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> The idea that all departments of all western governments are secretly changing the data I don't think they have to do it secretly. They do it in the open, ot

> The idea that all departments of all western governments are secretly changing the data I don't think they have to do it secretly. They do it in the open, otherwise there wouldn't be an Investopedia article on CPI controversy that clearly indicates a few problems. There's no internal whistle blowing going on. It's in the open. > And even if we go with CPI stuff, the agencies that do these things try to stay consistent. Sure, perhaps they "try", but: "Over the years, the methodology used to calculate the CPI has undergone numerous revisions". "Some critics view the methodological changes and the switch from a cost of goods index (COGI) to a cost of living index (COLI) as a purposeful manipulation that allows the U.S. government to report a lower CPI." My personal problem with CPI is that it doesn't include the cost of purchasing a home. I get it...it's not a "consumer good" or whatever. But if you're talking about inflation, and everyone jumps to CPI for that, then CPI should include it, or maybe the media should stop quoting it so much. It's not representative of what people want it to be. People want a way to quantify how much harder it is to establish a good life with their earnings. And I don't think the government is being honest about that. Maybe it's too much to ask.

panick21_ 4y ago
> They do it in the open Then please point me at the methodological changes done by these government in the last 1-2 years that were specifically designed to hide higher inflation. > "Some critics view the methodological changes and the switch from a cost of goods index (COGI) to a cost of living index (COLI) as a purposeful manipulation that allows the U.S. government to report a lower CPI." Can this pattern be shown to always lower CPI and can they show that all western governments have enacted the same changes? And such a methodology would maybe work over a long time-span, it could not be used to hide 1 years high inflation. CPI is just a dumb and useless measure all together. It really should have no relevance to economic discussion. For macro economic analysis of any kind, the GDP deflator is to be preferred. > People want a way to quantify how much harder it is to establish a good life with their earnings. That is a wrong way of thinking about any inflation measure. > And I don't think the government is being honest about that. Maybe it's too much to ask. Not sure what honest means here. I don't think the government states anywhere that CPI is some magical measure of 'how easy it is to establishing a good life'.

panick21_ 4y ago

> They do it in the open Then please point me at the methodological changes done by these government in the last 1-2 years that were specifically designed to hide higher inflation. > "Some critics view the methodological changes and the switch from a cost of goods index (COGI) to a cost of living index (COLI) as a purposeful manipulation that allows the U.S. government to report a lower CPI." Can this pattern be shown to always lower CPI and can they show that all western governments have enacted the same changes? And such a methodology would maybe work over a long time-span, it could not be used to hide 1 years high inflation. CPI is just a dumb and useless measure all together. It really should have no relevance to economic discussion. For macro economic analysis of any kind, the GDP deflator is to be preferred. > People want a way to quantify how much harder it is to establish a good life with their earnings. That is a wrong way of thinking about any inflation measure. > And I don't think the government is being honest about that. Maybe it's too much to ask. Not sure what honest means here. I don't think the government states anywhere that CPI is some magical measure of 'how easy it is to establishing a good life'.