The “Inflation Rate” is an average across all products
Except the official inflation numbers most often cited specifically exclude food, housing, and energy.
AKA the things people can’t live without and that they spend the vast majority of their money on.
Which of course makes them utterly useless for anyone except the 10% or fewer who are rich enough that the majority of their spending is on less fundamental things.
That’s not even a Trump kakistocracy thing, that’s just one of the many ways in which the billionaire-owned media and ditto government have reinforced their “the economy” = “the metrics that matter most to rich people” swindle for decades if not centuries.
They use a “basket of goods and services” to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the inflation rate in America. This basket includes items in major groups such as food and beverages, housing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and communication. It also accounts for taxes and fees directly related to these items but excludes income taxes and investment items.
Except the official inflation numbers most often cited specifically exclude food, housing, and energy.
AKA the things people can’t live without and that they spend the vast majority of their money on.
Which of course makes them utterly useless for anyone except the 10% or fewer who are rich enough that the majority of their spending is on less fundamental things.
That’s not even a Trump kakistocracy thing, that’s just one of the many ways in which the billionaire-owned media and ditto government have reinforced their “the economy” = “the metrics that matter most to rich people” swindle for decades if not centuries.
They use a “basket of goods and services” to calculate the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the inflation rate in America. This basket includes items in major groups such as food and beverages, housing, transportation, medical care, recreation, education, and communication. It also accounts for taxes and fees directly related to these items but excludes income taxes and investment items.