inflation

Here is one way to handle it.

"Argentina Fines More Economists:

Argentina's government has fined more economists for challenging official inflation estimates in what lawyers call a violation of freedom of speech. Consumer prices rose 10% in February from a year ago, according to the national statistics agency, Indec. But most economists say annual inflation is closer to 25%, irking government officials who deny inflation is a problem...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... Highlights

towermonkey wrote: That's true because of the bubble in price that was already built in. It had to go down but mark my word, housing prices will skyrocket along with everything else within the next five to ten years.

We will see. I am guessing as the baby boomers age, die, and downsize, empty home inventories will stay high.

Goverment falsifying inflation numbers? Only makes sense, especially when you consider if they do admit inflation, they will have to pay massive COLA for our retirees.
China and India are fighting the same charges that goverment economists are underreporting inflation.

towermonkey wrote: That's true because of the bubble in price that was already built in. It had to go down but mark my word, housing prices will skyrocket along with everything else within the next five to ten years.

I don't know about housing prices TM, but you may be right. I sure hope Gold prices do.

I have just recently noticed the grocery prices. One that really caught my eye was ground buffalo @ $8.99 / lb at Safeway. Wow! I think the most I ever paid before was $5.99/lb just a couple months ago.

There is no question there is serious inflation taking place. The question is, why is it occurring and who is it benefitting?

Interesting. Little did I know (but not surprised to learn) our government invents new ways to calculate inflation. Unfortunately, most of us know what the real inflation is when you buy a loaf of bread.

Lots of numbers.... The Fed says there is no inflation, keep printing money, and interest rates should be 0.

"Food and gas costs push consumer prices higher"
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Food-and- ... et=&ccode=

The Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 percent in March....
In the past 12 months, the index has increased 2.7 percent...
Excluding food and gas... the so-called core index is up only 1.2 percent in the past year.
Gasoline jumped 5.6 percent last month and has risen nearly 28 percent in the past year.
Food prices rose 0.8 percent last month, the largest increase in almost three years. Prices for fruits and vegetables, dairy products, chicken and beef all increased. Coffee costs rose 3.5 percent.

At some point the gov't is going to have to admit that inflation is higher than they are claiming.
These unheard of low interest rates are a scam to rob savers, and rebuild the banks and allow the gov't to borrow Trillions on the cheap. Its BS!

AspenValley wrote: There is no question there is serious inflation taking place. The question is, why is it occurring and who is it benefitting?

It's occurring because the government is printing money faster than they can count it. There are always those who will benefit during bad times like this but I don't think it's a grand conspiracy to just get some rich while the rest of us suffer. The base of the problem stems from the easy credit we were all used to and the idiotic idea that everyone should be able to own a home.

The classic definition of inflation is too many dollars chasing too few products. Asia has rebounded much faster than the US and Europe and has been buying more food and raw materials. This has driven up prices, and like above, the Fed thinks spending and giving out cheap loans will stimulate the economy. I think it will, but after a certain point, it just means more dollars out there and less value per dollar.
Cost of Living increases or inflation being under-reported? For people whose benefits are tied to COLA, they won't increase until the next year so our seniors are always playing catchup. And the continuing decline in housing prices will be used to reduce any COLA raise, which I think is unfair since most people's housing costs don't vary from month to month.