Dear Doug
'
Unfortunately this is simply a hypothesis at this point
and therefore is not yet supported by clear statistical evidence.
Nonetheless, your point that service sector inflation has
grown much more stongly than other sectors offers some tangental
evidence that my hypothesis is correct. Since services are not
in competition, at least in general, with international firms
this higher level of inflation in this sector may be attributed
to this fact. In addition, an earlier post claimed that prices
were increased when firms felt they could, which would also
support my hypothesis. I will try to find some more evidence
as time permits to develop this. If anyone has more evidence
to share for or against this idea, I would love to hear it!
Loren Rice
The
University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma
P.S. I have a friend that wishes to join this list
but I do not seem to have the correct instructions
to give him. Could someone help me out with this?
