US Price Stats: Unhealthy When You Pay the Bill
The Financial Times, ever vigilant, reports on the 'unhealthy state of US price statistics,' particularly how Obamacare premium hikes are 'about to challenge public trust in inflation measures.' One might commend their sudden concern for statistical integrity, though it's curious this insight only manifests when it affects the cost of healthcare for their readership. This sudden statistical
introspection conveniently ignores decades of government figures that consistently downplay the actual cost of living for working Americans, maintaining a pristine picture of economic 'recovery' while wages stagnate and essentials skyrocket. It's a miracle how these 'unhealthy' stats become robust and reliable again when measuring the 'success' of tax cuts for the wealthy or the 'efficiency' of
endless military spending. Funny how the 'public trust' only becomes a crisis when a specific policy—like, say, basic healthcare coverage—threatens to expose the systemic fudging. Yet, when inflation data smooths over the grotesque profits of corporations that charge us more for less, or when the cost of housing skyrockes, the numbers are just fine. It appears the 'unhealthy state' is less about
the data itself and more about whose ox is being gored. The real 'inflation' happens when taxpayers realize how much of their money funds foreign conflicts while domestic needs are 'statistically' deemed too expensive.