v4.0 · Complete through 2025 · No further updates planned
Technology inputs fell 99.97% per unit of capability, 1990–2025 — what a dollar buys in compute, bandwidth, kilowatt-hours, stored energy. Not the cost of living: the prices people actually pay rose 150%. The gap between the two is the finding.
The index (v4.0) is a weighted geometric mean of four technology-cost series, each a single sourced metric starting when measurement starts: computing (compute/storage/memory blend, since 1990), communications (wholesale IP transit, since 1998, −99.99%), energy (IRENA solar LCOE, since 2010, −89%), and transportation (BloombergNEF battery packs, since 2010, −91%). Methodology, sources, the audit that produced this revision, and all data are open on GitHub.
Sectors · Explore the data · Stories · How it's built
Essays: What the Deflation Index actually measures · The Abundance Gap · We audited our own index
The four sectors: Computing · Communications · Energy · Transportation · How the index is built