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How is it gamed? Can you show your receipt from a year ago where your food bill was that much less? CPI does include food, fuel, and housing costs (though hous

How is it gamed? Can you show your receipt from a year ago where your food bill was that much less? CPI does include food, fuel, and housing costs (though housing lags very significantly for a few reasons).

willcipriano 3y ago
> How is it gamed? The totally subjective hedonic quality adjustment (sure food is more expensive but iPads have more ram!), also this knife only ever seems to cut one way, enshittification doesn't have a inflationary effect like you would expect. Owner imputed rent as opposed to looking at what consumers actually pay. The basket of goods is unrealistic, most households don't have teams of economists putting their shopping list together in order to maximally limit inflation.
- 1980phipsi 3y ago
  There is owner imputed rent and rent. It’s two separate categories. Owner imputed rent is meant to capture the implied rent that home owners pay themselves. The old method used interest costs, which historically didn’t do a good job because if you lock in a 30-year mortgage rate then you have no inflation if rates rise. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
- gruez 3y ago
  >The totally subjective hedonic quality adjustment (sure food is more expensive but iPads have more ram!), also this knife only ever seems to cut one way, enshittification doesn't have a inflationary effect like you would expect. Quality adjustment is only active for a few basket items, and their contribution to the overall cpi is minimal. All the extra food inflation that's supposedly happening isn't being held back by faster iPads. >Owner imputed rent as opposed to looking at what consumers actually pay. Most Americans are homeowners. For them, they don't pay any rent. Pretending that they pay market rent has no relation to what their actual expenses are. How do you propose we capture their expenses? >The basket of goods is unrealistic, most households don't have teams of economists putting their shopping list together in order to maximally limit inflation. Here's the basket the bls uses: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2022.htm https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2022.htm What specific parts do you think is "unrealistic", and what values would you use instead?
jonhohle 3y ago
I said two years ago, but yes, in fact I do have receipts from that period. Here's the breakdown between a combination of receipts from October 26th & 30th of 2021 vs. the prices today: 2021 2023 increase -----------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------- Breaded Fillets 50 oz. | 5.46 | 14.48 | 165.2% Polska Kielbasa Smoked Sausage, 14 oz | 3.48 | 3.98 | 14.4% Goldfish Snack Crackers, 30 oz Carton | 1.53 | 2.64 | 72.5% Darigold Eggnog, 1 Quart, 32 fl | 2.61 | 3.37 | 29.1% Mini Pretzel Twists, 16 oz | 1.98 | 2.24 | 13.1% Cheese Ravioli, Pasta, 25 oz bag | 2.98 | 4.27 | 43.3% Original Dairy Whipped Topping, 13 oz | 2.98 | 3.20 | 7.4% Au Gratin Potatoes, 4.7 oz | 1.18 | 1.68 | 42.4% Organic Reduced Fat 2% Milk, 1 Gallon | 5.68 | 7.96 | 40.1% Steamable Mixed Vegetables, 12 oz | 0.64 | 0.98 | 53.1% Honey Maid Graham Crackers, 14.4 oz | 1.32 | 4.68 | 254.5% Garlic Whole Fresh, 3ct Bag | 1.38 | 1.88 | 36.2% Fresh Green Bell Pepper, Each | 0.66 | 0.76 | 15.2% Fresh Whole Yellow Onions, Each | 0.36 | 0.70 | 94.4% Fresh Whole White Mushrooms, 8 oz | 1.98 | 2.08 | 5.1% Fresh Organic Grape Tomato, 10 oz | 1.96 | 2.83 | 44.4% Organic Spring Mix Salad, 5 oz , Fresh | 2.76 | 2.98 | 8.0% Snapple Peach Tea Drink, 64 fl oz | 2.18 | 2.28 | 4.6% Greek Plain Nonfat Yogurt, 5.3 oz | 0.64 | 0.64 | 0.0% Yoplait Original Yogurt Pack, 8 Ct, 6 OZ | 3.98 | 4.94 | 24.1% Tomato Sauce, 8 oz Can | 0.32 | 0.48 | 50.0% Petite Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz | 0.64 | 0.96 | 50.0% Dark Red Kidney Beans, 15.5 oz | 0.62 | 0.82 | 32.3% Saltine Crackers, 16 oz, 4 Count | 1.02 | 1.74 | 70.6% Buttermilk Pancake Mix, 32 oz Box | 2.48 | 2.82 | 13.7% Cream Of Chicken Condensed Soup, 10.5 oz | 0.57 | 0.68 | 19.3% "JIFFY" Honey Corn Muffin Mix | 0.72 | 0.78 | 8.3% -----------------------------------------+-------+-------+----- total | 52.11 | 76.85 | 47.5% Please excuse the rounding in my earlier comment. Edit to add: the table above is from Walmart grocery. We buy meat and most fruits and vegetables elsewhere, so except for the frozen fish, this list excludes most protein. If you just eat Costco rotisserie chicken, you would not have noticed a price increase. PS to the edit: besides removing duplicates the list above is a raw combination of food items on two receipts without exclusions.
eatsyourtacos 3y ago
Have you been to a restaurant lately? 50% increase is not an exaggeration. Food? So many items are insane. Costco popcorn. I buy that all the time for my kids. Pre-pandemic it was about $9 (maybe 10). Now it's $16/17. Bag of chips? $5-6 for less My healthcare premiums went up 20% last year- I don't even want to look what it's going to cost next year. >CPI does include food, fuel, and housing costs You can say that all you want, but however they are doing it just doesn't translate to reality for most people.
- bequanna 3y ago
  Costco almost isn't a fair way to compare prices because they have intentionally been losing margin and raising prices as slowly as possible to retain customers.
  - therealdrag0 3y ago
    Costco doesn’t believe in lossleaders AND they have a policy of limiting their profit margins to a fixed percentage. So it seems like the would be perfect for comparisons.
  - eatsyourtacos 3y ago
    eyeroll I give you a direct example of a 50% price increase and you just blah blah with some irrelevant bs Ok, then let's look at my local Safeway. Shit is OUTRAGEOUS. If you don't think groceries haven't gone up 30/40/50% then apparently you don't look at any prices while you shop.
    - roflyear 3y ago
      Restaurants are outrageous but you don't need to eat out. Look here: https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/LEipqw https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/LEipqw And here: https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/KZiQw3p https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/KZiQw3p Things are not 50%. Some items, some brands, yes. But you can always cherry-pick anything, always. Chicken is actually CHEAPER today. Crazy (but that was covid supply chain issues I guess, so now I'm cherry-picking)

willcipriano 3y ago

> How is it gamed? The totally subjective hedonic quality adjustment (sure food is more expensive but iPads have more ram!), also this knife only ever seems to cut one way, enshittification doesn't have a inflationary effect like you would expect. Owner imputed rent as opposed to looking at what consumers actually pay. The basket of goods is unrealistic, most households don't have teams of economists putting their shopping list together in order to maximally limit inflation.

1980phipsi 3y ago
There is owner imputed rent and rent. It’s two separate categories. Owner imputed rent is meant to capture the implied rent that home owners pay themselves. The old method used interest costs, which historically didn’t do a good job because if you lock in a 30-year mortgage rate then you have no inflation if rates rise. You don’t know what you’re talking about.
gruez 3y ago
>The totally subjective hedonic quality adjustment (sure food is more expensive but iPads have more ram!), also this knife only ever seems to cut one way, enshittification doesn't have a inflationary effect like you would expect. Quality adjustment is only active for a few basket items, and their contribution to the overall cpi is minimal. All the extra food inflation that's supposedly happening isn't being held back by faster iPads. >Owner imputed rent as opposed to looking at what consumers actually pay. Most Americans are homeowners. For them, they don't pay any rent. Pretending that they pay market rent has no relation to what their actual expenses are. How do you propose we capture their expenses? >The basket of goods is unrealistic, most households don't have teams of economists putting their shopping list together in order to maximally limit inflation. Here's the basket the bls uses: https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2022.htm https://www.bls.gov/cpi/tables/relative-importance/2022.htm What specific parts do you think is "unrealistic", and what values would you use instead?

jonhohle 3y ago

I said two years ago, but yes, in fact I do have receipts from that period. Here's the breakdown between a combination of receipts from October 26th & 30th of 2021 vs. the prices today: 2021 2023 increase -----------------------------------------+-------+-------+-------- Breaded Fillets 50 oz. | 5.46 | 14.48 | 165.2% Polska Kielbasa Smoked Sausage, 14 oz | 3.48 | 3.98 | 14.4% Goldfish Snack Crackers, 30 oz Carton | 1.53 | 2.64 | 72.5% Darigold Eggnog, 1 Quart, 32 fl | 2.61 | 3.37 | 29.1% Mini Pretzel Twists, 16 oz | 1.98 | 2.24 | 13.1% Cheese Ravioli, Pasta, 25 oz bag | 2.98 | 4.27 | 43.3% Original Dairy Whipped Topping, 13 oz | 2.98 | 3.20 | 7.4% Au Gratin Potatoes, 4.7 oz | 1.18 | 1.68 | 42.4% Organic Reduced Fat 2% Milk, 1 Gallon | 5.68 | 7.96 | 40.1% Steamable Mixed Vegetables, 12 oz | 0.64 | 0.98 | 53.1% Honey Maid Graham Crackers, 14.4 oz | 1.32 | 4.68 | 254.5% Garlic Whole Fresh, 3ct Bag | 1.38 | 1.88 | 36.2% Fresh Green Bell Pepper, Each | 0.66 | 0.76 | 15.2% Fresh Whole Yellow Onions, Each | 0.36 | 0.70 | 94.4% Fresh Whole White Mushrooms, 8 oz | 1.98 | 2.08 | 5.1% Fresh Organic Grape Tomato, 10 oz | 1.96 | 2.83 | 44.4% Organic Spring Mix Salad, 5 oz , Fresh | 2.76 | 2.98 | 8.0% Snapple Peach Tea Drink, 64 fl oz | 2.18 | 2.28 | 4.6% Greek Plain Nonfat Yogurt, 5.3 oz | 0.64 | 0.64 | 0.0% Yoplait Original Yogurt Pack, 8 Ct, 6 OZ | 3.98 | 4.94 | 24.1% Tomato Sauce, 8 oz Can | 0.32 | 0.48 | 50.0% Petite Diced Tomatoes, 14.5 oz | 0.64 | 0.96 | 50.0% Dark Red Kidney Beans, 15.5 oz | 0.62 | 0.82 | 32.3% Saltine Crackers, 16 oz, 4 Count | 1.02 | 1.74 | 70.6% Buttermilk Pancake Mix, 32 oz Box | 2.48 | 2.82 | 13.7% Cream Of Chicken Condensed Soup, 10.5 oz | 0.57 | 0.68 | 19.3% "JIFFY" Honey Corn Muffin Mix | 0.72 | 0.78 | 8.3% -----------------------------------------+-------+-------+----- total | 52.11 | 76.85 | 47.5% Please excuse the rounding in my earlier comment. Edit to add: the table above is from Walmart grocery. We buy meat and most fruits and vegetables elsewhere, so except for the frozen fish, this list excludes most protein. If you just eat Costco rotisserie chicken, you would not have noticed a price increase. PS to the edit: besides removing duplicates the list above is a raw combination of food items on two receipts without exclusions.

eatsyourtacos 3y ago

Have you been to a restaurant lately? 50% increase is not an exaggeration. Food? So many items are insane. Costco popcorn. I buy that all the time for my kids. Pre-pandemic it was about $9 (maybe 10). Now it's $16/17. Bag of chips? $5-6 for less My healthcare premiums went up 20% last year- I don't even want to look what it's going to cost next year. >CPI does include food, fuel, and housing costs You can say that all you want, but however they are doing it just doesn't translate to reality for most people.

bequanna 3y ago
Costco almost isn't a fair way to compare prices because they have intentionally been losing margin and raising prices as slowly as possible to retain customers.
- therealdrag0 3y ago
  Costco doesn’t believe in lossleaders AND they have a policy of limiting their profit margins to a fixed percentage. So it seems like the would be perfect for comparisons.
- eatsyourtacos 3y ago
  eyeroll I give you a direct example of a 50% price increase and you just blah blah with some irrelevant bs Ok, then let's look at my local Safeway. Shit is OUTRAGEOUS. If you don't think groceries haven't gone up 30/40/50% then apparently you don't look at any prices while you shop.
  - roflyear 3y ago
    Restaurants are outrageous but you don't need to eat out. Look here: https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/LEipqw https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/LEipqw And here: https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/KZiQw3p https://www.rabato.com/us/shoprite/weekly-ad/KZiQw3p Things are not 50%. Some items, some brands, yes. But you can always cherry-pick anything, always. Chicken is actually CHEAPER today. Crazy (but that was covid supply chain issues I guess, so now I'm cherry-picking)