Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Jody
As far as inflation, I think they should include food, etc. in those figures, because they are a required part of life, and there is no doubt that section is going up WAY more than the governments quoted figures.
|
That number is available, and from the same source, and is called "headline inflation" or Consumer Price Index (CPI). Last month that number was 1.66% -- even lower than core inflation. Why? Probably mostly due to falling oil prices. Next month that number is probably going to go up. Why? Probably due to drought conditions over much of the US.
Core inflation is used by economists and policy-makers because it's not subject to these quickly changing conditions, but still reflects longer-term trends. It's the same reason that retail sales figures are trended with seasonal adjustments, or moving averages, etc., etc. It's not dishonest, or meant to obfuscate, but rather to allow good decision-making based on things that don't change quickly. Over time, CPI and core inflation are within error bars of each other.
We can talk about any of these numbers, but it's not a serious discussion when we take the government's word for one number (deficit), but not another (inflation or unemployment).