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Yes, the average of the above for the entire economy. I agree, but the methodology of CPI does not at all match anything grounded in the averaging of the above

Yes, the average of the above for the entire economy. I agree, but the methodology of CPI does not at all match anything grounded in the averaging of the above logic. A proper measure of inflation should start from the individual level and reason from there. So if on average 1 loaf of bread is bought by a US consumer and a loaf of bread's rate of inflation is increasing(or even decreasing) by %x, and that's %y of the average consumer's expenditure, then that should contribute %x*%y of the overall inflation rate experienced by the average American consumer. Clearly this is a complex line of reasoning, but it should be the basis of thought on measuring inflation. Yet, housing and medical expenditure are not even considered in CPI. CPI is a terrible measure that I believe was designed to obfuscate.

lottin 6y ago
Housing and health expenditure are listed as components of the CPI [0], so it's almost certain that they're included in its calculation. Again, inflation means an increase in the general price level. An increase in the price of bread is not inflation, because the price of bread is not the price level. It can be used as a data point to try to estimate a change in the price level, but by itself it doesn't tell us anything about the inflation rate (unless of course bread is the only good being produced in the economy). [0] https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2020.htm https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2020.htm