“That’s my main point: the increase in cost of living that people “feel” is not necessarily inflation. They do get more or better goods or services.”
i dont know about you, but my steaks taste worse today than they did 10 years ago. my gasoline is about the same, my gold is exactly the same.
my insurance premiums have gone up, but my deductible remains the same. my rent has gone up, but my house hasn’t been made over with granite and berber.
my tv and computer have improved but i certainly paid for the improvement. the costs of the improvements come down with productivity and manufacturing process improvements; the majority of “durable goods” are manufactured overseas by laborers who do not have the same quality of life as we do. so that’s a terrible standard of comparison.
by measuring inflation only in terms of imported goods, goods that are not daily purchases, you’re only measuring the cost inflation of those goods and not the general changes in cost of living. the consumer price index is therefore a misnomer and more accurately should be called the imported goods price index.
