Then again this is how the governement spent our tax dollars to get the advice of the famous Rand Group...


Quote from laputa:
If you take a look at how the CPI is calculated, you may begin to think that the GDP minus actual inflation is actually negative... Take a look at this article from the SF Fed
http://www.frbsf.org/econrsrch/wklyltr/el97-16.html
IMO the most interesting part lies under the title "Quality change and new goods"... basically it says the BLS makes a comparison of your computer today with computers 10 years ago and adjust the price downwards. Your computer is 100 times faster than 10 years ago, and in BLS's view the price has dropped 100 times...
That's how they keep the inflation number low with huge money supply growth... amazingly wall street seems to take the CPI seriously, maybe it is the sentiment rather than fact that matters...
