The 12 Days of Christmas Would Now Cost Almost $100,000

If a person was to buy all 364 items listed in the twelve days of Christmas, it would now cost almost $100,00. This is an increase of 10.8% compared to last year, according to the Christmas Price Index. Even if you bought one of everything in the song, it would still cost $23,439, which is 9.2% more than last year. This is according to the 27th annual holiday index, and in the past it has always mirrored the national Consumer Price Index, however, this year it does not. The Christmas Price Index grew about 9.2% this year and there was just a 1.1% increase in Consumer Price Index. This large difference is probably because the Christmas Price Index looks at a relatively small and "whimsical" group of services, compared to the much larger Consumer Price Index. Even in the index, there are goods that have seen small increase and goods that have seen large increases. Gold prices are also high with an increase of 30%, which makes the golden rings about $650 each. The price of food and the availability of birds has also drastically increased-turtle doves by 78.6% and french hens by 233%. Four items didn't see an increase though, those including a pear tree, four calling birds, six geese, and eight maids-a-milkings. Nine ladies dancing was the most expensive at about $6,300 with a 15% increase, and the cheapest was a partridge for $12 with a 20% increase. The good news is that these higher prices are not necessarily a bad thing. They mean the economy is improving.

Personally, I found this whole study a bit frivolous. I mean, who would really buy all those things in the 12 days of Christmas anyway? And almost every object is so absurd, that no one would would buy any of the items, aside from maybe a golden ring. It's funny that they do a study each year to find out how much it would cost to buy everything, that in my opinion are not very good examples of goods in our market, and compare it to other years. I suppose it's a constant 12 random items that they can keep track of and compare easily, so I guess it could be viewed as a controlled scientific study. If the results are truly reliable and predict real trends in society and our economy, then I would view the study as worth it. It will be interesting to see if the dramatic increase in prices from last year to this year will actually show in the statistics that prove the health of our economy. I have my doubts on this, because although I do think the economy is better, I don't think it has drastically improved in 2010, nor will it in 2011. It's suprising to me how the Christmas Price Index has grown over 9%, while the Consumer Price Index has grown only about 1%. I would guess this would mean that although Christmas prices and buying are up, the overall consumer buying and economy has not greatly grown. That would be the only way I could make sense of those numbers. It will be interesting to see if these predictions hold true with all the other statistics that come out at the end of the year.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40418705/ns/business-us_business/