Inflation is at least 3%. Period. Probably more like 5%.
I've always thought the best demonstration of the government's hypocrisy is the postage rate. If there is no inflation why are they always having to raise the postage rate? After all, if you are setting the rate of your product and you keep having to raise it, than this must be an admission of inflation.
A while ago I did a full analysis of the "cost of things" vs. CPI and the postage rate. here is what I found:
If they wanted to truly measure inflation, they would include college tuition
AMEN to that thought. On average, tuition tends to increase about 8% per year according to finaid.org
Rather than using the government numbers to measure inflation, I think we can look to commodity prices as an objective metric. Let's see how has Gold been tracking? It's moving up a whole lot more than 2% per year.
Noreen Bravo for discussing the ridiculous myth of no inflation. We all know that it is there and the modified measurement is just a method of making inflation appear to be not an issue what it does is reduce the overall spending ability of an entire nation since raises in social security and in most corporate jobs are based on these erroneous numbers. If they wanted to truly represent the burden to Americans include college tuition, healthcare, gas and airline flight. Yikes we would all get a big raise.
If you go by Government Numbers Today sure its low,but as you rightly pointed out the EPI is not taking the Government Numbers on Inflation at Face Value.
In the Private Sector there are a number of other players who measure and give a much more accurate account of the Real Inflation people face today
For instance if you measured Inflation the way the Government as they measured it back in the 1980s;its been Running at Double-Digit Rates every year since 2009.
John Williams of ShadowStats has by far the best and most accurate Inflation stats I have ever seen.
Charles Biderman-CEO of Trimtabs is also not taking Government Numbers on anything seriously
Its a Brilliant,Brilliant Video and a Must Watch!!!
What I do know is what most Private Corporations tell me in their Annual Reports.
And this is what is particularly worrying.General Mills(America's 3rd largest Food manufacturer) is talking about Annual Inflation in the range of 10%-12% every Year in their Quarterly Reports.
How much do you wanna bet,that they will pass this on to Consumers???
And the scary thing is its about to get worse,As Crude Oil Prices continue to rise and Americans suddenly discover a fascination for Real Food (which ensures Beef like Pink Slime is no longer consumed by most Americans ) and CAFOs[Confined Animal Feeding Operations] are no longer in business-Factory Food which was what enabled America to grow Food production reliably Year after Year is about to go totally out of vogue...
This whole thing is about to unravel spectacularly for the Mega Corporations behind this entire Industry as the People wake up and realise that they are to blame for everything from Obesity to Heart Disease to Diabetes(and our National Debt problem too).
Regards
Ashish.
The Thing is the Govt moves these Yardsticks whenever it suits them and will continue to do so...So expecting anything from them is pointless.Consumer Awareness is key.
These are the numbers on which Government Pension and other Benefits are indexed.
That is why they are so low.
Otherwise,the fact that our Government is bankrupt(which is true even today),would just become obvious much-much faster and the Run on the US Dollar would be even more brutal than it is today.
You should'nt forget for what Reason thos Official Inflation numbers are-
Do you realize that Government Pension and other Benefits(which are Indexed for Inflation) are totally dependent on these Official Numbers?
That is the No.1 Reason why the Government has a Vested Interest in Keeping those Numbers lower than what Real people feel and experience every single Day.
I agree you should'nt have to choose between Groceries and Gas-But for that blame the Warmongers in DC(including both Presidential Candidates Romney and Obama).
If you really want Gas Prices to fall and fall decisively,force your Representatives in DC to stop hounding Iran with threats of more and more sanctions-They are totally conter-productive and are hurting Americans more than the Iranians.
The FT has a very good article on this issue in today's paper
Do you know what will Happen if America takes the Militiary Option off the table and instead decides to Negotiate Peacefully with Iran on all outstanding issues(instead of Obama and Romney threathening to bulldoze it every oppurtunity they get)???
Crude Oil Prices would fall and Fall sharply-Consequently Gasoline Prices would fall too.
The current measure understates what most people see and feel, so it serves the purpose of telling people things are better than they think. This positive Psyche will encourage people to buy more and fuel the economy. I think it is more accurately a " feel good " index than a real measure of the inflation most people see. I am shocked every time I walk into a supermarket and see how much prices have risen.
This is cool, Artemis Capital Management LLC has merged art and finance, presenting a creative visualization of stock market volatility over the last two decades. "Volatility at World's End" Two Decades of Movement in Markets:
You are right - that is the spin. But in this case, the spin does not help. The average family on a budget will see that more of their money is getting eaten up every month by their basic needs. This will leave less money to buy new clothes, new cars, etc. So economic problems continue...
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