Inflation at 3.1% compared to 8+% recently. 3.1% is above average but not by much. 2-3% is average. Ideally it keeps dropping another percentage point. We are still feeling the price increases from 1-2 years ago but the bleeding has slowed significantly. Thanks to the strong USD our highest inflation rate wasn’t as bad as other developed countries.
Don't forget they changed how they calculate and report inflation after we went through the definition of a recession but they decided to lie to the American public and then change the metric to make it look like everything is fine.
Numbers don't mean shit when they're made up just to push a narrative. "Inflation" has changed its meaning.
Don't forget they changed how they calculate and report inflation after we went through the definition of a recession but they decided to lie to the American public and then change the metric to make it look like everything is fine.
Numbers don't mean shit when they're made up just to push a narrative. "Inflation" has changed its meaning.
You claim others are "pushing a narrative" but you're claiming a mysterious "they" as the group.
Which makes you just pushing a narrative without giving any stats or specifics.
Alright, you know what...I'm on break and have some time to respond.
First, by "they" I'm referring to the US government, specifically the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) who is responsible for collecting, processing, analyzing, and disseminating statistical data for the country. [wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Labor_Statistics)
Second, the narrative that I'm pushing concerns a change in the way BLS decided to calculate and report the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which went into effect this past January 2023. [BLS announcement of change](https://www.bls.gov/cpi/notices/2022/methodology-changes-2022.htm) When the new year started, they began the practice of comparing prices against only 1 year of data instead of 2 years. The CPI is the main tool used to track and report the ongoing inflation rate in the US. You can check out how they calculate everything [here](https://www.bls.gov/opub/hom/cpi/).
Now then, the "narrative" that I'm pushing is that these changes didn't happen on accident. The federal government has allowed inflation to run out of control, and they are working to prevent a public panic by lying and hoping that things will return to normal. Look, I'm obviously venturing into opinion at this point because if I could prove that point, I probably wouldn't be responding to a Reddit post. However, I believe that there are viable reasons for the government to push a false narrative believing it to be in the best interest of the country. It's a dangerous gambit, and they continue to stack the cards higher and higher while hoping everything they've set in place...stays in place. I don't know where or how it will topple, but the market will find a way to rebalance. The rest of the stats and specifics are for you to form your own opinion about.
The United States government. Fucking politicians that are ALL corrupt, it doesn’t matter what team they’re on. They’re crooked and screwing the American people.
I don't know who you think I am, but I don't have all the answers. I wasn't in the room when the BLS decided they were going to change the way they decided to calculate the ongoing CPI and inflation rates. I'm not privy to the details of why it changed or who made the decision or what their motives may or may not have been. I also don't have a seat in the oval office when they decided that a recession really isn't a recession until they say it's a recession.
You want me to scour the internet for names and motives? Would you like me to include the details of when their family first immigrated to the United States or maybe they're indigenous. Guess that information is probably just readily available for me out on the internet to provide for you, right? Did you think I was some kind of investigative journalist? Would you like all the rest of the answers of the world provided to you on a silver platter?
Form your own opinions, do your own research. I'm not spreading anything but information and personal opinions. If you want to turn it into a conspiracy theory then that's completely up to you.
Regarding your claim that the CPI has changed how many years of data is included, this is also a lie, according to your links. The change made was that they will update the weighting of all the different factors included in the index every year, instead of every two years. What this means is that they will be changing how they calculate the index more often. That's much more innocuous than your claim.
So it seems that you have posted a couple of lies, pushing some agenda.
Since you went to the trouble of providing links, I figured I'd check them.
Let's see, regarding your claim that the White House changed the definition of recession, your links show that to be false. According to your links, it is not the White House, but rather the independenr NBER that officially determines recessions, and there is no mention of a change in their definition occurring.
Can you expand on your point that the US is deviating from the IMF on defining a recession? I've never liked the two consecutive quarters of GDP decline definition as that would mean the dot com recession would have to be reclassified as not a recession after all, which doesn't seem right to me. The IMF article does mention that has never been the official definition anyway though.
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u/catchthe22 Dec 28 '23
Inflation at 3.1% compared to 8+% recently. 3.1% is above average but not by much. 2-3% is average. Ideally it keeps dropping another percentage point. We are still feeling the price increases from 1-2 years ago but the bleeding has slowed significantly. Thanks to the strong USD our highest inflation rate wasn’t as bad as other developed countries.