> Over the years I have read a few articles or blogs

Without linking the blogs or articles it’s hard to say much.

Inflation is a topic that attracts a lot of quackery. There are a lot of blogs and websites that go viral from time to time with claims that the “true” inflation number is dramatically higher.

There is a quick reality check you should run whenever you encounter these claims: Take the claimed inflation number over a period of time and calculate the net multiple. Then run a reality check on something like a $500,000 house or a $5 hamburger.

There’s one prolific website and author who claims the “true” inflation rate is some number like 11% going back decades. If you do the math, that means something purchased 50 years ago in 1975 would cost 185 times less. A $1,000,000 home today would have been $5,400 in 1975 and a $5 hamburger today would have been less than $0.03. Obviously these numbers don’t work, so you can discard the author’s claim.

Actual inflation numbers over long periods are very sensitive to small changes due to compounding. Even over a 10 year period. When you see someone claiming dramatically different results, run a quick math check.

Also be careful for the cherry pickers: They’ll identify one or two outlier year-over-year jumps (eggs during COVID, home prices during a housing rush, insurance prices in a city after a fire) and try to use those as their basis.

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username332211 6 days ago | parent | next [-]

At the risk of defending quackery, most claims about inflation being inaccurate involve the changes made to CPI estimations in 1996. I'll go as far as to say I've never heard any claim that is inaccurate going back to the 1970s.

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vel0city 6 days ago | parent [-]

Still, if the "real" inflation rate was ~10% starting in 1996 then a $5 burger today supposedly cost ~$0.30 in 1996.

A lot of soda vending machines will sell a 20oz bottle of soda for ~$2.50. Were soda vending machines selling bottles of soda for $0.15 back then? No.

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cpburns2009 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

I distinctly remember McDonald's regular hamburgers costing around $0.30-0.40 in the mid '90s which costs around $4 now.

	▲	vel0city 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		McDonald's regular hamburgers don't cost anywhere near $4 for most people. A hamburger at the McDonald's down the street from me costs $1.59. A cheeseburger costs $1.79. A double cheeseburger costs $2.79. A Quarter Pounder w/Cheese meal today is ~$8 today, in the 90s it was ~$3. I remember you could get two cheeseburgers for a dollar in the late 90s, so ~$0.50. The inflation rate for something to go from $0.50 to $1.79 that's a 4.5% inflation rate, still quite a way off from people's arguments of 10%. And for the QPC meal comparison, that's ~3.3%. Higher than 2% for sure, but its also a single restaurant comparison on a single item here where its highest cost component (beef patty) has experienced overall higher rates of inflation compared to most other things. A restaurant that many people feel has gone up in price more than expectations of the rest of prices. Link for the $3 90's price for a QPC: https://wealthgang.com/mcdonalds-prices-throughout-the-years...

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bombcar 5 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Guys and Dolls has 15 cent hot dogs advertised in one of the shots.

Gas station hot dogs are about $1.50 now.

Which is less than I’d have expected it to be, to be honest.

	▲	vel0city 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		For a good to go from ~$0.15 to ~$1.50 from 1930 to 2025, the annual inflation rate would be... ...about 2.45% per year. And I'd probably take a 2025 hotdog over a 1930 hotdog, there's been a lot of food safety regulations passed since.

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deeg 6 days ago | parent | prev [-]

Good response. I might suggest not using housing because so many people treat it like an investment, which means its value goes up faster than inflation (if it's a good investment). But otherwise I totally agree with you.

	▲	kingofmen 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		> its value goes up Its price goes up. "Price is what you pay, value is what you get"; houses do not increase in value over time.