Corona CPI

In this crazy economy, there’s still a small dose of inflation, which any economist would tell you — ad naseum — is a healthy thing. After the shock to our society from the startup of social distancing in March and April, the last two months — June and July — have each brought us six-tenths of a percent of inflation from the prior month.

So now in July, the country’s Consumer Price Index is back to exactly one percent higher than twelve months earlier. That’s still a bit lower than the ideal range of two to three percent inflation, but one percent sure beats zero or worse, deflation.

Meanwhile, electric rates remain in the deflation zone, slightly. The prices that consumers pay for electricity, in July, averaged a tenth of a percent lower than twelve months earlier.

Compare that tenth of a percent decrease with the one percent increase in the CPI. This means that through all this coronavirus craziness, electric rates continue their fall, inflation-adjusted.