Peter St Onge Podcast Ep 158 Weekly Roundup: Inflation Drops to 1.2%
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Feb 2, 2026 A rapid tour of this week’s big economics headlines. They discuss a 1.2% inflation reading and how different measures compare. The collapse of Venezuela is used to illustrate risks of socialism. U.S. household wealth surged by $12 trillion. Homicide rates hit a 125-year low. European industry is struggling amid energy and regulatory headwinds.
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Real-Time Inflation Can Diverge From CPI
- Truflation shows inflation at 1.2% by scraping 35 million real-time prices and using different weights than CPI.
- The BLS lags, uses fewer prices, and measures housing via delayed owner-equivalent rent, understating recent housing-driven deflation.
Housing Measurement Masks Price Moves
- Housing has an outsized impact on measured inflation because CPI weights it about one-third while Truflation weights it one-quarter.
- BLS's owner-equivalent rent is delayed by 6–12 months, which can mask rapid rent and home-price movements.
Congress Must Cut Rules To Lower Prices
- Do push Congress to cut price-raising regulations, environmental mandates, and federal spending to lower costs structurally.
- Executive actions help, but legislative changes are required for sustained lower prices.