The government changed its definition of what is included in consumer prices in -- I believe -- 1980. The ostensible idea is to make sure the figures don't bounce around because of Mideast tension, or because a late freeze in Florida makes the price of orange juice go up. They've gotten away with it for thirty years.
At first, inflation was very high no matter how you measured it, and so could not be hidden anyway. After Fed Chair Paul Volcker ramped interest rates up to around 20% by 1982, a recession set in and both interest rates and inflation have trended down ever since.
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The government changed its definition of what is included in consumer prices in -- I believe -- 1980. The ostensible idea is to make sure the figures don't bounce around because of Mideast tension, or because a late freeze in Florida makes the price of orange juice go up. They've gotten away with it for thirty years.
At first, inflation was very high no matter how you measured it, and so could not be hidden anyway. After Fed Chair Paul Volcker ramped interest rates up to around 20% by 1982, a recession set in and both interest rates and inflation have trended down ever since.
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