Subjectivity is baked into inflation data – Twin Cities

Pioneer Press columnist Ed Lotterman (Pioneer Press: Scott Takushi)
Ed Lotterman

Consumer inflation is the issue of the year. It raise myriad issues. What parts of government should respond? Federal Reserve? President Joe Biden? Congress?

And respond how? Tighter money? Reduced government spending? Investigations of industries where prices rise?

And how do households, businesses and sundry organizations respond?

Spend $500 on our old beater and hope that used car prices drop? Keep on renting even after the rent got jacked up — or plunge into a still-high housing market? Moral duty to pay the organist and church custodian a lot more because both have long commutes and kids? Assess condo residents more per month because costs of eventually redoing the roof and replacing the 30-year-old elevator are up a lot?

Such questions aside, today’s inflation also triggers memories and questions for those who remember the high-inflation 1970s or some idyllic…



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