Headline Inflation

Read all about it! Headline: Inflation!

Headline inflation is the inflation on the monthly Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (they have lots of great data). The CPI tracks the cost of baskets of goods in an economy over time, which allows us to track inflation at regular intervals.

If the prices of goods and services in the CPI are going up, but inflation is not, the real price of those goods and services are rising. For instance, the real cost of college has more than doubled in real dollars (not including inflation) in the last two decades. Where inflation “is” is just as insightful as where it “isn’t.”