Inflation-adjusted, median US household income grew from 66k in 1990 to 71k in 2022 (https://www.statista.com/statistics/200838/median-household-income-in-the-united-states/). In nominal dollars (i.e. unadjusted for inflation), the median income in 1994 was ~30k and is 74k in 2023 (https://dqydj.com/household-income-by-year/), a growth rate of a bit over 3% so you can still afford your soap at double the price.
The major bone I have to pick is the metrics they use to measure inflation. They're bullshit and dont reflect what I see in my wallet. 2.4% inflation is a joke,in the real world it's way higher than that.
Well, what exactly is the problem do you have with the methdology? Is it the basket contents (e.g. you drink more beer), is it the substitution/replacement aspect, do you think something is missing?
I'm speaking anecdotally from 67 years of living and spending. Even the government admits they do the best they can on those stats but dont quite "get it right". (that's an understatement.)
I'd venture that your consumption basket has changed over the years. Mine certainly did - less beer, more dog food. It's a hard problem and there is no perfect solution. The best comparison is that CPI is like trying to measure average blood pressure in a large hospital - between the morgue and the cardiovascular ward, the BP is perfectly normal. But intuitively 2-3 percent per year feels right unless you're very poor (it feels higher), loaded with education costs (feels much higher) or buy a lot of technology (feels much lower).
The US needs to change its such wrong politics against these countries. Otherwise rivals will make use of it, ie. profit from it...
True but statistic (median) is misleading. The gap between high and low income is now like the Grand Canyon. The better half of the median are making out like bandits. I feel sorry for the bottom, many ended up on the street, homeless. As a trader I produce nothing of real value, yet I make way more $ now than when I had my day job, producing something society needed. Something is not quite right.