Kingofshorts, I don't dispute what you are saying but I was talking about the last two years, not ten.
In the worst cases, housing has halved in price in two years. Goods in general, and the best example is groceries, definitely have halved, but the US is a divide and extort economy, not capitalism, so I understand that some people have missed this.
Insurance, taxes and energy have been the outliers. No doubt. But if you are a consumer and you can't pay half for what you paid a couple of years ago then you are a fool. For example, if you are not paying half the price for furniture and electronics then perhaps you watch too many commercials and think that not having an Ipad is like leprosy. I would love to have hears what Bill Hicks would have thought about Steve Jobs and the latest Bilderburgers.
We've gone beyond the mentality of paying for what it's worth when it comes to purchases these days. If you're not fucking someone else over then they are probably taking you up the ass.
I'm not an American so I don't know where this great heritage stems from.
Deflation has been in full effect for a couple of years now. If you haven't noticed that then more fool you.