They aren't hiding anything. The data for food, fuel, etc. are all available. Prices for food and fuel are very volatile (in both directions) and there is a j

They aren't hiding anything. The data for food, fuel, etc. are all available. Prices for food and fuel are very volatile (in both directions) and there is a justifiable reason for excluding them when calculating the "core" CPI. http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1011.pdf http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1011.pdf There are problems with every metric (and unemployment and the CPI are no exception), but it's hard to argue that inflation is a major concern at this point. It's my non-expert impression that QE has had limited (good or bad) effect because we're still trying to reconcile all the value that has evaporated from the economy (in the form of asset/stock prices). I'd be interested in seeing some pointers to metrics and/or commentary that support your concern.