Stealth inflation is a term with different meanings. It denotes an increase in prices that is obfuscated in one way or another.

Measurement issues

At the level of the economy, the term stealth inflation is used to denounce issues with how inflation is measured or which type of inflation is measured. D.L Losman suggested that the measurement of the

consumer price index A consumer price index (CPI) is a statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought for consumption purposes by households. It is calculated as the weighted average price of a market basket of Goods, consumer goods and ...

in the United States may be subject to manipulation in order to lower the adjustment rate of social security benefits. Focussing on which inflation is measured, Peng argues that the focus on

core inflation Core inflation is a type of inflation measure which seeks to represent the underlying long-run trend of aggregate price levels in the economy. This is achieved by removing certain items exhibiting short-term significant price fluctuations wit ...

hides commodity-based inflation from the attention of policymakers.

Hidden price increases

At the level of the consumer, the term stealth inflation usually refers to hidden charges or

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

s. Examples are

overdraft An overdraft occurs when something is withdrawn in excess of what is in a current account. For financial systems, this can be funds in a bank account. In these situations the account is said to be "overdrawn". In the economic system, if there i ...

fees from banks, surcharges from telecommunication providers, processing fees and installation fees.

Notes

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External links

Liz Pulliman Weston MSN money and personal finance

Inflation