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Why Reported Inflation Seems Different Than Reality
Zero Hedge ^ | 20 December 2012 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 12/23/2012 10:30:36 AM PST by arthurus

But the manipulation of the data did not stop there. Aside from the weighting changes the BLS instituted a system of “hedonic” adjustments. Hedonics adjusts the prices of goods for the increased pleasure the consumer derives from them.

“That new washing machine you bought did not cost you 20% more than it would have cost you last year, because you got an offsetting 20% increase in the pleasure you derive from pushing its new electronic control buttons instead of turning that old noisy dial, according to the BLS.

When gasoline rises 10 cents per gallon because of a federally mandated gasoline additive, the increased gasoline cost does not contribute to inflation. Instead, the 10 cents is eliminated from the CPI because of the offsetting hedonic thrills the consumer gets from breathing cleaner air. The same principle applies to federally mandated safety features in automobiles. I have not attempted to quantify the effects of questionable quality adjustments to the CPI, but they are substantial.”

(Excerpt) Read more at zerohedge.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: bls; cpi; hedonic; hedonicadjustments; hedonics; iglation; inflation
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1 posted on 12/23/2012 10:30:40 AM PST by arthurus
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To: arthurus

Is this satire? I can’t tell anymore.


2 posted on 12/23/2012 10:33:42 AM PST by BipolarBob (I survived the Lindsay Lohan Bar, Grill and Fight Club.)
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To: arthurus
S.S. says that inflation was 01.7% in 2012. Anybody believe that?
3 posted on 12/23/2012 10:36:22 AM PST by Graybeard58 ("Civil rights” leader and MSNB-Hee Haw host Al Sharpton - Larry Elder)
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To: arthurus

When the GDP is adjusted for actual inflation, it is negative.

The unions have already begun the push for higher wages.

They will get them and then the inflation will be to big to ignore. The wage rise in the face of unemployment will spread to the whole economy


4 posted on 12/23/2012 10:40:48 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 .....The fairest Deduction to be reduced is the Standard Deduction)
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To: Graybeard58
for years i've bought five candy bars at Wally's for an afternoon work snack for five bucks, last month they sent to $1.26 each...
5 posted on 12/23/2012 10:42:55 AM PST by Chode (American Hedonist - *DTOM* -ww- NO Pity for the LAZY)
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To: arthurus

The same reason that reported unemployment seems different than reality?


6 posted on 12/23/2012 10:48:24 AM PST by jospehm20
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To: arthurus
In the "new reality" of Post Modern rubbish, this is not Bath House Barry, a cheap narcissistic racist Marxist.

Oh no. This is the Nobel Prize for Nothing Emperor for Life.

In the same way, our masters lie to us and tell us there "is no inflation!" And our obese, entitlement check collecting immoral masses nod their low information voting noggins, and surf for porn.

7 posted on 12/23/2012 10:56:45 AM PST by SkyPilot
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To: SkyPilot

what kind of hedonic improvement can be done for Big Ears? i am so overjoyed at the idea of having to put up with 4 more years of lord haw haw.


8 posted on 12/23/2012 11:02:19 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (How long before all this "fairness" kills everybody, even the poor it was supposed to help???)
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To: arthurus

This is an excellent article, but it can be boiled down, a lot, to: Your government lies to you - constantly.


9 posted on 12/23/2012 11:03:57 AM PST by Truth29
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To: arthurus
Feed them GobblyGook. 54% will believe it. At least 10% just smile and keep on keeping on. The other 36% don't matter. they are just disgruntled conservatives.
And Broncho and his merry men just carry on with the party.
10 posted on 12/23/2012 11:06:27 AM PST by Tupelo (I'm an old man and most people hate me, but I don't like them either so that makes it all even.)
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To: arthurus

They’ve been lying out their @sses, hiding, covering up, finagling, adjusting, manipulating, massaging, and doing whatever it takes to keep the lid on the country/economy until the election was over. Well, the election is over and all the mess they repressed is about to blow sky high. Personally, I’d rather have a calm, competent, Conservative (not talking Mitt here) who understands the economy and that big government has to be majorly downsized and spending must stop; however, we are stuck with Emperor Barry “I have no clothes” & Michelle “Antoinette Let Them Eat Vegetables” Obama at the helm and when all hell breaks loose and the country comes down around their ears, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving ‘couple’ of anti-American, anti-Christian, baby killing, pervert-loving,Constitution trampling, lawless Communists/Marxist/Muslims or whatever the heck they are.

Hopefully, there will be an American Phoenix to rise out of the ashes and the country will come back in some form other than a third world dictatorship, but ... that remains to be seen.


11 posted on 12/23/2012 11:13:24 AM PST by MissMagnolia
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To: Truth29

The Ministry of Truth is alive and well in Washedup, DC


12 posted on 12/23/2012 11:15:31 AM PST by faithhopecharity
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To: MissMagnolia

Taking America out of the heart of Americans is a task too difficult even for Big Ears.


13 posted on 12/23/2012 11:17:30 AM PST by HiTech RedNeck (How long before all this "fairness" kills everybody, even the poor it was supposed to help???)
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To: arthurus

Got a new washing machine a few months ago - lots of gee whiz stuff - but truth be told the ‘pleasure’ of pushing new buttons faded quickly...


14 posted on 12/23/2012 11:22:45 AM PST by GOPJ (Detroit should be renamed 'Michael Mooresville'...)
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To: arthurus
However, as the pressure of increasing deficits weighed on political parties, the need to find solutions to reducing spending, without actually cutting spending, led to several substantial changes in the calculation of inflation.

This is just a fancy of saying, "the need to fool the voter with smoke and mirrors"

15 posted on 12/23/2012 11:27:29 AM PST by YankeeReb
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To: Graybeard58

My trips to the grocery store show a lot higher inflation than 1.7%. I think the gub’mint changed the rules on how they report inflation just like they did for unemployment.


16 posted on 12/23/2012 11:37:07 AM PST by Little Ray (Get back to work. Your urban masters need their EBTs refilled.)
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To: arthurus

Technological advances are also poorly accounted for. I can buy a more computer power now for a few hundred dollars now than I could have bought for a billion dollars a few decades ago. Intel and others have managed to print silicon faster than the government prints money, a remarkable fact in itself.


17 posted on 12/23/2012 11:40:21 AM PST by AZLiberty (No tag today.)
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To: arthurus
This has been an interesting subject of conversation here on FR in the past. There's some truth to the manipulation the BLS does to the inflation numbers. Here's a case in point:

A new car costs X% more than it did ten years ago, and that price increase can be substantial. The reality, though, is that the new car you buy today is not the same as the new car you bought ten years ago. It's a much better car, which means a one-to-one comparison would not be an accurate measure of inflation.

The same holds true for almost any product or service that involves technology that has advanced considerably over time. Medical care is another good example. Your medical insurance plan costs a lot more than it did 20 years ago, but it also covers many medical treatments that didn't even exist 20 years ago.

18 posted on 12/23/2012 11:44:40 AM PST by Alberta's Child ("I am the master of my fate ... I am the captain of my soul.")
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To: arthurus

Obama’s Ministry of Truth. Reality is what they tell you it is.

Now shut up and pay your taxes, you degenerate capitalist pig.


19 posted on 12/23/2012 11:52:07 AM PST by Windflier (To anger a conservative, tell him a lie. To anger a liberal, tell him the truth.)
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To: Alberta's Child

Right, and tuition is up because the quality of education has improved so dramatically. Same with milk, eggs, bacon... they now must come with magic marshmallow yellow moon, red hearts and green clovers.


20 posted on 12/23/2012 11:52:49 AM PST by Sirius Lee (Sarah Palin - "Republicans like Rove... are said to be concerned she will win.")
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