News
Methodology updates and the monthly inflation brief — what a fixed 1980 household basket actually costs, priced with real retail data and compared to the official CPI, month by month.
A full walk-through of the method, and why a fair public critique led us to rebuild the headline on more conservative ground — from roughly 32% to about 17%.
RI +4.95% vs CPI +4.25% YoY · cumulative gap +17.0%
An energy-led month: gasoline +40.7% pulled the official index up toward the Reality Index, compressing the monthly gap to 70 basis points.
RI +4.61% vs CPI +3.81% YoY · cumulative gap +17.4%
Restated on the current methodology — fixed 1980 weights, tenure-weighted housing, sticker tuition. Energy began to accelerate.
RI +4.31% vs CPI +3.26% YoY · cumulative gap +18.0%
Used-vehicle prices pushed transportation to the top of the index, the widest spring gap, before the energy surge narrowed the margin.