Support our non-partisan non-profit newsroom 💜 Donate now
The Marketplace Inflation Calculator

Cellphone bills aren’t as high as they used to be

David Brancaccio Nov 7, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY
The Marketplace Inflation Calculator

Cellphone bills aren’t as high as they used to be

David Brancaccio Nov 7, 2014
HTML EMBED:
COPY

As part of our program’s 25th anniversary, we’ve been tracking the odd ways prices have changed over that period. According to a cellular phone industry group, the average monthly cellphone bill has dropped from an inflation-adjusted $151  in 1989 to $47 today.

A 69 percent drop? How is that possible? 

Michael Grubb, an economics professor at Boston College who has studied the cellphone market, shares reasons for this downward trend.

Listen to the full conversation in the audio player above.

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.