CPI methodology, inflation history, purchasing power — explained
The CPI pipeline per the BLS Handbook of Methods: the eight-group market basket, monthly price collection, the geometric mean formula, and what 1982–84=100 means.
Scope, weights, formula, and population — the four key differences, and the official reasons the Fed defines its 2% target in terms of PCE inflation.
Based on Federal Reserve History essays: how inflation got loose between 1965 and 1982, what the oil shocks added, and the cost of the Volcker turn.
Prices doubling every 3.7 days in 1923 Germany; 79.6 billion percent monthly inflation in 2008 Zimbabwe. Sources: NBER and Cato Institute.
The January 2012 FOMC statement that made 2% official, why the target is not zero, and the 2020 and 2025 framework revisions — from Fed documents.
Use the Rule of 72 to estimate how fast purchasing power halves, and learn the difference between nominal and real returns, with SEC investor.gov resources.
Different baskets, housing treatments, and base periods — why the same global shock produces different headline inflation in the US, EU, and Taiwan.
The real wage formula behind the BLS Real Earnings report, three scenarios where a raise still makes you poorer, and how to check your own salary.