Who Suffers From Inflation?

t's not you. It's rich people.
By Daniel Gross
Posted Tuesday, July 19, 2005, at 2:30 PM PT

Here is what happens when number crunchers stop believing in numbers and start worrying about themselves. The inflation numbers look good. The Consumer Price Index rose just 0.1 percent in May and just 2.5 percent during the year before. The Federal Reserve believes it has tamed inflation with a series of measured interest-rate increases.

But many professional analysts refuse to believe. As a group, economists surveyed by the Wall Street Journal forecast that inflation will pick up pace in coming months. In June, for example, Brian Wesbury of Griffin, Kubik, Stephens & Thompson projected inflation would "rise to the 3.5 percent to 4.0 percent range during the next 17 months."