Real World

It's amazing to me how the gubmit can create formula's on it's own and certify them as being both accurate and legitimate. I'm currently going through an abatement appeal with a city government over some commercial space, and in meeting with the assessor, he attempted to explain the "formula" they use to calculate property "value". It was anything but a formula, as it was entirely subjective. At any rate...

Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure

Published: Tuesday, 12 Apr 2011 | 5:18 PM ET Text Size By: John Melloy
Executive Producer, Fast Money

After former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker was appointed in 1979, the consumer price index surged into the double digits, causing the now revered Fed Chief to double the benchmark interest rate in order to break the back of inflation. Using the methodology in place at that time puts the CPI back near those levels.

Inflation, using the reporting methodologies in place before 1980, hit an annual rate of 9.6 percent in February, according to the Shadow Government Statistics newsletter.

Since 1980, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has changed the way it calculates the CPI in order to account for the substitution of products, improvements in quality (i.e. iPad 2 costing the same as original iPad) and other things. Backing out more methods implemented in 1990 by the BLS still puts inflation at a 5.5 percent rate and getting worse, according to the calculations by the newsletter’s web site, Shadowstats.com.



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"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."
Leo Tolstoy, 1897

patsfan13

Same with the unemployment numbers. This is designed to get incumbents reelected. Wait till gas gets to %5 per gallon it will affect everything.

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."

Nikolai

Yep, they've fudged with statistics quite a bit. Our unemployment rates would be double or worse according to the standards used during the Depression.

All is well. All is well.

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We get what we deserve.

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“On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”

Gainzo

The formula was changed in 1980, but now you are complaining? That was 31 years ago.

Nikolai

How do you know he wasn't complaining all along? And if it's wrong, is there some sort of expiry date after which one can no longer complain?

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We get what we deserve.

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“On a day when they could have had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson..they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour, who had 1 sacks last season in the pass-happy SEC and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in Robert Ferguson and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help any time soon.”

IcyPatriot

.... Now that's epic delayed laughter ... good one. +1

IcyPatriot

Complaining is the one thing this is as constant as death and taxes.

Gainzo

I hadn't heard anything about this until Obama took office. The Republicans had the White House from 1980-1992 and 2000-2008. Why wasn't this issue mentioned before?

IcyPatriot

The more money we print the higher the inflation rate. i don't know why administrations get blamed for inflation. They can help by spending less money of course but inflation is directly related to the money supply which is a fed issue. Other issues contribute of course but the money supply is a hug component and we have had the printers blazing. To discuss inflation we need to discuss the corruptness of the fed ... not that it would get us anywhere of course.

patsfan13

If you are interested you can see the 'real' number on internet for the period from 1981 to the present. I am interested in the current number because we are being sold that the employment picture is improving a lot which is false.

The inflation will also cause the FED to raise interest rates to fund our spending driving up the cost of goods and raising the amount of interest we pay servicing our debt which will do a LOT of damage to the economy.

The politicians seem blissfully unaware of this or at least they won't speak about it to avoid panicking the rubes.


National debt interest rates will take big chunk from budget - Feb. 2, 2011

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"Some guys play in all-star games, some guys don't. I don't know who picks all those all-star teams. In all honesty, I don't know who picks the combine, for that matter," Belichick said. "How does (Miami-Ohio offensive lineman Brandon) Brooks not get invited to the combine? How did Vollmer not get invited to the combine? I don't know. We can't really worry about that. We just have to try to evaluate them the best we can."