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What Is Inflation, and Why Cash in a Drawer Loses Value

Money Basics • Beginner Investing • 6 min

Every year, prices tend to creep upward — a cup of coffee, a movie ticket, a gallon of gas cost less a decade ago than they do now — and that steady upward drift has a name: inflation. The U.S. government tracks it primarily through the Consumer Price Index (CPI), maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which measures how the price of a broad basket of everyday goods and services changes over time.Inflation…

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