Inflation seems like big news lately, but runaway inflation has been around for decades when it comes to housing prices in Canada. Gen Squeeze volunteer Kareem Kudus joins Umair and Megan to connect the dots between housing unaffordability and inflation, in particular how mismeasuring housing inflation has contributed to soaring home prices. Since 2005, home prices have risen about 300 per cent on average across the country. But the housing component of the Consumer Price Index -- which we use to measure inflation in Canada -- has only gone up 60 per cent. "So it's completely disassociated from reality," Kareem explains. Fixing this faulty monetary policy will help make homes affordable for younger and future Canadians. 

Dig deeper:

• Full episode transcript
• Kareem's blog posts about inflation:
  • Should Canadians concerned about high and rising home prices welcome high gas prices?
  • Budget 2022 doesn’t fix the poor job Canada’s inflation measure does at representing our biggest source of inflation
  • Statistics Canada proposes sticking with the status quo – no need to change harmful mismeasurement of housing price inflation
  • We have tolerated homes becoming more unaffordable by mismeasuring inflation