Inflation at 53-year low as QE money printing rages unabated!

Do they teach the word "rhetorical" in school anymore?


In the type of school spike goes to they mostly teach basic abc's, and how to wipe properly, just how to function, and try to live a "normal" life despite his obvious disabilities.
 
One line caught my eye in an article at zerohedge about gov't tinkering with cpi in order to save on cost of living indexing.

That line was "...
  • "When an agency keeps raw data hidden from outside inspection (BLS deems raw pricing data as confidential and thus exempt from FOIA)"
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-...federal-government-over-150-billion-1998-2012

Which begs the question as to "why" the government would hide the data it is using to calculate cost of living. Kooks like Ricter will ignore that, shout "it's a conspiwacy" as snark, but not be able to answer it either.
 
Which begs the question as to "why" the government would hide the data it is using to calculate cost of living. Kooks like Ricter will ignore that, shout "it's a conspiwacy" as snark, but not be able to answer it either.
More importantly, why are billions of prices posted online, from tens of thousands of retailers, the source data for the MIT BPP, also being hidden? So that they can publish inflation reports that largely echo the government's reports?
 
More importantly, why are billions of prices posted online, from tens of thousands of retailers, the source data for the MIT BPP, also being hidden? So that they can publish inflation reports that largely echo the government's reports?

First, the data colleced by the BPP isn't hidden at all. It's available from Price Stats (you can purchase it through State Street). Second, to quote Price Stats,

PriceStats is a provider of high-frequency global inflation indices
that offer insights into key macroeconomic variables. The
indices are generated using software that scans the underlying
code on public websites to capture the full array of products
sold by online retailers, including food, beverages, electronics,
apparel, furniture, household products, prescription drugs, and
over-the-counter medicines. The technology monitors price
fluctuations on roughly five million items sold by hundreds of
online retailers in more than 70 countries. The PriceStats meth-
odology is grounded in the extensive body of research of MIT
professors Alberto Cavallo and Roberto Rigobon and their Billion
Prices Project at MIT. Cavallo and Rigobon have leveraged this
research and their expertise in monetary economics to develop
the PriceStats indices.

Depending on the country, the items are different (subject to availability). They exclude items like rent, utilities, a good deal of produce and meats (though not all), and other items not captured in an online environment (like medical expenses, ex medicine). Additionally, items are picked off via same link price points and not subject to size or SKU differentials. For example, if the bot goes out and gets the price of chicken breasts at $2.99 each, if poultry providers begin to provide less chicken for the $ per pound, that isn't taken into account ("down ouncing" isn't monitored), nor are changes in quality ever a consideration. Oh, and services are almost entirely not covered.

Long story short, the methodology that the BPP pulls from is nowhere near what the BLS pulls (as far as we know). It is quite literally, comparing apples to oranges, and has it's own data issues.
 
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CPI 0.0%, Exp. -0.1%, CPI ex- food and energy 0.2%, Exp. 0.1%

CPI food index up 3.1% in 12 months

Rising prices: shelter index, airline fares, household furnishings, medical care, recreation, personal care, tobacco, and new vehicles

We're getting close to Thanksgiving, though. It's about time for Ricter to start posting some circulars and showing us where we can get cheap/free turkey deals.
 
CPI 0.0%, Exp. -0.1%, CPI ex- food and energy 0.2%, Exp. 0.1%

CPI food index up 3.1% in 12 months

Rising prices: shelter index, airline fares, household furnishings, medical care, recreation, personal care, tobacco, and new vehicles

We're getting close to Thanksgiving, though. It's about time for Ricter to start posting some circulars and showing us where we can get cheap/free turkey deals.
Your wife will be buying your turkey anyway, right?
 
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