Wonking Out: How Low Must Inflation Go? In which Paul Krugman, Nobel (2008), writes that "easing inflation is good," but that the Federal Reserve's "core inflation" definition, which excludes energy and food prices, still overstates inflation and is therefore "problematic", that "underlying inflation" (which still excludes the price at the gas pump and at the grocery store) is really somewhere between 3.5% and 4%, which although technically is 1.75-2 times greater than the Fed's inflation target of 2%, said 2% target (excluding gas and food prices) has a "peculiar" history and "is grounded less in straightforward economics than in almost metaphysical concerns about credibility" which grounding also applies to Paulie's column.