Furthermore, property prices continued to decline at a rapid pace, and rents – which make up about 20 percent of the CPI components (all items less fresh food) – started to decline, keeping a lid on any upward pressure on overall CPI inflation.
In contrast with that period, cheap imports from China today are not so conspicuous as to exert sizable downward price pressure and the resolution of excess production capacity, even if only at a gradual pace, is also making progress.