You sound as if the government conspires to leave you in the dark about inflation. Not true. The cost of living index has subcomponets. For example, the Cost of living in September of 2010 increased by .01 percent; without food and energy it was unchanged. This piece of information is valuable to both decision makers and business. Now the tirade about the value of the dollar or, for that matter, any other currency is unnecessary. Gold standard is dead and if you don't trust the dollar there is always barter for you or close substitutes like buying futures for oil companies.