TIME TO RE-DEFINE "CORE INFLATION"?

So-called "core inflation" excluded food and energy costs because they are so volatile. It's seems clear now that energy costs will only keep rising and the same appears to be true for food costs.

When will food prices stop rising? No time soon, experts say
By John Yaukey, Gannett News Service
USA Today

...the cost of putting a meal on the table or a beer on the bar is likely to remain high for years, economists say.

Perhaps most worrisome, some leading causes of the recent price increases show no signs of receding, prompting some economists to warn of "the end of cheap food."

The Agriculture Department expects U.S. food prices to rise beyond inflation for the next few years.

"The question now is the rate of the increase," said Ephriam Leibtag, an economist with the department's Economic Research Service.