation.

http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/deflator.html

[WZ1M]

Three weeks ago, I was given $2.77 a pound. Yesterday I was given $0.93 a pound. Yes, it dropped.
Gary

[WA1GFZ]

1000 foot spool of romex at home depot is my reference.
The first one I bought was $114 and went as high as $460.
I think they are around $300 now.

[Tom WA3KLR]

Means less ammunition being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Ed/KB1HYS]

Whats so bad about DEflation???  since inflation makes your money worth less, isn't the opposite a GOOD thing??    I swear I do not understand the financial folks at all...

[k4kyv]

Banks love inflation.  If the dollar(ette) held to a constant value, more people would keep their money at home in a safe or under the mattress instead of putting it in a savings account.  With inflation you are forced to actively invest your money in something to keep its value from eroding. 

With deflation, your money would actually gain value while you kept it hidden in the mattress.  The banks certainly wouldn't like that.  People would be less prone to borrow money for real estate or big ticket items, because with deflation, everything steadily drops in price.  You could end up owing more money than your property is worth simply because the dollar gained value, so your real debt would increase on a daily basis relative to the value of the property.  This would cause people to save up their money and pay cash for their consumer junk instead of buying it on credit.  You can guarantee that the banks wouldn't like that.

Psychologically, deflation would be unacceptable to the public, because with salaries, pensions and wages, COLA's would have to be adjusted downwards instead of upwards.  People would resent seeing a drop in the number of dollars they were paid, even though they would be getting a better deal than they do now with inflation.

With deflation, people would be more prone to live within their means.  The economic system would crash because it is designed around people using credit to live beyond their means.

Inflation is basically a hidden tax that everyone is forced to pay to keep the system running.  But as we now see, that "system" is proving to be a house of cards, so we may indeed see a period of deflation in the near future.