There is Government inflation, and then there is real inflation - Granite Grok

There is Government inflation, and then there is real inflation

We keep hearing that the inflation rate is low – between 1 & 2% since, well, for years.  Fine and dandy.  But you know, every time I go to the gas pump or to the local grocery store we habituate, well, we know that the “published” rate lies.  Of COURSE it lies – the government took out certain consumer purchases a long time ago.

You see, being the grey-haired guy I am, I remember the Jimmy Carter Presidency.  I became an adult, out on my own, and quickly learned all about the misery index (in which was buried the inflation rate).  So government, in order to make it self look better, took out “the volitiles” of the rate under the guise of “this is really what is important – and moved food and energy out of that equation.  You know, the stuff that almost every day tells we little people how poorly the economy is actually being “run” by our betters in Government (who do so with laws and regulations).

We’ve hear them say “oh, stop griping about inflation – there isn’t any!” as I continue to see either higher prices on the food I buy or smaller amounts at the same price.  I’ve watched how the same $100 bucks keeps buying fewer and fewer bags of groceries – and the Government keeps telling me “not OUR fault!”.  Really?  Like it’s MY fault in that I just overpay for the little I get?

You are not alone, folks. Here’s some stats that the Govt ordinarily doesn’t pass out too quickly:

  • Meats, poultry, eggs – all time high according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (H/T: CNSNews).  Base index in 1967: 38.1. As of this May, it climbed to a record 252.832.  It is up 7.7% over last year all its major components increasing,” BLS states.

Meat, Poultry, Fish & Egg Price Index Rockets to  All-Time High

 

  • Electricity costs hit an all time high (H/T: CNSnews) – The electricity price index and the average price for a kilowatthour (KWH) of electricity both hit records for May…The average price for a KWH hit 13.6 cents during the month, up about 3.8 percent from 13.1 cents in May 2013….up 3.6% over the last year.  In 1913, the annual electricity price index was 45.5. By 1947, it had dropped to 26.6. Over the two decades following that, it only rose 12 percent, hitting 29.9 in 1967.  By 2013, however, the electricity had risen to 200.750. (The price index shows the relative change in price from a baseline of 100. Thus between February 1984 and the end of 2013, the price of electricity in the U.S. approximately doubled.)
Electricity Price Index Hits Record for May

 

Average Price for KWH Hits Record for May
  •  And for our ‘Grok commenter and friend, Chris P. Bacon – BACON!  From April to May, the average price for a pound of sliced bacon climbed from $5.69 to $6.05.  Over the past year, bacon increased 18.9%, rising from $5.09 in May of 2013 to $6.05 in May of 2014.
bacon

 

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