Open MaxGhenis opened 2 months ago
Census provided this comparison of CPI-U to FCSUti (which governs SPM threshold growth): https://www.bls.gov/pir/spm/spm_thresholds_2023.htm#_edn1
Since 2010, CPI-growth has averaged 2.55%, while FCSUti has averaged 2.71% (average annual rate, not CAGR).
However, the five-year moving average nature of FCSUti, combined with rapid growth in 2021 and 2022, means that the faster growth is likely to continue for the next couple years. I'd suggest then that we take these steps:
We could do this as a spreadsheet for now, though ideally it would be a Python script.
The Census Bureau defines SPM thresholds based on expenditures. This rises consistently faster than CPI, which is what we currently index to:
https://github.com/PolicyEngine/policyengine-us/blob/6525e72ffc89aca67e88ba6381dfa063be0123bc/policyengine_us/variables/household/income/spm_unit/spm_unit_spm_threshold.py#L10
Let's either identify a forecast of expenditures (ideally on the relevant categories: food, clothing, shelter, and utilities), or otherwise construct one based on CPI plus the typical delta.