The CPI overstates inflation because it fails to adequately keep track of new goods and to adjust for quality improvements; the Boskin Commission concluded in 1996 it overstated inflation by about 1.1 percentage points per year, and members polled more recently still estimate a bias of about 0.7 to 0.9 percentage points per year.

factualpending

Speaker

Bruce Meyer

Evidence Quote

the Baskin Commission concluded that our main rate of inflation the CPI you overstates inflation by about one point one percentage points per year

Source

Bruce Meyer on the Middle Class, Poverty, and Inequality 10/03/2011EconTalk
Created: 6/15/2026, 9:20:26 AM

My Notes

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