> inflation has been more stable and lower in recent years than much of the Bretton Woods era...
That depends how you measure inflation. The government-published inflation rates use all kinds of creative accounting to make the number seem artificially low. It's in the government's interest to make it seem like that's the case. The reality is that housing prices (and rents) are increasing at a very high rate, and this is probably the biggest expense that we all have to pay. It's also a fundamental need.
As far as I know, the highest inflation since 2008 has been experienced by "financial assets", which is not really considered in the actual inflation numbers published by the government, because supposedly it's not important for the majority of people. Well, it turns out that when you have an increasingly financialized(is this a word?) economy, it becomes important.
Housing prices aren't a measure of inflation. The average size of a house has gone up, the average quality of a home has gone up. Houses have more appliances, air/cooling, and electronics which increases pricing. They aren't making any more land, and our population is increasing, so naturally land prices will rise.
If you were able track housing prices of equivalent homes and adjust for land scarcity from population- you'd have a much stronger metric. Without that context it's hardly relevant.
The crazy part about inflation isn't that the governments are focusing on a narrow definition of inflation. The crazy part is the idea that inflation is global. If you pump in money into the financial sector it will immediately propagate to consumer prices. The outcome is obvious.
That depends how you measure inflation. The government-published inflation rates use all kinds of creative accounting to make the number seem artificially low. It's in the government's interest to make it seem like that's the case. The reality is that housing prices (and rents) are increasing at a very high rate, and this is probably the biggest expense that we all have to pay. It's also a fundamental need.