"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)

Posted Jan 19, 2026 12:42 UTC (Mon) by pizza (subscriber, #46)
In reply to: "SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services) by malmedal
Parent article: A note for MXroute users

> No, his point is fully addressed. The graph is adjusted for inflation and represents real buying power.

The reason "grocery prices" haven't gone up in those official stats is that the yardsticks have changed -- You can't just compare prices, oyu have to compare what you *get* for those prices. A salient (and widely reported) example is how the ingredients to prepare a Thanksgiving meal (from walmart) was trumpeted as being "25% cheaper" this year than the last, and could supposedly even feed 10 instead of 8. Except this year's selection included considerably less (in both variety *and* quantity) than last year's, with a higher portion of lower-quality store brands than before. I can provide numerous examples in my pantry right now where the packaging has shrunk while being sold for the "same" price. (Directly in front of me is a juice container that has shrunk from 64oz pre-COVID to 59oz...to now 57. And the "price" has _still_ gone up after adjusted for the official inflation rate. And that's for something produced a few hours' drive from here)

So who do I believe, you or my own lying eyes (and actual receiepts)?

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"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)

Posted Jan 19, 2026 13:10 UTC (Mon) by malmedal (subscriber, #56172) [Link] (3 responses)

> The reason "grocery prices" haven't gone up in those official stats is that the yardsticks have change

The official stats are designed to adjust for those effects. The whole point of producing them is to give an objective measure.

> So who do I believe, you or my own lying eyes

You seem a bit confused.

1) I'm not the person producing these stats.
2) You are conflating your own experience with the US as a whole. Even in the best of economies it's normal to have a number of people or whole communities that are struggling.

"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)

Posted Jan 19, 2026 13:45 UTC (Mon) by pizza (subscriber, #46) [Link] (2 responses)

> The official stats are designed to adjust for those effects. The whole point of producing them is to give an objective measure.

I agree, they are "supposed to"

But in practice, it's not so perfect. And that's before the current administration fired the head of the bureau of labor statistics for not producing "good" numbers.

> You are conflating your own experience with the US as a whole. Even in the best of economies it's normal to have a number of people or whole communities that are struggling.

I understand all about statistics and [non-uniform] sample distribution. But when I'm in the top 5 percentile for income, living in one of the lower-cost areas of the country, and spending more to feed fewer people (after official inflation rates are factored in) it's hard to see how everyone to the left of my spot on the curve (ie lower income and/or higher relative expenses, ie "worse off") is instead somehow doing better than I am.

(This reminds me of the "sure, we're losing money on every item we sell, but we'll make up for it in volume!" quip)

This thread has outlived its usefulness

Posted Jan 19, 2026 13:47 UTC (Mon) by jzb (editor, #7867) [Link]

Let's, everybody, please wind this up here and any other threads discussing the economy, etc. Thank you.

"SMTP has outlived its usefulness" (was: Forwarding services)

Posted Jan 19, 2026 14:09 UTC (Mon) by malmedal (subscriber, #56172) [Link]

Lots of people insist that there's something wrong with official statistics and produce their own, including billionaires who spend plenty of money. Yet all of these have so far been obviously wrong if you poke at it a little. They make the rounds on Twitter a while and are them forgotten.