Yes, they are out of control. I am a PhD mathematician, aware of some of the cons. Let me explain.
If there is a real inflation of 7%, it only takes 10 years for prices to double (not 14 as most people believe). That is because of compounding.
A 'real' 7% inflation is not uncommon, even if they say officially it is about 3%.
There are numerous adjustments made by the ONS to 'hide' the real inflation you and I experience.
Let me explain a few of the biggest cons.
Hedonic Adjustment: Say you have a Windows 10 computer, and due to that going out of date soon, you are forced to update to Windows 11. Say last year, the bottom end laptop was £350. You go into the store and tell the guy you want the bottom end laptop again this year, which has Windows 11. Say he tells you it is £400 now (a REAL increase of 14%). However, the ONS can say because the NEW laptop has the more fantastic Windows 11 on it, you are getting more enjoyment and value out of this new bells-and-whistles computer. Consequently, they can ADJUST this 14% inflation as much as they want downward due to their perception of how much more 'enjoyment' you get from the new Windows 11 over Windows 10. They can even say there is a 0% inflation figure on that computer if they want to.
Substitution Adjustment: Say last year a beef meals costs £5 and a chicken meal costs £4. Say (for ease of the figures) both have a 25% increase. That means the new beef meal costs £6.25 and the new chicken meal costs £5. The REAL inflation is 25%, BUT they can say, because the cost of beef has gone up so much, many consumers have had to SUBSTITUTE to the cheaper chicken meal. Their whacky thinking says you paid £5 for the beef meal a year ago, but since you have changed what you eat, you now pay £5 for the new chicken meal today. In other words, your spending of £5 has not changed from last year. So, in their opinion you have experience a 0% increase in your spending when in reality there was a 25% increase.
In general, inflation is whatever they say it is, or more accurately what they think they can get away with saying it is.
Let me explain a tax based inflation con, that is likely to appear in the upcoming budget.
Say your family bought something of value £1000. Say there has been a 7% inflation for 10 years, so that thing has doubled to £2000 just due to inflation, ie the devaluation of the currency. The government says you have to pay Capital Gains Tax on the extra £1000 if you sell it. But it has not gained anything in value. The value has stayed the same. Its just the currency, the pounds that have halved in value over that 10 years. The government are not taxing a tangible gain, they are taxing the destruction of the value of the currency.
You think that is bad, well if you own your home and bought it many years ago, and Capital Gains Tax is ever charged on that, you will be paying vast amounts of tax on something that has only really increased with inflation.
The tax bands for Inheritance Tax staying the same in high inflationary periods is another tax of the devaluation of currency, rather than a tangible gain in value. That is a very likely con in the upcoming budget. Many houses in your area might be moving into the Inheritance Tax bands of 40% tax, even though they have had no increase in value, instead just the devaluation of the currency.
I have read somewhere a number of bars of gold could buy you an average house 100 years ago, and still today the same number of bars of gold can buy an average house today. Even though we believe houses are sky-rocketing, the reality is it is the currency that is being destroyed by inflation that is causing the prices of housing to APPEAR to rapidly rise.
Governments love inflation, because they can tax it (even though no value has been gained) and also government debt is reduced in real size. In contrast, inflation destroys the average family. We are in a very high inflationary period right now, and the signs are its going to get a lot worse.