On Thu, 3 Nov 2016 16:37:06 -0400, "dadiOH" wrote:


wrote in message
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On Wednesday, November 2, 2016 at 3:14:40 PM UTC-5, dadiOH wrote:
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Inflation, which has run below the Fed's 2% target for years,

How many years? At 2% it would take about 36 years for prices to double.

My pocket book tells me that prices are about 2.5 times - or more - what
they were 20 years ago, nowhere near what the government claims. For
example, in 1996 I could buy a gallon of paint thinner for less than
$2.00;
now, it is $9.98. I could buy a senior ticket to a movie for $3.00; now
it
costs me $7.50.

However, inflation is great for debtors, the federal government being at
the
top of the heap. BTW, federal debt in 1996 was a bit less than 1/4 of
what
it is currently (5.2 billion vs 19+ billion).

IOW, the government's CPI doesn't reflect the real world.

http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpid1609.pdf

Go to page 87 of this PDF and you can see the annual percentage inflation
for the past 45 years. Couple pages above and you can see the annual
inflation for the prior 56 years before that.

Thank you buI know where to find such.

The CPI is comprised of normal everyday items people purchase. It shows the
change in prices for a basket of these goods. Not sure if housing,
gasoline, etc. are included or not.

They are not. The problem is that the "basket" keeps changing,
depending on what the government wants to show. Several years ago,
steak was replaced by hamburger (both are meat, after all) to keep the
cost of food in the basket the same. Gasoline was included, until it
was approaching $5. Then not.

Some of the inflation rates include or
exclude these types of items. It is what the average person buys. The CPI
would not capture the cost of living for an over the road truck driver who
sleeps in his cab and eats at diners and never pays utilities or does
anything else except drive. And the CPI would not work for an 80 year old
wood worker who lives off the grid and eats day old bread and peanut butter
only and uses tung oil and hand planes and chisels and hand saws only.
AVERAGE American is the key here. CPI is applicable to most people. Paint
thinner? Senior movie tickets? Does the average American buy these items?

Probably not but the average American doesn't have college tuition & fees
(one of the items in the CPI) either; nor cigarettes; nor propane, kerosene
and firewood. Here's the whole list...
http://www.businessinsider.com/break...-basket-2014-1

Here's another link...income over a span of time. Pay attention to the
median. In 1995 it was $16,650. Last year - 20 years later - it was
$29.930. If you plug $16,650 into an "inflation calculator" for 1995 and
ask for the 2015 equivalent it will spit out $25,894. Do you really believe
that real median income has increased by more than $4,000? I don't.
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html