There's only inflation on things that you actually buy. Been to the grocery store lately? Oh that's right, they have an adjustment for that. If you can't afford steak anymore, they substitute chicken instead! Voila! You still have meat, and no inflation.
My homeowners insurance jumped FORTY-SEVEN FUCKING PERCENT IN ONE YEAR!!! Nope, no inflation there. Electric rates went up 40%, and they want another increase. Nope, no inflation there either. Gas is higher too.
Stop believing bullshit government statistics, designed to make politicians look better. (Not you MB, but the OP). They've changed the methodology through every administration since LBJ to make themselves look good. It makes it easier to slow down increases in Social Security and pension payments.
If you think I'm full of shit, read a good book by Kevin Phillips, called "Bad Money". He was Nixon's Political Director, and one of the most honest, astute, observer and analyst I've ever read. He also hates the Bush Family with a passion.
Here's a snippet from an excerpt from Harpers and the St. Pete Times from two years ago.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/article473596.eceHard numbers: The economy is worse than you know
Kevin Phillips, Harper's Magazine
In Print: Sunday, April 27, 2008
Ever since the 1960s, Washington has gulled its citizens and creditors by debasing official statistics, the vital instruments with which the vigor and muscle of the American economy are measured.
The effect has been to create a false sense of economic achievement and rectitude, allowing us to maintain artificially low interest rates, massive government borrowing, and a dangerous reliance on mortgage and financial debt even as real economic growth has been slower than claimed.
The corruption has tainted the very measures that most shape public perception of the economy:
• The monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI), which serves as the chief bellwether of inflation;
• The quarterly Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which tracks the U.S. economy's overall growth;
• The monthly unemployment figure, which for the general public is perhaps the most vivid indicator of economic health or infirmity.
Not only do governments, businesses and individuals use these yardsticks in their decisionmaking, but minor revisions in the data can mean major changes in household circumstances — inflation measurements help determine interest rates, federal interest payments on the national debt, and cost-of-living increases for wages, pensions and Social Security benefits.
And, of course, our statistics have political consequences too. An administration is helped when it can mouth banalities about price levels being "anchored" as food and energy costs begin to soar.
(snip) more