Here is What the Inflation Numbers Really Mean

Understanding the inflation (CPI) numbers using a simple math trick with real world examples.

Photo by Adam on Unsplash | Inflation Data — A Simple Math Trick Reveals What it Means in the Real World

There are plenty of articles in the financial news media reporting on inflation, and sadly they all share the same traits:

• Report the data and expect the reader to know what it means.
• Drawing conclusions and telling the reader who to blame.
• Printing vague definitions using the most convoluted financial language that only an Econ101 professor would enjoy.

In general, none of the media outlets are willing to describe to readers — in simple terms — what the current inflation numbers mean to their day-to-day life and finances. So I will.

By sharing a math trick I picked up along the way, I want to make the complicated — simple.

This math exercise will help you simultaneously calculate compounding interest rates and develop a sense of when consumer prices will double, triple, quadruple, etc. Don’t worry it’s super easy to do, and I’ll share plenty of examples.

Afterward, I will spotlight a chart that shows just how bad the current inflation situation is compared to previous years. This visualization gives context to the growing crisis and…