Editorial

Tongue-in-cheek list good news for Christmas shoppers

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

The pessimists among us never fail to find something to complain about, but those who lived through the "misery index" years of the 1970s should appreciate some recent numbers.

In case you weren't there, or don't remember, an economist created the "misery index" as the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation indexes. It peaked at 16.26 percent during the Jimmy Carter presidency, dropped to 7.8 during Bill Clinton's years and is now at 9.41 percent.

The component we're likely to notice most this time of the year is inflation, and the PNC Wealth Management Christmas Price Index is good news.

The tongue-in-cheek index released by a Pittsburgh bank tracks items listed in the Twelve Days of Christmas song, using sources such as retailers, bird hatcheries and two Philadelphia dance groups.

The result?

A partridge will cost you $25, up $5 from last year. A pear tree will set you back $190, two bucks more than last year, and two turtle doves? That's $290 please, $30 more than last year.

But French hens, calling birds, gold rings, hen geese, swimming swans, milking maids and dancing ladies will be the same price as 2014.

Lords a-leaping will be cheaper this year, but pipers piping and drummers drumming will perform for the same price.

The final tab would be $34,131 this year, or 0.6 percent more than the adjusted 2014 price of $33,933. PNC decided to adjust the historic prices of turtle doves and swans after realizing the prices quoted by vendors didn't reflect the birds' overall value on the open market over the years.

"The headline, I think, is that inflation in this economy, with the sort of tepid recovery we've seen, is almost nonexistent," said Jim Dunigan, chief investment officer of PNC's asset management group.

Yes, we'd all like to see a stronger economy, but given the choice of that or high inflation, we'll enjoy this year's Christmas the way it is.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: