2 ms·
> Isn't CPI politicized and doesn't accurately account for real cost of living changes? CPI ain't perfect. Anyone can argue about the compensation of the bask
by mlyle 5y ago
> Isn't CPI politicized and doesn't accurately account for real cost of living changes?
CPI ain't perfect. Anyone can argue about the compensation of the basket and make points that it might understate some portions of household spending. And then there's confounds in the opposite direction: it doesn't take into account hedonics at all really. But it's not terrible, either: it's the best measure we have.
> Why do you think CPI is a better measure?
See sibling comments. If CPI doesn't quite accurately report purchasing power... M3 is nowhere close as a metric.
- itsdrewmiller 5y agoHedonics are one of the best arguments against CPI - https://wolfstreet.com/2019/12/05/what-worries-me-about-hedonic-quality-adjustments-cpi/ https://wolfstreet.com/2019/12/05/what-worries-me-about-hedo... This M3 nonsense is ridiculous though, I agree.
- mlyle 5y agoHedonics (which I had mentioned) are an inescapable confound. We can't go back and live in 1990 with 1990s goods. The cost of an equivalent quality of life (by our best reckoning) is measured in the various CPI. But people expecting more in life (safer products, more computing, etc) isn't exactly "inflation". And if we treat increases in quality of life as an increase of cost of living, we're really measuring something else.