What stuff has become most expensive since 2000?

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What we talk about when we talk about inflation

Chart R, Dec 8, 2024

The most commonly cited measure of inflation in the media, and indeed in economics, is the Consumer Price Index. A gargantuan theoretical basket that contains over 80,000 goods and items from milk and pizzas to rent and energy bills, the CPI is pretty much always the figure that Americans refer to when they discuss whether “inflation is up (or down).”

Keeping track of some items in the BLS’s massive haul, however, takes a little more consideration and calculation — like TVs…

So, exactly what goes on behind the scenes to come to the conclusion that televisions are, actually, 98% better value than they were 20+ years ago — and what other oddities lie behind the nation’s biggest economic obsession?