13 Comments

Both government and corporate America have grown increasingly out of touch and distant from the reality of the average citizen.

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The more significant issue with CPI is the rent calculation. They should only use existing rent/recurring rent prices. No one moves every year. I have never had my recurring lease renewal go down. It's always 2% to 4% higher each year. That was before COVID, and since COVID, 2022, 2023, and 2024, it's 6% higher each year. 

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The fed “asked to evaluate bad data”? Isn’t it more the case that they have rigged the data to suit their purposes?! A fat finger on the scale!

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...no surprise, since many years Shadow Government Statistics site reported alternate inflation data...,have a look here: https://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

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Summers just running a check to remind everyone it's time to "pay the piper" as warned way back in 2020 by the Bitcoin community.

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The government wonks, the statisticians at the top of the financial chain, don't really need to tell the average Joe and Jane that inflation has increased. Nor do we need Shadow stats.

99% of all awake souls, human brains, who spend money on groceries and raw materials, have a personal understanding of just how out of control the debasing of the dollar is getting.

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And interest costs which are not factored in to cpi (since the 90s I believe). As you say, anyone who has to grapple with fixed income and rising costs can see it very obviously.

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Great piece. It's so interesting how they can manipulate the formula. At the end of the day though all that seems to matter for investors and traders placing bets is how it is perceived, rather than what should be the correct formula. All we care about is that government reported number, no matter how fake it might be.

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