David Stern's Blog on Energy, the Environment, Economics, and the Science of Science
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Consumer Price Inflation in the USA
The graph shows the increase in consumer prices over the last decade for the eight subcategories in the consumer price index (CPI) in the US and energy. Energy isn't a separate subcategory in the CPI but is included in the transport and housing categories. As you can see, energy prices are very volatile but have increased by more than other spending categories over this decade. The graph gives the impression that prices are still rising but yet the headline inflation figure for the US is very low. This is because housing has a more than 40% weight in the CPI and the cost of housing has been declining since 2008.
Visit the article I took the graph from for more charts and information including a stunning chart of college tuition and fees...
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Price is set by how much there is of the natures products (fish, minerals etc) and humans demand. Money most often is payed to humans and not to the actually production unit (i.e environment). Economics fail to understand this and of course, Its out of there view. Because economic system controls the environment by using stochastic view, makes the whole system funtion perverse. Money can not value products neither health for society. Inflation is just an simple function of scarcity, demand and available-ness. Energy in the process when time is in the perspective, is in diminish return, inherent in the always-misinterpreted-function, using more by circulate more money.
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