Another thing they lack is transparency about adjustments made for quality. Monthly they might try to be fair, but every 3-5 years or so, they redesign their market basket based on what’s currently being purchased and how.
Another thing they lack is transparency about adjustments made for quality. Monthly they might try to be fair, but every 3-5 years or so, they redesign their market basket based on what’s currently being purchased and how.
Worse yet is when they lower inflation by using a hedonics index or quality adjustment. The most infamous
example is mandating an additive to gasoline. The additive increases the cost, but increase is subtracted when calculating the CPI using a 'quality adjustment'.