Look Who's Talking

After Philadelpia Fed President Charles Plosser apparently noted the same thing that I did, that "core" inflation excluding rents (including "equivalent rents") is actually up significantly the latest year, Mark Thoma responds:

"Would he be as dismissive if only "certain relative prices" were keeping inflation high? I think not."

But the "core inflation" index itself represents an exclusion of "certain relatice prices" that keeps all-item inflation high, namely food & energy. And the point is that if we can exclude food & energy, then surely we can exclude rents.