Inflation Really Is Worse than the Government Is Saying

From Forbes - Summers: Inflation Reached 18% In 2022 Using The Government’s Previous Formula

If you use the method of calculating inflation that the government used up until 1982, inflation peaked at 18% in 2022.

Bolhuis et al. then went on to see if they could recalculate the official CPI numbers using a pre-1983-like formula that incorporated the cost of mortgage interest, auto loan interest, and credit card interest on the cost of living. They found three things: first, that the pre-1983-like formula led to a dramatically different estimate of inflation in 2022 and 2023, peaking at 18 percent in November 2022.

Second, they found that consumer sentiment—as measured by the widely-used University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment—correlated much more strongly with the pre-1983 CPI formula than it did with the modern one that excludes interest costs.

Pixy Misa at Ambient Irony has the tl;dr.

Yes, Virginia, the CPI is bullshit. (Forbes)

Ace might have covered this previously - the Forbes article is undated, but the research paper came out in February.

Calculating the CPI using the same approach used up until 1982, annualised inflation in the US peaked at 18% in 2022, more than double the official number, and worse than the darkest days of the Carter Era.

So no, you're not imagining it. Anyone who has been inside a grocery store in the past five years knows that, but some economists now also know it

The Forbes article is from Forbes, and they assume a better than 3rd grade reading level, but I have faith in your ability to get through it.