📈 Inflation Tracker

A comprehensive Python-based dashboard to track US inflation from 1913 to present and compare it against various assets including Bitcoin, Gold, currencies, and more.

✨ Features

• 📊 US Inflation Data: Historical CPI data from 1913 to present
• 💰 Real-time Prices: Live Bitcoin, Ethereum, Gold, and Silver prices
• 📉 Interactive Charts: Zoomable, pannable Plotly.js charts
• 🔄 Asset Comparison: Compare any combination of assets normalized to a base year
• 🧮 Inflation Calculator: Calculate the inflation-adjusted value of any amount
• 🌙 Modern Dark UI: Premium glassmorphism design with smooth animations

🚀 Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10 or higher
• pip (Python package manager)

Installation

1. Clone or navigate to the project directory:

   cd "/Users/hishamfadhel/Library/CloudStorage/GoogleDrive-hfadhel140802@gmail.com/My Drive/Inflation"

2. Activate the virtual environment:

   source venv/bin/activate

3. Create your environment file (optional but recommended):

   cp .env.example .env

   Then edit .env and add your API keys (see API Keys section below).

4. Run the application:

   python run.py

5. Open in browser: Navigate to http://localhost:5000

🔑 API Keys

The application works without API keys using embedded historical data, but for real-time data, you'll need:

API	Purpose	Get Key	Required?
FRED API	US CPI/Inflation data	fred.stlouisfed.org	Optional
Metals-API	Gold, Silver prices	metals-api.com	Optional
Alpha Vantage	Forex rates	alphavantage.co	Optional
Binance	Crypto prices	Not needed (public API)	N/A

Setting Up API Keys

Create a .env file in the project root:

FRED_API_KEY=your_fred_api_key_here
METALS_API_KEY=your_metals_api_key_here
ALPHA_VANTAGE_API_KEY=your_alpha_vantage_api_key_here

📁 Project Structure

Inflation/
├── run.py                    # Application entry point
├── config.py                 # Configuration management
├── requirements.txt          # Python dependencies
├── .env.example              # Environment template
├── .env                      # Your API keys (gitignored)
│
├── app/
│   ├── __init__.py           # Flask app factory
│   │
│   ├── routes/
│   │   ├── api.py            # REST API endpoints
│   │   └── views.py          # Page routes
│   │
│   ├── services/
│   │   ├── inflation_service.py  # FRED/CPI data
│   │   ├── crypto_service.py     # Binance integration
│   │   ├── metals_service.py     # Precious metals
│   │   ├── forex_service.py      # Currency exchange
│   │   └── cache_service.py      # Response caching
│   │
│   ├── utils/
│   │   └── calculations.py   # Inflation calculations
│   │
│   ├── static/
│   │   ├── css/style.css     # Dark theme styles
│   │   └── js/dashboard.js   # Frontend logic
│   │
│   └── templates/
│       ├── base.html         # Base template
│       ├── index.html        # Dashboard page
│       └── compare.html      # Comparison page
│
└── venv/                     # Virtual environment

🔌 API Endpoints

Inflation

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/inflation	Historical CPI data
GET /api/inflation/rates	Year-over-year inflation rates
GET /api/inflation/purchasing-power	Purchasing power over time
GET /api/inflation/adjust	Inflation calculator

Crypto

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/crypto/<symbol>	Current price (e.g., /api/crypto/bitcoin)
GET /api/crypto/<symbol>/history	Historical prices

Metals

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/metals/<metal>	Current price (gold, silver)
GET /api/metals/<metal>/history	Historical prices

Forex

Endpoint	Description
GET /api/forex/<from>/<to>	Exchange rate
GET /api/forex/convert	Currency conversion

Comparison

Endpoint	Description
POST /api/compare	Compare multiple assets
GET /api/dashboard	All dashboard data
GET /api/assets	List available assets

📊 Data Sources

• Inflation/CPI: Bureau of Labor Statistics via FRED API (1913-present)
• Bitcoin: Binance API (2017-present) + embedded historical (2009-2016)
• Gold: Embedded historical data (1913-present)
• Silver: Embedded historical data (1970-present)
• Forex: Alpha Vantage API + embedded historical data

🛠 Development

Running in Development Mode

source venv/bin/activate
FLASK_DEBUG=True python run.py

Installing New Dependencies

pip install <package-name>
pip freeze > requirements.txt

📝 License

This project is for educational purposes. API usage is subject to the terms of each provider.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to:

• Report bugs
• Suggest new features
• Add more asset data
• Improve the UI

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Built with ❤️ using Flask & Plotly.js