There’s Lots More To the CPI Than One Number

Seemingly a single number, the CPI market basket is composed of wildly different flexible and sticky prices that provide a different view of inflation.

An Economist’s Definition of Misery

While a misery index shows a nation’s inflation and unemployment rates, the eurozone’s high unemployment might create disproportionate unhappiness.

Inflation: What A Billion Prices Tell Us

Every year, my class meets Harriet Shaw through a PBS NewsHour broadcast from 1991. An economic assistant for the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), she is a professional shopper who tracks prices. In the newscast, we follow her up and down store aisles until…