The long inflation con on the public: How the CPI severely underreports inflation and the slow erosion in the American standard of living.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is supposed to give us a good barometer of price changes in the economy. Unfortunately the CPI misses many big items like housing and college tuition. The latest report shows that the economy had a taste of deflation for the first time since the Great Recession hit. Of course this […]
Inflation where it matters: Close to 50 percent of Americans indicate spending more on groceries and fuel this summer. Nearly one third indicate more spending on rent and mortgage payments.
The stock market continues to move upwards ambivalent to economic indicators and the reality that inflation is permeating throughout our economy. The Fed continues to point at CPI as evidence that inflation remains subdued and this gives them the motivation to move forward with monetary policies that we have never embarked upon. We are already […]
Opting out of the workforce: Federal disability payments and the rise of those not in the labor force. Since 2000, those on federal disability insurance are up 66 percent while population is up 13 percent.
The number of Americans receiving federal disability payments has doubled in recent decades. One reason for this is the aging of our workforce and the reality that with older age, more health problems occur. This only explains part of it. There is evidence that 40 to 60 percent of the recent rise has to do […]
The loud noise of inflation: Fed underplays current rise in inflation as noise while Americans see higher home prices, tuition, food costs, and energy prices.
It was interesting to hear the Federal Reserve mention that the higher than expected inflation numbers are merely noise. It is highly unlikely that most Americans feel the current rise in prices as noise. Inflation has a way of eating into every penny that you have especially when the market is flooded with debt. Just […]