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Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

bls.gov

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Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#171

Post by RachelF »

gruez wrote: post #157
RachelF wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a lot of fiddling done on the numbers. One thing they do to keep CPI low is using "equivalent items". So if the iPhone 4 cost $500 ten years ago, and you can now buy an "equivalent" cheap Android from WalMart for $50 then they measure this as deflation.

And that's fine right? 13 years ago an enthusiast-class graphics card went for $300[1]. Now it costs $650[2] (more if you include scalpers). Does that mean PC gaming hardware has inflated by 2x? [1] https://www.anandtech.com/show/2556 [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radeon_RX_6000_series

No, that's the opposite of how they work.

They will say your 13 year old HD 4750 costs next to nothing these days. They compare like specs now with those last year, so technological progress is counted as deflation.

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#172

Post by dsnr »

dntrkv wrote: post #149
thepasswordis wrote: post #92

In other news, the chocolate ration has been increased to 25 grams! Great success! /s Anybody living in the world can tell you that consumer prices are up a lot, lot more than 2.6%. Look even at this very thread. Food prices are way up, lumber prices are way up, restaurant prices are way up, clothing costs are up. Lots of goods literally just seem unbuyable at this point. Even in my city (nowhere near the southeast)…

Sad to see this as the top comment. No substance, just a rant with absolutely zero data or meaningful insight. Which specific parts of the numbers do you disagree with? > clothing costs are up In what world? Clothing costs are way down > Food prices are way up Some food prices are up, some are flat > Lots of goods literally just seem unbuyable at this point Like what? > people are now lining up to buy gas Not sure ho…

> No substance, just a rant with absolutely zero data or meaningful insight.

How is your anecdotal evidence more valuable than the GP’s?

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#173

Post by dntrkv »

dsnr wrote: post #172
dntrkv wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sad to see this as the top comment. No substance, just a rant with absolutely zero data or meaningful insight. Which specific parts of the numbers do you disagree with? > clothing costs are up In what world? Clothing costs are way down > Food prices are way up Some food prices are up, some are flat > Lots of goods literally just seem unbuyable at this point Like what? > people are now lining up to buy gas Not sure ho…

> No substance, just a rant with absolutely zero data or meaningful insight. How is your anecdotal evidence more valuable than the GP’s?

Well if you look at the link at the very top of this page, you know the one we are all discussing, you can actually drill down into the categories.

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#174

Post by raydev »

gruez wrote: post #146
missedthecue wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's less expensive right now than it was a year ago?

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.t01.htm Apparel, down -2.5% Medical care commodities, down 2.4% Motor vehicle insurance, down 2.5% Airline fares, down 15.1%

Comically, everything on this list can be attributed to people not leaving their houses as often as before the pandemic.

Why do we care if those things are cheaper if no one needs them?

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#175

Post by bradlys »

ping_pong wrote: post #165
samspenc wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would reckon that airline fares are down because of the pandemic -- people don't want to fly because they are afraid of getting infected, and that's causing a "deflation" in ticket prices.

But by that measure, everything is up or down because of the pandemic. A lot of the inflation we are seeing is because of supply chain issues specifically caused by the pandemic. For example, lumber is only because they closed down mills, and chips are short because companies cancelled a ton of orders, etc. I myself went on a trip because plane tickets are so damn cheap right now. But I do agree that we are in a peri…

For anyone else out there thinking of traveling, the flights are cheap until you start having to do all the associated covid testing to even enter other countries. After that, it’s actually a very expensive time to fly. (Especially if the location only allows certain test facilities - $400+ per test adds up) Tests to get on the plane, tests after you land, tests some days after you land, tests before you leave... The flights are “cheaper” but the total cost definitely isn’t.

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#176

Post by [deleted] »

u320 wrote: post #82
snarf21 wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The government has perverse incentives to keep it low and close to the same. The way the CPI is calculated has changed dozes of times in the last 30 years. Like you said, if you at food, healthcare, education, etc., they are up way more than 3% year over year.

> Like you said, if you at food, healthcare, education, etc., they are up way more than 3% year over year. That's how averages work

[deleted]

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#177

Post by [deleted] »

blsapologist42 wrote: post #23
nostromo wrote: post #7

Some non-CPI items like cars (new and used) and basic commodities like lumber have grown a lot more than 2.6%. Correction: CPI does include new and used car prices, after a lot of adjustments, at 3.7% and 2.5%, respectively. It's important to note though that the median cost of cars sold has grown much faster than the CPI car numbers. This is because the BLS tries to account for car quality, so even though you're pay…

Cars are included in the CPI. Don't spread FUD. https://www.bls.gov/cpi/factsheets/new-vehicles.htm

[deleted]

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#179

Post by machinebun »

missedthecue wrote: post #134
notyourday wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of the population lives in the urban high cost of living areas.

The top 300 biggest cities in the US are home to only ~20% of the population.

> The top 300 biggest cities in the US are home to only ~20% of the population.

I think it's actually 20% for the top 100 cities; but a total of 62.5% of the population actually live in cities (82% live in urban areas - due to increase to 89% by 2050)

https://www.nationalpopularvote.com/100-biggest-cities-have-...

Re: Consumer prices increase 2.6 percent

#180

Post by patrick451 »

MontyCarloHall wrote: post #116
ragnese wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tangentially, wouldn't it be nice if we could buy a 1990-quality car for the inflation-adjusted price? Poor(ish) people would have a decent shot at actually affording reliable transportation and climbing up the ladder.

With the exception of a few brands (e.g. Honda, Toyota), I’m not sure the dismal mechanical quality of many 1990-quality cars would save people money versus buying a 10 year old used car for the same money. Remember, 1990 is still the era of the 5 digit odometer. Cars have gotten hugely more reliable over the years. A 2010 car hitting 200k miles is routine and expected; a 1990 car hitting 200k miles would be exceptio…

I owned a 95 chevy truck until it hit 270k. My current vehicle is a 98 ford with 220k. Prior to that, I owned an 86 Saab with close to 300k. The odometers on all these had 6 digits. There may be statistics somewhere that say these are all outliers, but my experience has been that 90s vehicle are nowhere nearly as unreliable as you claim.

Cars from this era were far easier to work on than those made more recently. That's one reason I keep buying old. So it's not obvious that buying a newer car which is more difficult to fix, and may have to get taken to a mechanic or the dealer is a better deal than an older one which I can fix myself, even if the older vehicle needs fixing slightly more frequently.

Viewed this way, newer cars are both more expensive and provide worse value than cars from previous eras.

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