Unequivocally no, Shadowstats is garbage. Their methodology doesn't even make sense -- if they were actually "calculating" it, their measure would continue to d

Unequivocally no, Shadowstats is garbage. Their methodology doesn't even make sense -- if they were actually "calculating" it, their measure would continue to diverge from CPI instead of just adding some fixed amount to the CPI number. If you look at their chart from say, 1990 to today, they show something like 8-9% annual. 8% annual inflation for 33 years would be ~1,300% cumulative. Do Hondas that cost $15k in 1990 cost $200k today? Does a gallon of milk that cost $1.50 in 1990 cost $20 today? Even housing -- a $100k house in 1990 would cost $1.4M today based on that rate... that may be true in very specific neighborhoods but that's not inflation as much as supply:demand mismatch in Tier A cities.