The past 20 or 25 years has seen a great increase in the number of economic bubbles, beginning in Japan circa 1986. Since then real estate prices have seen huge appreciations, not only here in the United States but in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Even Iraq has had a real estate boom. Stocks have bubbled forward around the world. And not just stocks but commodities. And not just commodities but bonds, which have rallied for 30 years. And even the most obscure things, such as rare painting and quality violins, have seen their prices skyrocket.
Meanwhile, traditional inflation measures, such as consumer prices, have come down. For example, the IMF finds that CPI (broad price index) inflation has been falling among both developed and developing markets steadily since the 1970s.
