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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (85623)	11/17/2000 9:09:59 AM
From: Mike M2	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 132070

Dennis, the problem with hedonic indexing used in calculating chain weighted GDP is that there is no economic relevance. These dollars exist only in the minds of bureaucrats who want to please their political bosses. When you purchase a PC from Dell you use (real) nominal dollars not chain weighted dollars and that is what Dell reports. Chain weighted dollars do not create income or expense for anyone. IMO hedonics were fabricated to deceive the investing public about the source of strength of the economy and overstate productivity. Mike

To: Dennis O'Bell who wrote (85623)	11/17/2000 12:07:09 PM
From: Thomas M.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 132070

His implication that a disruptive technology like computers should be priced like pork bellies or some other commodity is absurd Economics is about money, and that's all that matters. If computers are helping companies achieve large productivity gains, it would show up in the bottom lines. It isn't. If Europe is starting from a lower base, that makes no difference, because the currency would be starting from a lower base. It's what happens at the margin that counts. As for public participation, I see the U.S. markets getting dumber and dumber over the years. Analysis is at an all time low, and the market is behaving more and more like a mob. Perhaps it is a coincidence that this is happening at the same time that amatuers are replacing professionals in the market place, but I doubt it. Tom