That's a very fascinating link. Are the claims made here true, that these charts are true to the 1980 definition of inflation? Are there any other factors that could make what is in these charts incorrect or misrepresented? I'm not from the US and don't have a first-hand impression of US price development.

It seems unlikely to me that the US has really had >7% yearly inflation for well over a decade. So what gives? The most compelling counterargument is simply that the charts in your link don't reflect reality.

Shadowstats has been discredited so many times that not even libertarians (such as myself) would go near that as a reliable source.

Could you post some links to this? I haven't seen it and would be interested to read more.

It mostly comes down to the fact that shadowstats keeps their data behind a paywall and it has very little peer review.

http://voxrationalis.wordpress.com/2011/05/15/the-absurdity-...

Also MIT collects a large amount of data using online prices to determine inflation rates http://bpp.mit.edu/usa/

So the inflation calculations might indeed be inaccurate but there isn't much solid data to back it up.

I personally find it better to focus on issues that have lots of data such as the debt crisis [1], the growing costs of SS and medicare and the harmful effects of industry/government collusion [2] which are all very real and can be proven.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Endgame-Debt-Supercycle-Changes-Everyt...

[2] http://i.imgur.com/XwyV4yi.jpg