Shadowstats presents what they claim to be the original methodology used by the government to calculate the rate of inflation in the U.S. but Shadowstats' John Williams is not calculating inflation any differently. He is not using the 1980s or 1990s methodology… [Instead,] all he's is doing is taking the CPI data and adding on an arbitrary constant to make it look like inflation is higher!
2. Official and ShadowStats Monthly Inflation Rates: 1872 to Present
[There is a considerable difference between the official BLS inflation rate (1.63%) and the ShadowStats' alternative method of calculating consumer prices (9.07%) but] I believe that the optimum method is probably somewhere between the two. [Let me explain.]3. Real-time Inflation Data is Now Available ? Finally
Inflation is a significant measurement for the economic health of countries around the world but rates are often reported weeks after data is collected. To address this problem, two professors at MIT Sloan School of Management have launched the Billion Prices Project which is the first website to publish daily price indexes and provide real-time inflation estimates around the world.
4. Inflation: What Do the Non-CPI Inflation Gauges Say It Is?
Whenever the BLS posts their monthly CPI there's always the same response from critics that the index is flawed. That's fine. I think a healthy dose of skepticism regarding government data is perfectly good. So let's take a look at some independent gauges to see where prices are.
5. The Big Mac Index Reveals the REAL Facts On U.S. Inflation!
A look at the trend in prices of the Big Mac clearly shows that investors are being penalized with higher inflation, lower income from bonds and certificates of deposit and being led to believe that the economy is growing better than it really is. [Let me explain.]