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The groceries I'm buying now for $4.79 now were $2.49 in 2019. Roughly 90% overall inflation rate for everything I buy since 2019. That being said I decided not

The groceries I'm buying now for $4.79 now were $2.49 in 2019. Roughly 90% overall inflation rate for everything I buy since 2019. That being said I decided not to change my habits and preferences - but it's hurting to say the least.

Dylan16807 3y ago
What about all the things you buy that aren't groceries?
- Zandikar 3y ago
  Like all the other food, along with energy expenditures, and housing? Yeah those are all up too. Thankfully, those don't count either. TV's are cheap though!
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    I'm not asking if they are up, I'm asking if they are up 90%.
    - Zandikar 3y ago
      The context of the post you're referring to contextualized "Everything" as related to the subject of groceries. Trying to move the goalposts to "but he said everything" and ignoring the context of his comment is not productive discourse. What are you trying to get at?
      - Dylan16807 3y ago
        > The context of the post you're referring to contextualized "Everything" as related to the subject of groceries. I did not interpret it that way. I interpreted that as trying to imply a breadth of cost increase that was not true, so I was trying to call that out. If we interpret it that way, then I might not have replied, this comment does a better job: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38281712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38281712 But I might have pointed out that "groceries" is a pretty narrow view on inflation.
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
roflyear 3y ago
Well, sure. If you buy the exact same thing and cherry pick - some things are up 100% (or even more!). But not on average.
hncensorship69 3y ago
I don't understand why this is being downvoted. I'm surprised that people on this site could have lived through covid and still trust anything that comes out of government. The government has always been incentivized to make inflation numbers lower than they are. There have been numerous changes to CPI methodology, many in just the last few years. Hedonistic adjustments are questionable at best. Moreover: inflation is a gradient, not a singular vector. You will experience inflation differently depending on where you are in that gradient. Reporting a single number for inflation is about as useful as reporting a single number for the temperature of the planet.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  The government saying that inflation is ending is not contradicted by the OP's comments about previous price increases. When there is not or small inflation, prices don't go back down. they just stay at the current price.
- roflyear 3y ago
  If you look at 2018-2019 circulars for your supermarket (you can usually find archives online for big chains) and compare them to today, it's easy to see that prices did increase ~30%, but not 100% like it "feels like" they increased. 30% is a lot! But it is what the CPI numbers imply for food, and it's more accurate than "feels like." or "these few things went up 100% so everything went up 100%." Feelings are important, but they are not the reality, and they don't imply a government conspiracy.
  - zmgsabst 3y ago
    The government saying that things are fine while a majority of Americans lost 25% of their purchasing power (per your numbers) is pure gaslighting. I think it’s obvious why Americans are upset about that change — and the government lying to them about the problem.
    - D13Fd 3y ago
      Who said things are fine? They gave accurate inflation figures. That's like saying "the government is lying when they say the fire is out, because I saw that the building is still burned and hasn't been repaired."

Dylan16807 3y ago

What about all the things you buy that aren't groceries?

Zandikar 3y ago
Like all the other food, along with energy expenditures, and housing? Yeah those are all up too. Thankfully, those don't count either. TV's are cheap though!
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  I'm not asking if they are up, I'm asking if they are up 90%.
  - Zandikar 3y ago
    The context of the post you're referring to contextualized "Everything" as related to the subject of groceries. Trying to move the goalposts to "but he said everything" and ignoring the context of his comment is not productive discourse. What are you trying to get at?
    - Dylan16807 3y ago
      > The context of the post you're referring to contextualized "Everything" as related to the subject of groceries. I did not interpret it that way. I interpreted that as trying to imply a breadth of cost increase that was not true, so I was trying to call that out. If we interpret it that way, then I might not have replied, this comment does a better job: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38281712 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38281712 But I might have pointed out that "groceries" is a pretty narrow view on inflation.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]

roflyear 3y ago

Well, sure. If you buy the exact same thing and cherry pick - some things are up 100% (or even more!). But not on average.

hncensorship69 3y ago

I don't understand why this is being downvoted. I'm surprised that people on this site could have lived through covid and still trust anything that comes out of government. The government has always been incentivized to make inflation numbers lower than they are. There have been numerous changes to CPI methodology, many in just the last few years. Hedonistic adjustments are questionable at best. Moreover: inflation is a gradient, not a singular vector. You will experience inflation differently depending on where you are in that gradient. Reporting a single number for inflation is about as useful as reporting a single number for the temperature of the planet.

Tagbert 3y ago
The government saying that inflation is ending is not contradicted by the OP's comments about previous price increases. When there is not or small inflation, prices don't go back down. they just stay at the current price.
roflyear 3y ago
If you look at 2018-2019 circulars for your supermarket (you can usually find archives online for big chains) and compare them to today, it's easy to see that prices did increase ~30%, but not 100% like it "feels like" they increased. 30% is a lot! But it is what the CPI numbers imply for food, and it's more accurate than "feels like." or "these few things went up 100% so everything went up 100%." Feelings are important, but they are not the reality, and they don't imply a government conspiracy.
- zmgsabst 3y ago
  The government saying that things are fine while a majority of Americans lost 25% of their purchasing power (per your numbers) is pure gaslighting. I think it’s obvious why Americans are upset about that change — and the government lying to them about the problem.
  - D13Fd 3y ago
    Who said things are fine? They gave accurate inflation figures. That's like saying "the government is lying when they say the fire is out, because I saw that the building is still burned and hasn't been repaired."