10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 15 Mar \ parent \ on: America's middle class is collapsing (because they get richer not poorer) charts_and_numbers
Hedonic adjustments account for quality improvements in products that already existed, not previously non-existent products.
The introduction new products is a known issue for inflation adjustments.
Whether it's "just" an accounting trick or not depends on who you're talking about. There are plenty of economists who argue for those methods in good faith. It's also not a coincidence that whenever they tweak the methodology it makes the status quo look better.