A heads-up for shoppers is provided by the Fiscal Times list of things that will get cheaper: 12 Things That Will Get Cheaper in 2012. Note that most of these items are electronics and made overseas. Innovation is the primary driver in the expected price decreases.

Perhaps a surprising candidate is the price of wine. As discretionary incomes have declined the demand for wine, especially the mid and higher priced categories has also declined. Might want to act quickly on this one, however. You see, another item with more expected price decreases is home prices. That means matters are not improving which could easily shift the demand for alcoholic beverages to the right, driving wine and other spirit prices upward.

On a more serious note, the prices of everything should be dropping. Prior to the Federal Reserve, that was the general condition in the United States. Why? Simple! Producers are constantly looking for productivity improvements which allow more goods to be produced with the same or fewer inputs. In a world of honest money (i.e., a money supply that is relatively constant), prices naturally decline as productivity takes place. That was the history of the 19th Century except for two war periods (1812 and the Civil War) where government created fiat money.

Do not misinterpret these 12 items. They will be exceptions. We are in for more inflation as a result of irresponsible government and Federal Reserve behavior. Statistics produced by the government will likely manipulate this data at least through the election unless inflation overwhelms before then. Watch your food and energy prices and compare what they tell you to what the government tells you.

Here is a little tidbit to remember. If productivity averages 3% per year, in a world of honest money, prices would tend to decline on average by 3% per year. Whatever the true rate (not the government reported rate) of inflation truly is, add 3% to that number and that is what your government is stealing from you via counterfeiting. Other than tyranny, inflation is your biggest enemy.

Since both tyranny and inflation are number one and two on the harm list, and both are products of government, what must we conclude?