The “Personal Consumption Expenditures” (PCE) Price Index
September 27, 2024
Excludes personal consumption expenditures on food and gas. The Fed calls it a “key” price index and its preferred measure of the cost of living nevertheless. Since it excludes food and energy, I assume it only tracks the expenditures of people living off the grid and growing their own food and hunting squirrels and rabbits for protein.
Dr. Thomas DiLorenzo [send him mail] is a former professor of economics at Loyola University Maryland and a longtime member of the senior faculty of the Mises Institute. He is the author or co-author of eighteen books including The Real Lincoln; How Capitalism Saved America; Lincoln Unmasked; Hamilton's Curse; Organized Crime: The Unvarnished Truth About Government; The Problem with Socialism; and The Politically-Incorrect Guide to Economics.

