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Fuel is a particularly difficult commodity to weight because it fluctuates pretty rapidly. The Federal Reserve tends to look at a CPI that excludes energy from calculations because they think it is a more accurate index of prices for average people. Food is very much a part of that index though.
You're making very general statements without citing to any sources.
I found this article in Investopedia which does a good of explaining the changes that have been made to CPI over the years and why they were made.
oh yeah, investopedia. The gold standard. The cornerstone of any finance career. <insert about 2000 rolleyes emojis in here>
According to, well, people that track this, transpo is the 2nd largest bill, which is made up of car cost, FUEL, and maint. the third largest bill is FOOD. The OP in THIS thread said, if we discount items 2 and 3 in the monthly budget, well heckfire - it aint so bad! The number 1 cost is housing, which of course includes FUEL (be it gas, electric, oil, coal)
but back to your post, it would have NEVER occurred to me to consult investopedia to figure out how the CPI is calculated because, oh I dunno, I work for treasury and we kinda pay out to those whom we pay out to, based on it?
I gave you the grand link for your to do your OWN research. YOU have to learn this, not ME. last year, when the full spectrum inflation ran well over 16% ALL YEAR, as I said, they went past the CPI statement due date by over a month (it was in all the news, you can read about it TODAY so I absolutely do not accept you didnt hear about it).
Once the statement comes out, some code has to change, some runs have to be made after all, who takes the money from the Treasury and gives it others? Hint: not the federal reserve.
So, in the statement from BLS I gave you, it CLEARLY said (in a grand over simplification) that they merely downgraded the WEIGHTING of food and fuel (where do they factor in again in the monthly non mortgage expenses? #2? #3? #7 #11?) A further statement, from the SAME source (BLS.gov, not the federal reserve) pointed out that the inflationary cost of food last year was about TWICE that of the final number.
Oh
Well thats comforting.
What are ALL americans complaining about? "I cannot feed this family", "I cannot fill my tank for a trip", "How can I afford to run the AC?" "How can I heat this place this winter"
There are exactly ZERO dissenting data points ANYWHERE in the US (well except OP's on CD that tell us if we just discount the #2 and #3 bills each month, its just not so damn bad!)
And the reason that the fed DOES not discount the price of gas, and indeed the BLS saw fit to lessen its impact on the CPI by half to hide the truth, is simply because the price of fuel does NOT fluctuate so wildly and badly that we cannot graph it meaningfully. Biden, and Obama, have not been kind to your Unocal 76 card.
oh yeah, investopedia. The gold standard. The cornerstone of any finance career. <insert about 2000 rolleyes emojis in here>
According to, well, people that track this, transpo is the 2nd largest bill, which is made up of car cost, FUEL, and maint. the third largest bill is FOOD. The OP in THIS thread said, if we discount items 2 and 3 in the monthly budget, well heckfire - it aint so bad! The number 1 cost is housing, which of course includes FUEL (be it gas, electric, oil, coal)
but back to your post, it would have NEVER occurred to me to consult investopedia to figure out how the CPI is calculated because, oh I dunno, I work for treasury and we kinda pay out to those whom we pay out to, based on it?
I gave you the grand link for your to do your OWN research. YOU have to learn this, not ME. last year, when the full spectrum inflation ran well over 16% ALL YEAR, as I said, they went past the CPI statement due date by over a month (it was in all the news, you can read about it TODAY so I absolutely do not accept you didnt hear about it).
Once the statement comes out, some code has to change, some runs have to be made after all, who takes the money from the Treasury and gives it others? Hint: not the federal reserve.
So, in the statement from BLS I gave you, it CLEARLY said (in a grand over simplification) that they merely downgraded the WEIGHTING of food and fuel (where do they factor in again in the monthly non mortgage expenses? #2? #3? #7 #11?) A further statement, from the SAME source (BLS.gov, not the federal reserve) pointed out that the inflationary cost of food last year was about TWICE that of the final number.
Oh
Well thats comforting.
What are ALL americans complaining about? "I cannot feed this family", "I cannot fill my tank for a trip", "How can I afford to run the AC?" "How can I heat this place this winter"
There are exactly ZERO dissenting data points ANYWHERE in the US (well except OP's on CD that tell us if we just discount the #2 and #3 bills each month, its just not so damn bad!)
And the reason that the fed DOES not discount the price of gas, and indeed the BLS saw fit to lessen its impact on the CPI by half to hide the truth, is simply because the price of fuel does NOT fluctuate so wildly and badly that we cannot graph it meaningfully. Biden, and Obama, have not been kind to your Unocal 76 card.
There was no link that came through in your post. Nothing to click.
I didn't ask to do my own research. I asked you to cite specific examples of goods in the market basket that the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses that show that inflation went up by more than the 3.7% figure. You mention fuel and food, but you don't say "the price was this on this date and this on that date". Nor, do you get into the fact that the prices of some items in the market basket actually declined or went up by less than 3.7% lowering the overall average. BTW, I can buy gas here for about 3.65 a gallon. I'm satisfied with that.
Its obvious you are quite upset over this. Perhaps, you should try to set those feelings aside and approach this objectively.
Most Americans are unhappy that prices have gone up. I don't hear anyone where I live saying "they cannot feed their family". I did hear one guy here insist it cost him twice as much to buy a boat, but that's way different than not being able to feed your family.
why should any job be worth more other then inflation adjustments.
It shouldn’t ..
we make more money by moving up the ladder , earning more marketable skills and taking on more responsibility.
some jobs are even worth less .
a good phone receptionist was priceless to a company at one time
today most companies don’t even have one and anyone who does grab a phone to answer does so as part of other job functions usually
Try telling a worker that their pay is being cut because the job they are doing competently is now worth less than when they were hired -- yeah right. Better have their replacement lined up.
The best situation for employers is to have motivated employees, not just drones that show up for a shift and do the minimum to get by. Enlightened effort is what leads to productivity increases (the key to real economic growth) and makes management's job a heck of a lot easier. Wages that outpace increases in the general cost of living is just one factor, but it's a real consideration especially when unemployment is at record lows.
Try telling a worker that their pay is being cut because the job they are doing competently is now worth less than when they were hired -- yeah right. Better have their replacement lined up.
The best situation for employers is to have motivated employees, not just drones that show up for a shift and do the minimum to get by. Enlightened effort is what leads to productivity increases (the key to real economic growth) and makes management's job a heck of a lot easier. Wages that outpace increases in the general cost of living is just one factor, but it's a real consideration especially when unemployment is at record lows.
it doesn’t change a thing .the same old same old job is worth no more except for inflation adjusting.
wages for many of us were not stagnant because our job skills aren’t stagnant
Lying with statistics without meeting the criteria to be called a liar:
The Dems would claim the rate of inflation has come down over their three yrs in office- from 10% to 7% to 3%...That's true. Things are getting better!...The graph of inflation rates is down-sloping to the right.
The repubs would claim those three yrs show prices 3% higher this year than last, last year 7% than the yr before and that yr 10% higher than the first yr-- Prices are 20% higher today than when Trump left office. The graph of prices is still up-sloping to the right....That's true, and more accurately reflects reality and what citizens are experiencing.
Rates of inflation go up and down, but prices never go down, unless the economy is collapsing. Don't confuse rates with prices.
Rates of inflation go up and down, but prices never go down, unless the economy is collapsing. Don't confuse rates with prices.
Prices come down in the electronics industry.
Ten years ago, an 80-inch flat screen TV was about $1600. Today you can get one for less than half that.
23 years ago, Intel released the Pentium IV Processor, and it was priced at about $500. Today you can buy one for $5.
it isn’t special …there are loads of others who are effected differently by what goes up.
WHICH IS WHY THE CPI ISNT SUPPOSED TO REFLECT ANYONES COST OF LIVING IN PARTICULAR AND CANT REFLECT IT
You know maybe I'm a bit spoiled. Or maybe I just was able to do something others could not. I used to hear people talk about budgeting all the time when I was growing up. They were always working to make a stagnant salary or income last longer and get them to the next payday.
I did something different. When I didn't have enough money, I found ways to make more. The crazy thing is that it seemed to work well most of the time. It maybe why I don't do well with people who whine that there doesn't seem to be a law that limits inflation to 2% a year. That's not the real world. In the real world, countries are subjected to all kinds of pressures that cause inflation. I am glad though that the Federal Reserve takes inflation seriously and fights to protect the value of the dollar.
Apparently CPI is only right or wrong depending on one's agenda.
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