Koolau
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Huh? BLS CPI calculator shows $100 in March 2020 has the same buying power as $102.62 in March 2021.
Uhh, I'm no math major but 102.62 is darn near 3%. As always, I'm skeptical when the folks with the most to lose (like the FEDs who borrow money) get to say what inflation is. Being able to say "excluding housing, food and energy" (uhh, how convenient) isn't even stopping the rise in official or for-all-practical-purposes official inflation figures.
More importantly and perhaps more instructively, the most recent 6 mo. I-bond inflation interest was (IIRC) 1.77 (or about 3.54% annualized - see the current thread. https://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/i-bond-rate-5-2021-a-109136.html) If the FEDs put their money into it, it must be at least minimally "real." I'd put some money on it going up from here, but I have no crystal ball. I just hear a lot of whining about stuff like house prices doubling in many areas (they have in my old neighborhood) and building materials going up 3X - if they are even attainable. Local restaurant meals are up 35%. Gas is up 30%.
Supposedly one of the FEDs primary responsibilities is to control inflation within certain parameters. At some point, rates will have to rise if inflation continues to rear its ugly rear. I think this could be the beginning of significant inflation and I HOPE I'm wrong, so YMMV.