CPI using 1980 and 1990 as calculation basis

That ShadowStats inflation is based on a basic mathematical misunderstanding:

No, the real inflation rate isn’t 15 percent

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But the creator of the chart, economist and Shadowstats founder John Williams, has admitted that he doesn’t actually re-compute the inflation rate using earlier methodology. He does something much cruder: he starts with the official inflation figure and adds a fudge factor that represents his estimate of how much the official consumer price index (CPI) understates the true inflation rate.

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I’ve bolded the huge, gobsmacking error here: the word “annual.” That 5.1 percent difference between the CPI-U and CPI-U-RS indexes didn’t happen in a single year; it’s a cumulative change in prices over 31 years. To compute an annual rate, you have to divide 5.1 by the number of years over which the change took place.

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Williams doesn’t seem to realize this. He thinks methodological changes reduced the measured inflation rate by 5.1 percent every year. This is akin to driving your car 2,000 miles during a 31-hour road trip and then concluding that the car was traveling at 2,000 miles per hour.

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And the ironic and telling part of that ShadowStats website is that subscription price hasn’t changed in like a decade, despite believing there is “rampant inflation.”

I honestly can’t believe anyone would believe that site’s nonsense since it’s not even plausible.