Comments on: The Cost of Christmas: A Relative Bargain?

By: MikeNYC

MikeNYC — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:23:08 +0000

I’d like to see this chart priced in gold over the same time period.

Or perhaps since 1780 (Earliest known printed version of the rhyme, per Snopes )

By: mars10

mars10 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:49:44 +0000

Does this factor in the total of 364 gifts received if the entire song is sung?

Whenever possible, I save time by singing the single verse summary version:

On all twelve days of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
12 drummers drumming,
22 pipers piping,
30 lords a-leaping,
36 ladies dancing,
40 maids a-milking,
42 swans a-swimming,
42 geese a-laying,
40 golden rings,
36 calling birds,
30 French hens,
22 turtle doves,
And 12 partridges in pear trees!

By: Mark E Hoffer

Mark E Hoffer — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:42:05 +0000

MA,

good point, as well, with http://clusty.com/search?input-form=clusty-simple&v%3Asources=webplus&query=Human+Trafficking alive, and well, the surfeit of trained Peasants has kept a lid on the relative price of such ‘nicities’..

Onlooker,

if you, too, were a TARP recipient, you’d, as well, have ‘plenty of “Free Time”‘, no?

By: colin

colin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:51:08 +0000

PNC is overweight food in this index, which ties into the divergence between food/energy and core in your charts of the next post. Also, no ‘real estate’ (not that the real index has anything remotely close to a good representation of RE).

By: Adult Franklin411

Adult Franklin411 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:32:47 +0000

Maybe because the basket of goods used in calculating CPI gets updated more than once every four centuries.

Here are some 21st century Christmas goods:

Zhu Zhu Pets, digital cameras, watches, golf clubs, designer clothes.

Barry, maybe you should archive your current Amazon wish list and price it every year. Probably a much better index than this pap.

By: Marcus Aurelius

Marcus Aurelius — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:39 +0000

This year, there were over 45,000 applicants for the 50 positions requiring people (12 drummers, 11 pipers, 10 lords, 9 ladies, 8 maids), and it’s only seasonal work.

By: Onlooker from Troy

Onlooker from Troy — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:20:59 +0000

Gee, I’m glad they waste their time on this drivel.