I’ve previously explained in great detail that the official inflation measure, the Consumer Price Index or CPI, is massaged to the point of being a work of fiction.
Among the more egregious gimmicks employed by the BLS:
- Data collection consists of surveys with low response rates.
- Those being surveyed are asked to remember what they paid for goods and services (as if anyone keeps an excel spreadsheet of that stuff).
- The CPI doesn’t consider food or energy prices.
- The CPI doesn’t use real world measures for shelter, instead relying on carefully crafted artificial metrics that have no connection to reality.
And so on.
However, if you’re looking for one simple explanation that the CPI is fiction, you need look no further than the Biden administration’s poll numbers.
President Biden is an historically unpopular President. This is truly astonishing when you consider that his opponent for the 2024 election (former President Trump) is one of the most polarizing and unappealing candidates in history.
Why are Biden’s polls so bad?
Inflation.
Americans vote based on many factors, but ultimately, they tend to vote with their pocket books. And inflation is a MAJOR problem for the bottom four quintiles (lower 80%) of Americans based on net worth/ income.
The media shills and hacks like to argue that Biden is unpopular because Americans are “wrong” or “misguided” due to “disinformation.” But we have to remember that these are the same people who told us inflation was “transitory” for most of 2021 and 2022. Their track record is truly abysmal when it comes to accurately assessing reality.
Bottomline: inflation has NOT come down, no matter what the BLS and media tell you. And those investors who don’t prepare for what’s coming are in for a world of hurt.