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发帖数: 29846 | 1 Forget the modest 3.1 percent rise in the Consumer Price Index, the
government's widely used measure of inflation. Everyday prices are up some 8
percent over the past year, according to the American Institute for
Economic Research.
The not-for-profit research group measures inflation without looking at the
big, one-time purchases that can skew the numbers. That means they don't
look at the price of houses, furniture, appliances, cars, or computers.
Instead, AIER focuses on Americans' typical daily purchases, such as food,
gasoline, child care, prescription drugs, phone and television service, and
other household products.
The institute contends that to get a good read on inflation's "sticker shock
" effect, you must look at the cost of goods that the average household buys
at least once a month and factor in only the kinds of expenses that are
subject to change. That, too, eliminates the cost of housing because when
you finance your home with a fixed-rate mortgage, that expense remains
constant until you refinance or move.
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The group maintains that this index better measures the real-world impact of
price changes, particularly for people on a budget. And, largely as the
result of the recent run-up in gas prices, this "everyday price index" (EPI)
suggests that Americans are being pinched far more tightly than the
official inflation measure would have you believe.
Over the past year, the EPI is up just over 8 percent, according to the
economics group. The biggest factor: Motor fuel and transportation costs are
up 21.06 percent from year-ago levels. The cost of food, prescription drugs
, and tobacco also have increased faster than the government's inflation
measure, rising 3.56 percent, 4.21 percent, and 3.4 percent, respectively.
On the bright side, prices of household fuel (natural gas and electricity)
and supplies have increased only 2.74 percent; recreation and personal care
products are up less than 1 percent; and telephone or Internet services are
down 0.66 percent.
Admittedly, the purchases that the EPI tracks make up slightly less than 40
percent of the average household budget. But Steven Cunningham, research and
education director at AIER, says these items are what contribute to the "
sticker shock at the gasoline pump and the supermarket check-out line." |
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