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To: flatsville who wrote (58581)	1/17/2001 11:47:48 AM
From: Oblomov	Respond to of 436258

A good example of why I distrust both major parties.

To: flatsville who wrote (58581)	1/17/2001 11:55:50 AM
From: Les H	Respond to of 436258

They've been looking at downsizing the CPI since the early 90's. Moynihan, a Democrat, was another chief proponent of it. Plenty of support by crooks on both sides of the aisle. He was on TV the other weekend still claiming that CPI was too high. It works great for both sides. Take money out of SS/Medicare/Medicaid/military pensions and draft new entitlements, tax shelters, etc. You don't get much credit by way of soundbites on the evening news for tinkering with old programs, only fear from current beneficiaries. AARP tried to get a bill for a Senior CPI to the House floor with no success. I believe there was another group of schools with a similar effort. The CPI isn't used to index ceilings on SS tax or to index government wages, either. Nothing like 'separation of powers' to stick everybody else with a scam.

To: flatsville who wrote (58581)	1/17/2001 12:30:12 PM
From: pater tenebrarum	Respond to of 436258

i know why they did it, and i know that the new administration will do f*ck all to change it, unless it is forced due to widespread protests by the concerned groups, something that will happen once the downturn suitably intensifies while prices for essential goods keep rising sharply (i'm talking about food, energy, medical supplies, the things everybody NEEDS to survive). but to think that a debt problem has been solved by tinkering with a statistic is a fallacy! the debt burden has only been shifted from the state to the household sector, as all the groups depending on COLA adjustments see their buying power erode year after year, which forces them in the aggregate ever deeper into debt to maintain their living standard. what's more, the ultimate price that will have to be paid for this fraud is MUCH higher than anything the government has now saved in the short term, as virtually EVERY important economic decision, be it monetary policy, bank credit, or the investment plans of entrepreneurs are based on erroneous data! especially as the error compounds over time...the gap between the debt that has been created based on the bogus economic data and true economic performance widens therefore ever more, and the bust that will result from this will ultimately drive the government's debt to unheard of heights, just as has happened in Japan over the past decade. so in the end, NOT A DIME WILL HAVE BEEN SAVED. it's a statistical mirage, that will be ground to dust by reality.

To: flatsville who wrote (58581)	1/17/2001 8:00:06 PM
From: Mike M2	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

Flats, you are trying to fit the facts to suit your politics. Yes, it is true that the Boskin commission recommended ways to understate inflation and the BLS implemented as a politically expedient way to slow the growth of entitlements but I challenge you to show me where Boskin recommended that the COMMERCE DEPARTMENT apply hedonic pricing to computers and other products to overstate GDP and productivity. It is obvious that the Commerce Dept. objectives were to create the illusion of an economic miracle fueled by strong growth and productivity in order to please their boss Bill Clinton when in reality we were experiencing the greatest credit bubble in history. It is true that understating product price inflation overstates real GDP and productivity but the hedonic pricing of computers used in computing chain weigthed GDP as reported in the COMMERCE DEPARTMENTS SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS produces scandalous distortions WHICH IMO SERVE ONLY TO DECIEVE the investing public. You are mistakenly blaming the BLS for the hedonic hoax as it relates to GDP growth and productivity which is published by the Commerce Dept. Mike