I forgot to add, that if my old TV dies, and the closer new equivalent costs $1350, and my set standard of living includes a TV, then I spent $1350 and that is what ought to be counted in the CPI. period !
I don’t know how they determine what goes in their basket, but with large ticket items like tvs and autos, they probably shouldn’t pick the least expensive or the most expensive. Perhaps they should average every tv in the entire sector, but the truth is that if I spend $1350, please don’t tell me it was actually $1250 that I just spent. That’s just crazy.