Don’t Worry - Be Happy!
Does anyone ever wonder why prices for everything seem to be going through the roof, but the government continues to insist that inflation is “tepid” or “benign”? Here’s last week’s news from the WSJ:
The Labor Department’s consumer price index rose 0.5% in April, largely due to a spike in energy prices, which made their biggest increase in two years, after increasing 0.6% in March. But the core index, which excludes food and energy items, was flat, after climbing 0.4% in March. Wall Street called for a 0.4% increase in the overall CPI, and a 0.2% gain in the core. The report eased concerns that prices were accelerating too rapidly, suggesting the Federal Reserve won’t need to raise interest rates more aggressively to contain inflation.
So, they throw out everything whose price skyrocketed - gasoline, food, housing, health care, air travel, tequila - and rest their beleagured eyes on this “core” market basket of shit nobody would be caught dead buying, and the economic sector they represent:
Postum (food & staples)
Perry Como retrospective on DVD (entertainment)
AMC Pacer GlasPak conversion kit (automotive)
Wooden replacement handles for Ronco fondue forks (consumer goods)
Multiuser CP/M operating system license for the DEC Rainbow (technology)
A Call To Service: My Vision For A Better America by John Kerry (hardback) (media)
I think the hardest part about being a government economist would be not running down the halls shreiking with laughter.
