OPINION:
Ramsey Touchberry’s recent piece on inflation is flat-out wrong at the end (“Inflation hits new 40-year high of 8.6% as gas, food prices keep rising” Web, June 10). CPI inflation does not include energy, housing or food in the current variation of the index, nor has it done for
decades. Saying that omitting food and energy drops inflation is just incorrect. If food, energy and housing were included, the CPI would
actually be well into the teens. Multiple sources use standards for CPI similar to the 1980s-era measures, and they report 14% to 15.5%
inflation (it varies based on methodology).
Mr. Touchberry should have contacted experts to learn how inflation is measured rather than include data in an effort to minimize the numbers. If he has source, he should have cited it. Mr. Touchberry frequently does this for inflation numbers and your editors should require that he include a source for these low figures. Not even The New York Times is doing this.
JAMES BARENDS
Wayne, Pennsylvania
