Grandma, What is Deflation?

Korva Coleman here ...

You knew it. Lower prices are just too good to be true. Our regular financial guru, Alvin Hall and NPR's David Kestenbaum spell out the latest bad thing that could happen to us in a slowing economy. It's deflation, and here it is in a nutshell: falling prices, like we're seeing in stores today, make people wait for even lower prices in the future. So nobody buys anything. Retailers drop prices even lower to encourage shoppers. People continue to wait for even lower prices. Nobody buys anything. So retailers drop prices even lower....and nobody buys anything. Stores then go out of business because - nobody buys anything. People who worked in these stores lose their jobs. And then they join the ranks of people who don't buy anything. Ouch.

Our segment today on parenting focuses on grandmothers: I grew up with a grandmother who divided her time between my home and that of a nearby cousin. When she changed houses to stay with each of us children I used to tease her about getting "bed-lag", similar to jet-lag, because it always took her a few days to get comfortable. Many of my friends had some similar kind of arrangement. So I really hadn't thought much of the news that Michelle Obama's mother will accompany the First Family to the White House next year. I've found it interesting to eavesdrop on chatter about whether this is a good thing or a bad thing for the Obamas. I figured it was their thing, and not something that needed attention. Our guests today talk about why it is worth our attention and why kids can benefit.

Finally, Pat Lewis' CD crossed my desk earlier this year and I've been listening to it ever since. It caught my eye because I had my first full time radio job in Tucson, Arizona, the city that the Rillito River flows through. Or used to flow through, before the it mostly dried up. The river is now an arroyo, running only during the summer monsoon season, generally between the Fourth of July and Labor Day. There even used to be a group of dirt buggy drivers called the Rillito River Yacht Club; they met regularly to race along the arid river bottom. Pat's CD is part of a larger environmental and artistic effort in Tucson, to broaden awareness of the danger the Rillito and other southwest rivers face. The website - www.rillitoriverproject.org - is chock full of photos, videos and features Pat's music.

See you tomorrow,
Korva

Douglas Hopper

4:27 PM ET | 11-25-2008 | permalink

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4:27 PM ET | 11-25-2008 | permalink