A NEW CAR

My wife has bought a new car. After the tribulations suffered on the way to Copenhagen before Christmas, the old car was consigned to the knacker's yard. There was nothing to be done except buy a new one.

The new car was collected yesterday, and today we went out for a spin in it. And very nice it is too. One surprising aspect was that the price in 2012 was almost exactly the same - a little less, in fact - as the price paid for the last car in 2002. True, the other car was a bit bigger; but it was also 6 years old at the time, and had done more than 100,000 km, whereas the new one is brand new and had done precisely 15 km. Furthermore, the new one has a 5-year warranty and a 5-year free breakdown agreement. This seems to confirm my view, expressed before, that goods prices are getting cheaper and cheaper.

Indeed, that view was confirmed by the destination of today's spin, a supermarket in Odense that sells every kind of accessory to do with cars. There we bought rubber floor mats, a cycle holder, make-up mirrors, and a de-icing thingy, all for virtually nothing.

Walter Blotscher