Originally Posted by TheBaron Deux;[url=tel:3673078
3673078[/url]]Actually, it's you that doesn't seem to understand. That 17% CPI increase you love to reference is for the average American consumer. Just because you make 5x the average doesn't mean your basket of goods is 5x more expensive. Do you pay $15 for a pound of butter? Does Tim Cook pay $15k for that same pound? No. You may take nicer vacations and only eat Wagyu beef but that ISN'T what CPI is measuring.
Wireless telephone service (not hardware) is one part of the basket of goods and services. It accounts for 1.445% of the average consumers monthly expenses...about $1000 a year for someone making $70k. Are you really spending $5000+ a year on you cell phone plan? Did it go up $70 a month in the past two years? Doubtful. Which is why CPI doesn't correlate well to people in the top 10% of wage earners.
Do I want a nice big raise? Sure. But people misrepresenting a $50k raise as not even a COLA don't understand inflation. That $50k raise would be > a 70% increase for the "average" American. Are you going to argue they are barely keeping up with inflation?
Yes inflation has an outsized impact on the quality of life for poorer people. However, there are significant impacts on consumer spending that hit people in our tax bracket as well, and those changes in spending work their way through the rest of the economy.
Inflation is not a measure of butter cost as a percentage of one’s wages. Prices in stores are listed in real dollars not as a percentage of someone’s W2 earnings. Those with less hit 100% of their income being spent on basic needs prior to someone making more than the national average. However, for those making 3-4x the median income, the normal basket of goods that those folks buy begins to take up a larger amount of their total take home earnings which leaves less for discretionary spending, investment, etc.
Long story short, inflation has an impact on everyone. You’re making a dramatically different argument and I’m not sure what you’re trying to prove.