When you say “adjusted for inflation” - be careful not to accept the phony Government figure of between 1 and 2%. After all: Venezuela has excellent consumer spending numbers right now.
Shadowstats (http://www.shadowstats.com/) uses the same official inflation-determination method that was used in 1990. They show an inflation rate of between 4 and 5%.
The Chapwood Index (http://www.chapwoodindex.com/) is an index that captures true cost-of-living increases across America. It is not used as the basis of Government index figures. When we look at their results we can guess why.
The Chapwood Index shows that annual price inflation has been running north of 9% over the last five years. They report inflation as high as 13% in some cities.
Chapwood simply track the changes in prices of 500 commonly purchased items. They publish their methodology on their website.
The official CPI figures are completely, utterly wrong. If any of you are wondering why you’re so damn poor while “inflation is less than 2%” then there’s your answer.
Thanks for posting that link to the Chapwood Index. I’d never heard of it, but it is one of those things that is so simple and self-explanatory that it’s a wonder that everybody doesn’t use it.
As opposed to the government switching out hamburger for steak.
You think Shadowstats actually calculates inflation?
Real inflation?
the phony Government figure
OK, you don't like gov't stats and I don't like either Mr. Shadow or Mr. Chapwood. We can either do our own index right here or we can recalculate in oz. of either gold or silver. If you pick gold then we all got to agree that average personal spending (in oz. of gold) has doubled since 2011.