August 2025: Data Points: The Difference Between Numbers and Experience

There are certain official government figures that can impact public policy in significant ways. In the June 2025 Research Room column, we used the federal poverty measures as an example of how some of these figures are not always as simple or straightforward as they may seem.

In this column, we continue that discussion with a focus on another data point that commonly drives public policy-inflation calculated from the consumer price index. The December 2024 Research Room column went in depth about what the CPI is, and more importantly, what it is not. This article delves into why this inflation measure often seems out of sync with the “lived experience” of many people.

Read the full August 2025 Research Room here.