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The price of a partridge in a pear tree has spiked. Up by 25 percent, it was $20.00 in 2014 and increased to $25.00 this year.
Where are we going? To inflation indicators.
The Christmas Price Index
Up only 0.6 percent from $154,508.08 in 2014, PNC’s 2015 market basket filled with the 364 gifts in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” would cost you $155,407.18.
Nine items retained their 2014 price:
- three French hens
- four calling birds
- five gold rings
- six geese-a-laying
- seven swans-a-swimming
- eight maids-a-milking
- nine ladies dancing
- eleven pipers piping
- twelve drummers drumming
Three items became more expensive:
- partridge in a pear tree (+3.5%)
- turtle doves (+11.5%)
- ten lords-a-leaping (+3.0%)
Why Prices Rose
Wondering why some of the prices had gone up, I discovered that growing demand for gourmet birds pushed partridge prices up while more expensive grain made a huge difference in what we pay for turtle doves. As for hiring the lords-a-leaping, the Pennsylvania Ballet Company said salaries were climbing. (But not for the maids because unskilled labor retained the same minimum wage.)
The Online Shopper
PNC also calculated what an online shopper would pay and came up with a $9,495.74 premium. Surprised, I learned that it can be very pricey when you have to ship all of those birds.
Below you can see specific prices. PNC even created a core index because historically volatile swan prices would have distorted our analysis.
Our Bottom Line: Inflation
More evidence that inflation is going nowhere, the .6 percent increase in the PNC CPI is rather close to the real CPI’s November 2014 to November 2015 0.5 percent change for all items.
I am Elaine Schwartz, an economics writer, teacher, and the founder of econlife®. In so many places and ways, I have tried to make economics interesting and accessible so we could be personally, professionally, and politically knowledgeable.
