Thread by @MikeOtsuka

'In July 2018, only 23% of people told us that they trust train travel. This represents a six percentage-point drop compared with July 2017. In fact, this makes train travel one of the least-trusted consumer industries, beaten to last place only by car dealers.' 1/

'At the same time, rail fares have increased by 40% since 2008, which is more than one-and-a-half times higher than CPI inflation (26%) over the same period.' 2/

which.co.uk/news/2018/08/h…

On Wednesday, July inflation figures will be released. RPI is expected to have risen by about 3.5% since last July. Rail fares increase annually on the basis of July-to-July RPI increases. 3/

There is, however, an unanswerable case that RPI inflates inflation: that it overstates the rise in prices. In fact, the case is stronger than the case that human beings are primarily responsible for global warming. 4/

Such human responsibility for global warming is merely 'extremely likely'. See p. 17 of the 2013 report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 5/
ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment…

By contrast, RPI overstatement of rise in prices is a mathematical certainty. See linked blog post. 6/
medium.com/@mikeotsuka/te…

As a result, the RPI measure of inflation is in its death throes: 7/
ft.com/content/0bcc92…

See also this: 8/
ft.com/content/df9780…

And this: 9/
ft.com/content/9eef27…

And this: 10/
ft.com/content/f7d08e…

Here's my simple explanation of the mathematical flaw with RPI that exaggerates the rise in prices: 11/11