If it made up the majority of the Labor Department’s “CPI basket”, the rate of inflation would currently be…zero. We’re talking about the ever-reliable $1.50 Costco hot dog combo, priced at $1.50 when introduced in 1985 and unchanged since then.
Before Craig Jelinek became CEO of Costco in 2012, he suggested to then-CEO Jim Sinegal that the retailer raise the price of its hot dog combo as they were losing money on it. According to Jelinek, Sinegal said, “if you raise [the price of] the effing hot dog, I will kill you.”
Had the Costco hot dog combo just kept pace with inflation, it would now cost about $4.13! (Chart from thehustle.co)
Side note: When you look at non indexed commodities… CRB Raw… (Includes copper scrap, lead scrap, steel scrap, tin, zinc, burlap, cotton, print cloth, wool tops, hides, rosin, rubber, and tallow) … it has dropped over 11% in the last 30 days. Could it be that inflation has topped? Inquiring minds want to know… Hat tip to Jared Dillian.
