Hedonics Gone Wild

On yesterday’s show we looked at a couple of the hedonic adjustments that the BLS makes when computing GDP and the consumer price index. On today’s show we are going to take a look at the real estate component of the CPI. Part of the contribution to elevated inflation over the past couple of years has been the nearly white hot acceleration of real estate prices. That’s partly a function of purchase price. But the BLS doesn’t factor that into the cost of housing. Instead, the treat the entire real estate marketplace as if it consisted of landlords and tenants, despite the fact that home ownership represents about 66% of households across the nation.

What I will reveal on today's show would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

------------

Host: Victor Menasce

email: [email protected]