Boom, bubble or something else?

Warnings of economic turmoil seem so outdated. Financial euphoria seems to have taken its place.

Welcome to the Everything Boom — and, quite possibly, the Everything Bubble. Around the world, nearly every asset class is expensive by historical standards. Stocks and bonds; emerging markets and advanced economies; urban office towers and Iowa farmland; you name it, and it is trading at prices that are high by historical standards relative to fundamentals. The inverse of that is relatively low returns for investors.

Some call it a boom. Others see a bubble. Whatever it is, it seems no one wants to call it inflation or currency debasement.

The dollar doesn't go as far as it used too. Other fiat currencies share a similar trend.

I'm in the process of renovating an investment property. Some of the materials I'm using are costing 30 percent more than they did just five years ago.

Yet government swears there's no inflation.