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Inflation Statistics: Do They Match Reality?
Barron's ^ | 10 December 2007 | SANDRA WARD

Posted on 12/08/2007 4:41:18 PM PST by shrinkermd

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To: Unknowing
Changing the index decreased the official statement of price inflation. It really depends on what prices one measures. Monetary inflation, which is typically at the root of price inflation, is hidden because the total money supply, M3, is no longer being reported.

That is a good way to rob social security recipients to be sure. Just a fraud covering up another fraud.

21 posted on 12/08/2007 5:27:06 PM PST by bjs1779
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To: Toddsterpatriot

So now the inflation stats that show that housing would wipe out any wage gains are somehow “flawed”?

This should be fun..;)


22 posted on 12/08/2007 5:27:34 PM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: bjs1779

Notice that when information that could dispell the notion that our economy is raising standards of wealth across the board, they somehow are changed?

M3, Inflation no longer indexed to housing, medical costs given an unequal weight, fuel costs no longer added into the mix..

When the money supply is inflated, that is a “hidden” tax that causes a drop in buying power.


23 posted on 12/08/2007 5:31:06 PM PST by padre35 (Conservative in Exile/ Isaiah 3.3)
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To: saganite

saganite wrote: “In the sense that a lot of govt spending is tied to the rate of inflation this is a good thing but as for families buying bread, milk and gas not to mention shelter, there’s no way to disguise the real rate.”

That’s true to the extent that you also like robbing military retirees of the purchasing power of the retirement they sacrificed many years to earn.


24 posted on 12/08/2007 5:31:32 PM PST by CitizenUSA
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To: Graybeard58

“When food prices are jumping 50% at a time, it’s pretty hard to think there’s no inflation.
“Zimbabwe?”

No, WinCo in Boise. The least expensive brands of corn and peas were a buck a bag yesterday. Today they’re a buck and a half.

The cheap imitation ham I used to buy at Walmart for my lunches was two bucks a bag last year. Now it’s four.

Walmart brand sodas in the vending machines were a quarter yesterday. Today they’re forty cents.

I wish some Washington reptile would tell me there’s no inflation. I’d show him how to inflate his lower lip.


25 posted on 12/08/2007 5:32:37 PM PST by dsc
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To: shrinkermd

First of all the CPI is biased upward by about 2% due to quality change, the governments inability to measure sale prices etc., so if this claim were correct, it would be offsetting that bias. As for including only prices of goods rather than asset appreciation in measuring consumer prices, that seems reasonable to me.

Finally, complaining about the US economy since 1984 is pretty weak. The US economy has been great since the Reagan tax cuts became fully implemented. Since then we have had two minor recessions. They were associated with:

1. The restructuring of the economy when the cold war was won.

2. The added risk that became recognized on 11 September 2001.

That is hardly a boom and bust cycle unless you are a Dim candidate or carrying the water for them in the 2008 election cycle.


26 posted on 12/08/2007 5:32:49 PM PST by JLS
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To: padre35
Fair is fair however, what would have things looked like under previous administrations with and without Housing’s disposition?

Since nobody had ventured, what is your opinion?

27 posted on 12/08/2007 5:32:53 PM PST by bjs1779
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To: padre35
My house doubled in price. My mortgage payment stayed the same. How did my personal inflation rate rise?

This should be fun..;)

28 posted on 12/08/2007 5:33:19 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (What came first, the bad math or the goldbuggery?)
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To: CitizenUSA

I’m a military retiree and your point is well taken.


29 posted on 12/08/2007 5:33:35 PM PST by saganite
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To: padre35
fuel costs no longer added into the mix..

LOL! I showed you a few days ago that fuel was included. Short memory?

30 posted on 12/08/2007 5:34:36 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (What came first, the bad math or the goldbuggery?)
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To: padre35

Maybe it is just me, but you need to make yourself more clear.


31 posted on 12/08/2007 5:35:39 PM PST by bjs1779
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To: Toddsterpatriot
My house doubled in price. My mortgage payment stayed the same. How did my personal inflation rate rise?

Do you pay real estate taxes on the house that you haven't sold?

32 posted on 12/08/2007 5:38:21 PM PST by bjs1779
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To: bjs1779
Do you pay real estate taxes on the house that you haven't sold?

You mean the real estate taxes that are included in CPI? Yes. So how much did my personal inflation rate rise?

33 posted on 12/08/2007 5:40:07 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (What came first, the bad math or the goldbuggery?)
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To: shrinkermd

Whatever the inflation rate may be, it drives me crazy to see unions give their members a “COLA” (cost of living adjustment) increase.

WHY?? Some industries & workers deserve a DECREASE in pay - not an increase. It depends on [everybody say it with me: “MAR-KET CON-DI-TIONS.” What Consumers are signaling, with changes in spending & revenue flows, to different industries. Why the heck do they “assume” they “should” get a COLA, every year?

The political dues from union pay checks (which go to Dem Party) of course increase, with every “Cola” adjustment. That explains why unions force through COLA’s.

It’s just maddening.


34 posted on 12/08/2007 5:40:12 PM PST by 4Liberty (U.S. tax laws are enforced, Immigration laws aren’t = global tax)
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To: saganite

I think it also seriously undermines disability pay to our wounded vets, but I’m not as well versed on disability pay. I bet it’s tied to the government inflation rate, too.

BTW, I thought real world inflation far exceeded the government rate for many years (especially so the last two years with the increased cost of gas and food). With actual inflation running about 6-7% higher than what they calculate, our effective retired pay halves every 10-12 years.

Perhaps they base it on the $20 DVD players made in China. Well, that’s great, but you can’t eat or drive those. Real people need food, gas, medical care, and an education.


35 posted on 12/08/2007 5:47:40 PM PST by CitizenUSA
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To: Unknowing

Reason number 17,008,903 why people laugh at and mistrust bureaucrats and elected officials and almost everything they say and do.

Only people that don’t have to spend their own money could possibly be taken in by the ludicrous inflation numbers the feds publish.
The numbers are so far removed from reality that its not even a good fake.

Prices for Lamborghinis and Learjets may not be shooting up but the prices on the necessities of life are skyrocketing as everyone outside of the DC beltway and Manhattan knows firsthand.


36 posted on 12/08/2007 5:48:17 PM PST by Iron Munro ( (Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself.))
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To: Toddsterpatriot
You mean the real estate taxes that are included in CPI? Yes. So how much did my personal inflation rate rise?

I think I asked you that question.

37 posted on 12/08/2007 5:48:34 PM PST by bjs1779
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To: Unknowing
Changing the index decreased the official statement of price inflation. It really depends on what prices one measures. Monetary inflation, which is typically at the root of price inflation, is hidden because the total money supply, M3, is no longer being reported.

Isn't that the truth! And the Fed's excuse for not reporting it was that it was "too hard to measure." Granted, it's difficult to quantify the inflation rate when you look around you and compare what you paid for things two years ago versus today - but it's certainly not hard to see!

38 posted on 12/08/2007 5:49:50 PM PST by Ken522
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To: bjs1779
I don’t think you did. So you don’t have an answer? Do real estate taxes make my rate between 8% and 10%?
39 posted on 12/08/2007 5:53:08 PM PST by Toddsterpatriot (What came first, the bad math or the goldbuggery?)
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To: Toddsterpatriot
Do real estate taxes make my rate between 8% and 10%?

Once again, depending where you live, it very well could if you don't lie about it.

40 posted on 12/08/2007 5:55:30 PM PST by bjs1779
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