[sailingdog]

One thing Cam doesn't point out is that almost all of those categories will be also affected to some degree or another by either increased transportation costs, like:

• Food & Beverages—has to get from farm/factory to store
• Apparel—has to get from farm/factory to store
• Transportation—just the nature of the beast
• Medical Care—has to have supplies brought in
• Recreation—check fuel prices lately
• Education & Communication—Newspapers, reporters, cameras and such don't move without wheels or planes
• Other Goods & Services—has to get from farm/factory to store

or increased raw material costs, like:

• Food & Beverages—Corn has gone up quite a bit in price, as has fuel for running farm equipment
• Housing—Asphalt shingles anyone
• Apparel—Synthetic fabrics come from what? Oil, yeah...that stuff
• Transportation—Parts got to get to the factory to make cars
• Medical Care—ever see how much plastic a hospital uses
• Recreation—Sails are made of what—oh, yeah, oil-based plastics
• Education & Communication—Paper, Newspaper Pulp, Video Tape, Computer Discs—yup all oil-based just about

Originally Posted by camaraderie

Rick...I have not chimed in much here as I don't have any relevant expertise but I have been following the discussion with interest. Your statement that fuel oil and gas did not figure into CPI struck me as rather incredible if true so I looked it up:
What goods and services does the CPI cover?

The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:

• FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, service meals and snacks)
• HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)
• APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry)
• TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)
• MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)
• RECREATION (televisions, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);
• EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);
• OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).

Source:http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpifaq.htm#Question_1
Can you advise why you are stating that it is not included?