Overview
Manufactured goods have been getting cheaper, both in absolute terms and relative to services. Since the Consumer Prices Index was first launched in 1996, the prices of "goods" have fallen an average 2%; while the prices of services have risen 35%. The most talked about example has been in textiles: since 1996, the average price of clothes has fallen 36%. But it is not just clothes that have been falling in price: new cars are 1.5% cheaper than they were in 1996; household appliances are 24% cheaper; toys are 30% cheaper, and of course, in the audio-visual category, you'll find things are on average now 56% cheaper than they were nine years ago.
Although manufactured goods have been getting cheaper, with that trend, Bosshart warns, comes cheap morals and cheap ethics. With implications for the environment, the labor market, and for companies, "the age of cheap" comes with a price.