Submitted by Econbrowser
What to make of the different measures of inflation being faced by consumers?

In Figure 1, I plot four measures: the standard CPI-U, the CPI research series, the chained CPI, and the personal consumption expenditure deflator.

Figure 1: 12 month inflation measured as CPI-U (blue), CPI research series (red), Chained CPI (green) and Personal Consumption […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Some of the recent CD discussion has focused on the possible difficulties of comparing today’s inflation rates to the inflationary 1970s period because of the changes that have been made to the way the BLS calculates the CPI. There was also some discussion about the timing of the changes to the […]

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Submitted by Businomics Blog
I just posted an interview from the Businomics Audio Magazine with Don Boudreaux, chairman of the economics department at George Mason, prompted by his comment that America does not compete with the other countries of the world in any meaningful sense.  Listen here.
For more Don, visit Cafe Hayek.
Visit 1800blogger to see all […]

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Submitted by The Capital Spectator
We’ve been chatting up the inflation story lately, and for good reason: inflation is rising. But that’s yesterday’s news. Thus the relevant question: Will it continue to rise?
No one really knows, although everyone has a guess, and those guesses are all over the map, as yesterday’s post reminds. On one side […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
Real Olympic Medal Count shows Olympic medals: a) per country (US is #1), b) per million inhabitants (Jamaica is #1), and c) per million dollars of GDP (Zimbabwe is #1).
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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The chart above shows annual inflation since 1973, calculated from the BEA’s monthly personal consumption expenditures price index, less food and energy (data here), showing 15 years of extremely stable inflation at around 2%. In fact, it’s almost as if the Fed has been following a 2% inflation target since 1993 […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM

Brian Wesbury asks: “How can monetary base growth slow for seven straight years without pushing inflation down? If you agree with Friedman, it should have caused a decline in inflation, but every measure of inflation is higher, not lower.”

MP: What about annual core inflation? It’s been flat for 10 years now at […]

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Submitted by CARPE DIEM
The 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) gave states greater flexibility to formulate and implement initiatives to reduce welfare dependency and encourage employment for members of low-income families with children. For the nation, in 2006, 10 years after passage of the Act, the birth rate for women 15 to […]

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