Because a Covid-19 basket of goods and services has a different inflation rate from the CPI basket, the cost of living might not be what we think it is.…
Why Your Inflation Rate is Different From Mine
Although the BLS reports the CPI (Consumer Price Index) inflation rate each month, our own household could see different price changes.…
Is Santa Earning More?
By calculating Santa’s wages through comparable occupations, we can determine if his yearly earnings increases are similar to U.S. workers.…
Where Clothing Size Inflation Is a Large Problem
Like the CPI measures purchasing power through the dollar’s inflation rate, we can observe waistline changes through clothing size inflation.…
Not Quite a Goldilocks Recovery
To decide the strength of our economic recovery since the Great Recession, we can use seven numbers or just one that might be most important.…
An Unusual Inflation Indicator
Like the CPI, through “The 12 Days of Christmas,” we can see how prices change in a Christmas Price Index that includes pear trees and dancing maids.…
The Fed’s Inflation Mystery
Usually Federal Reserve interest rate hikes should control inflation but now it is mysteriously missing, even with low unemployment.…
Weekly Roundup: From the Diner’s Dilemma to Lost Labor
This week’s economic news summary includes the diner’s dilemma and marginal analysis, property rights in outer space, the Phillip’s Curve and unemployment.…
The Impact of a Legendary Economics Curve
Showing the connection between inflation and unemployment, the Phillips Curve has been re-interpreted, re-affirmed and condemned as a monetary policy tool.…
Pondering the Bunker Hill Theory of Inflation
As the source of monetary policy, the Federal Reserve has to decide if interest rates should rise when inflation is low but a jobs recovery has begun.…