To be fair, the government has a long history of changing how key metrics are measured to suit their needs. The CPI is pretty consistently changed to keep inflation rates roughly on target.
How do you explain a large deviation in magazine prices as listed in the CPI compared to the actual prices printed on the cover? Or swapping out steak for lesser cuts or ground beef?
You can claim that my assumed intent behind how the CPI is adjusted over time is a false equivalence. I'd argue with you there, but what absolutely is false equivalence is a pound of steak and a pound of ground beef.
It's the math version I hadn't seen before. I saw the comment shortly after I made basically the same comment with way more words. Sadly, even in it's simplest form, I'm sure the people that most need to understand it, will still refuse to accept it.
“To be fair”, ok provide data. Do you have evidence that they consistently changed metrics to keep inflation on target? I only know of one change in the recent years and I don’t know if that even went through.
Examples? There are definitely complaints about how CPI is calculated (particularly that it does not include housing), however it's not consistently changed.
I think that's far different that what's happening today. The other day Amazon was accused of being hostile and "political" for simply showing tariff costs in a price breakdown.
