> I want prices to trend downwards more than salaries. I know this is possible because it happens to computer hardware, adjusting for performance. Why does it not happen to, say, bread? fuel?
> Is it not because central banks are targeting inflation? And because currency created by central banks go to private banks and the government first and not wages at large?
These are good questions to ask! And the answers are kind of littered around orthodox macro. As well as the real economy. Computer hardware benefits from (astonishingly huge) productivity improvements. Bread does as well, but to a much lesser extent. Fuel, now that goes all over the place, but the increasing capital cost of extracting it as the easier oil has already been extracted plays a part. As does cartelization - OPEC were largely responsible for kicking off US inflation in the 1970s by restricting supply. That's the point at which wages and profits start to diverge on that graph that everyone always circulates.
> I want prices to trend downwards more than salaries.
There have been a lot of policies aimed at keeping wages from rising; both the maintenance of a minimum level of unemployment ("NAIRU" https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-accelerating-rate-u...) and the attack on unions and collective bargaining as means of increasing wages. It's policy to make sure there's always somebody ready to underbid you.
> Is it not because central banks are targeting inflation? And because currency created by central banks go to private banks and the government first and not wages at large?
These are good questions to ask! And the answers are kind of littered around orthodox macro. As well as the real economy. Computer hardware benefits from (astonishingly huge) productivity improvements. Bread does as well, but to a much lesser extent. Fuel, now that goes all over the place, but the increasing capital cost of extracting it as the easier oil has already been extracted plays a part. As does cartelization - OPEC were largely responsible for kicking off US inflation in the 1970s by restricting supply. That's the point at which wages and profits start to diverge on that graph that everyone always circulates.
> I want prices to trend downwards more than salaries.
There have been a lot of policies aimed at keeping wages from rising; both the maintenance of a minimum level of unemployment ("NAIRU" https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/non-accelerating-rate-u...) and the attack on unions and collective bargaining as means of increasing wages. It's policy to make sure there's always somebody ready to underbid you.