Correct, it's mostly theater , and people nerding out on the numbers. The true measure of inflation is this: For a single day one works (calculated over a lifetime), how many days can one survive without working which will pay off all of one's bills. The lower this figure, higher is the inflation.
>The true measure of inflation is this: For a single day one works (calculated over a lifetime), how many days can one survive without working which will pay off all of one's bills.
This rapidly falls apart when you try to actually calculate it. Whose income do you use? Is inflation lower for doctors than burger flippers? What do you use as the retirement age? Does inflation go down if the retirement age is raised? What counts as "survive"? Does that mean the price of smartphones don't count toward inflation because you can theoretically survive without them?
Huh? What does this have to do with inflation at all?
Unless I miss something, it's very much not a standard measure of inflation. That said, leaning on that "at all": If wages are stickier than expenses, then the gap between wages and expenses will represent recent inflation to some degree.
If inflation is stable (and low-ish), then stickiness doesn't matter.
Sticky prices are only important, when expectations are invalidated.
So to fix your sentence:
> If wages are stickier than expenses, then the gap between wages and expenses will represent recent unexpected inflation to some degree.