Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

bls.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

421–430 of 918 posts

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#421

Post by boole1854 »

propogandist wrote: post #271
fuoqi wrote: post #172

How easy this value can be verified? In other words, do we have all inputs public and the algorithm (with all its "hedonistic adjustments") is fully accessible? Can we track changes in the algorithm? Even with the effect of high base, I am getting increasingly suspicious of official numbers (same with the unemployment statistics). Energy costs have skyrocketed and they get into almost everything an economy produces.…

the govt changed the way CPI metric was calculated in January 2022 to mask some of the inflation https://twitter.com/truflation/status/1557349186466627586 https://youtube.com/watch?v=cb7oI8Hs16g http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts

A word of caution about shadowstats: they have been making basic, verifiable conceptual errors about the mathematics of inflation indexes for years. Details here: https://fullstackeconomics.com/no-the-real-inflation-rate-is...

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#422

Post by thomascgalvin »

pojzon wrote: post #209
bombcar wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no way to do "the main inflation number" and make everyone happy - because they have to try to find some way to include housing, and that either drags it way up or way down relative to how you "feel". If all other prices double, but you own or have fixed rent, you're going to feel it but the numbers will be muted; if all prices stay the same but your rent doubles, you're still going to feel it but the numbers…

Thats why median makes more sense for most calculations than average. The median inflation for ppl in EU is around 30-50%. In US its probably less 10-20%. But its nowhere near of what goverments proclaim it to be. Its really bad and its going to be worse if climate change hits hard.

With our stubborn refusal to do anything more than the bare minimum, I think it's actually "when" climate change hits hard.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#423

Post by scottLobster »

AlwaysRock wrote: post #405
scottLobster wrote: post #266

Great. All I know is I'm trading a lot more time for money this year. Way less takeout, avoiding toll roads unless it saves at least 30 minutes, fewer streaming services (will renew on a show-by-show basis), and food is getting so crazy I might start going to multiple stores to try and save money instead of my one consolidated trip to Wegmans. I'm also stuffing my freezer with meat and have a year's supply of non-per…

So I know I can make 65 an hour with side jobs. I've got a few side gigs where I can set my own schedule and work those hours at any time. I could probably push higher if I wanted (75-100 an hour). When I need to pad my savings I cut some costs but mostly I just work extra hours in side gigs. I couldnt imagine its worth going to multiple grocery stores to compare prices. Shop at 1 store, pay more for some items, work…

I haven't fully priced it out yet, but Wegmans is middle of the road in terms of pricing for my area, depending on the item. Depends on what I'm buying week to week.

We have discount grocers nearby that sell a crap-shoot of stuff the bigger stores are trying to get rid of. If going there before heading to Wegmans can save me $50-100/month after gas, for maybe an extra 30 minutes - 1 hour of time, would be worth it these days.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#424

Post by dragonwriter »

sangnoir wrote: post #387
post_break wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My previous plan was 8c per kWh, it's now 16c per kWh. I live in Texas where you shop for rates. Before you're quick to crap on comments give a little benefit of the doubt.

> My previous plan was 8c per kWh, it's now 16c per kWh Didn't ERCOT allow the Texas energy resellers to "recoup" the winterstorm losses (running into billions) from their customers over a decade? That increase was not primarily driven by inflation, but by good old socialization of losses while privatizing profits.

Consumer price increases are inflation, no matter what drives them.

And energy price inflation drives inflation in other sectors, again, irrespective of what is driving the energy price inflation itself.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#425

Post by moosey »

lettergram wrote: post #235
HelloMcFly wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not trying to be glib or intentionally controversial, but: is this a "market correction" for beef not really being as sustainable at recent consumption levels? Is it a bad thing if beef becomes significantly more expensive?

Production of beef is at sustainable levels, provided cheap energy. But increase fertilizer 3-10x and fuel 3-5x and you’re going to adjust in prices. And you’re going to get a new sustainable level. Btw when I say “sustainable” I mean market conditions, not environment. The environment can likely handle far more cattle, but it requires input (fuel, fertilizer, etc) for us to produce said cattle. Recall, there used to…

The difference between the bison and beef cows is that the bison lived longer lives than the beef cows today. Growing new animals vs. maintaining a population has significantly different energy requirements.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#426

Post by hajile »

Median income in 1990 was $50,500. Adjusting for inflation using CPI, that's $102,700 in 2020 money, but median income for 2020 was actually $67,500. Since 2020, this has been kicked into overdrive.

I believe wholesale goods inflation is somewhere near 30% since the pandemic began (inflation numbers look lower because services -- aka wages -- don't increase at the same amount).

The only people immune to inflation are the rich who have hard assets that aren't affected by inflation.

If people really understood how badly they are getting screwed by inflation, there would be riots.

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#427

Post by mjh2539 »

bamboozled wrote: post #344
deanmoriarty wrote: post #111

No freaking way! My rent just went up 15% (and last year too, which forced me to move out and look for a cheaper apartment), all groceries are up 30% across the board compared to last year, I know because mobile apps show my previous receipts. These are the times I feel dumb for not being a homeowner (despite technically being able to afford it, just didn't want to get locked down in an area for 8+ years to make the…

Your mortgage repayments won't go up too?

Mortgage payments are composed of: principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. Some people may have their HOA dues also bundled in, but most don't. In any case, HOA dues are usually pretty small (like less than $500 per year), unless you live in a condominium or a neighborhood with really expensive stuff owned by the HOA, in which case they can sometimes exceed the other components of the mortgage payment.

Most folks in the United States have fixed rate mortgages. So at the very least, the two largest portions of a person's payment will not go up: principal and interest.

The last two (or three, if you include HOA dues) generally go up over time, especially in places like Texas that use property taxes in lieu of a state income tax. Insurance will go up too, as the actual amount the policies cover (e.g. the cost of replacing the house) rise over time as well.

Edit: here's a concrete example: https://imgur.com/a/cGQm4U0

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#428

Post by altdataseller »

orwin wrote: post #282
moistofreason wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can, and have been, printing money like there is no tomorrow… they are literally the only body that can inflate the USD.

No, the states and the federal government can too, by destroying money (IE increasing taxes). Inflation, especially dollar inflation, is more complicated than 'printing more = inflation'.

I don't nobody loves taxes, and government wastes a lot of money, but doesn't some of that money goes back to the economy via government spending on infrastructure, workers, software, new projects, etc? So how is that destroying money?

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#429

Post by Dylan16807 »

fleddr wrote: post #303
HelloMcFly wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not trying to be glib or intentionally controversial, but: is this a "market correction" for beef not really being as sustainable at recent consumption levels? Is it a bad thing if beef becomes significantly more expensive?

My father has worked in the meat industry his entire life and said that over the decades, he was shocked how unnaturally cheap meat has become. I'm in no way anti-meat, but a lot of people have normalized eating a huge amount of meat per day at ultra low cost, and internalized this as some basic right. Natural consumption of meat is to eat meat sporadically, not 3 times per day. I'm not questioning whether one likes…

What's a natural amount?

I'm imagining a farm household hundreds of years ago, growing their own crops and having a herd of 4 cows, killing one or two a year for lots and lots of meat.

Google says hunter-gatherers got most of their food from meat.

And are crops not unnaturally cheap with modern mechanized farms?

Re: U.S. annual inflation rate drops to 8.5%

#430

Post by sangnoir »

lettergram wrote: post #85
roflyear wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Quoted post unavailable.

https://www.texaselectricityratings.com/resources/historical... Says the guy who can’t spend 2 seconds searching. Energy prices at least doubled in Texas. And was relatively stable 2016 through mid 2021

Texas energy pricing went up because of losses incurred in early 2021 during the infamous winterstorm that resulted in runaway prices.

Most energy companies ran into losses, but the supervising authority approved loss recovery via price increases over a number of years.

Post reply on HN