How do you borrow 1.75 trillion?

[macdoc]

Sorry but you are clearly out of your depth on processing tech and no one said anything about buying more than required - do you buy more brocolli than you need at the time?

We're talking about people putting off buying decisions for fear of "cheaper next year" and it's horsepucky concocted by nervous bean counters and coupon clippers that their "security" will evaporate....how 19th century.

The flaw is in the metrics AND the mindset.

 

[oggiesnr]

We're talking about people putting off buying decisions for fear of "cheaper next year" and it's horsepucky concocted by nervous bean counters and coupon clippers that their "security" will evaporate....how 19th century.

The flaw is in the metrics AND the mindset.

I suspect that there is a difference between goods in new markets, developing markets and mature markets.

The iPlayer a few years ago was an example of a new market and it got bought by the early adopters who traded on quickly. Some are winners, some losers (Betamax if you're old enough to remember them) and future price seems to have little impact.

PCs is a developing market by which I mean the product is developing in an almost linear way and opening up new capabilities as it progresses, it is also discounting older technologies but keeping the price at the upper end fairly stable although the upper end is a lot better with each generation. For example my son hammers laptops and they burn out every couple of years, each new one costs about the same as the last one but is much higher specced.

A mature market I would define as white goods, kitchens, furniture that sort of item where there are no great leaps being made and prices have been pretty stable in line with inflation. I suspect it is in this sector that deflation may become an issue. In the UK there is lot of deep discounting of goods which are not being replaced by newer models (as in computers) because inventory is sticking. One of the problems that MFI (RIP) had was that there was no compelling reason to buy on any given day because there was always the thought that the offer would be better in the future.

Steve