What Is Deflation?

I *did* see prices at the pump drop for a while at the very beginning of summer, only to bump back up in the last month. For about 2 weeks I could find gas under $3 if I shopped around (and my job has me on the road all over the city, so shopping around is just a matter of keeping an eye out). But we are back up to $3.40ish on average in these parts, which is where it was for most of the spring.

(Yes, I know gas prices are regional - some of y'all can only dream of $3.40. That is why I put context of time frames for local prices.)

But aside from the momentary dip in gas, or random (and passing) sales events for low prices on soda or chips or chicken or what have you, I haven't seen any other costs go down. Groceries are still high, lumber is still high, car prices, energy bills, clothes, office supplies. Nothing has gone down and stayed down.

I can safely report that there are no signs of deflation in my area -- we'll cross that bridge when we get to it