I'd love to have a more reliable inflation measure than the ones we see on the business news channels.
I doubt we will. Since inflation is the erosion of purchasing power, I'd expect the financial elites to want to keep such knowledge of the real rate outside the scope of the regular investors. There'd probably be a panic on if the reality was fully exposed. Since much attitude is governed by perception, if "they" say we're in a period of low inflation, people will act that way. Similarly if "they" want to say we're in high inflation or stagflation.
As you've seen with healthcare costs, I've noticed at the grocery store, finding anything much under $1 or so per item or per pound's a rarity anymore. A few of this or that, bam - $5 for the purchase! Of course we AIM for sales and the like, but overall I think the real rate of inflation's higher than they'd like to have us believe.
Best,
AIMster
